47 research outputs found
Rewriting Gender Roles: Feminist Reinterpretation of Mythological Narratives
No full textMythological stories form the basis of many cultures as they are passed down through generations, serving as a means of conveying values, beliefs and traditions. Mythological tales generally idiolize and glorify male prowess. Gender inequality in mythology is a complex issue which is deeply ingrained in the socio-cultural fabric of the Indian society. This representation often mirrors the gender disparity in our lives as well. These narratives frequently portray women in subordinate roles which directly reflects the patriarchal norms prevalent in the society. Revisionist mythology takes these ancient tales and caters them to the modern readers by reinterpreting them. One of the prevalent themes of the revisionist mythology is the point of view of a female character which helps the reader in understanding the situation of females in the ancient times. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni and Kavita Kane, through their revisionist mythological novels, provide a new outlook on traditional narratives that challenges the existing gender bias and creates a platform for female empowerment in mythological retellings. The paper discusses and argues that the modern retellings have created an alternative feminine discourse by breaking the ideological male canon and also aims to explore the gynocentric myth created by these women writers.
Robust statistics over Riemannian manifolds for computer vision
No full textThe nonlinear nature of many compute vision tasks involves analysis over curved nonlinear spaces embedded in higher dimensional Euclidean spaces. Such spaces are known as manifolds and can be studied using the theory of differential geometry. In this thesis we develop two algorithms which can be applied over manifolds.
The nonlinear mean shift algorithm is a generalization of the original mean shift, a popular feature space analysis method for vector spaces. Nonlinear mean shift can be applied to any Riemannian manifold and is provably convergent to the local maxima of an appropriate kernel density. This algorithm is used for motion segmentation with different motion models and for the filtering of complex image data.
The projection based M-estimator is a robust regression algorithm which does not require a user supplied estimate of the scale, the level of noise corrupting the inliers. We build on the connections between kernel density estimation and robust M-estimators and develop data driven rules for scale estimation. The method can be generalized to handle heteroscedastic data and subspace estimation. The results of using pbM for affine motion estimation, fundamental matrix estimation and multibody factorization are presented.
A new sensor fusion method which can handle heteroscedastic data and incomplete estimates of parameters is also discussed. The method is used to combine image based pose estimates with inertial sensors.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 137-144)
Journal Self-Citation VIII: An IS Researcher in the Dual Worlds of Author-Reader and Author-Institution
No full textThis paper responds to the question of whether it is ethical for a journal editor to request an author to cite papers from a journal to which one is submitting an article. To craft a response to this question, two sets of relationships are explored. The first set is an author-reader relationship, and the second set is an author-institution or community relationship. In these dual relationships, the author is considered to be an IS researcher who publishes and disseminates knowledge through the channel of research journals. The reason for articulating these twofold relationships is to go beyond the common belief that the author is the sole and autonomous source of knowledge creation and distribution. We posit that: (1) an author cannot exist isolated from the reader, and (2) an author exists only as a part of an institutional system which opens and at the same time constrains an author’s knowledge production. In other words, an author is destined to create knowledge within the constrained system. For that very reason, it is important to understand the author as a function of conditional discourse of a specific institution. We conclude that editors’ requests for an author to cite papers from a journal to which one is submitting an article is ethically critical to: (1) build a good author-reader relationship, and (2) produce rich and plural knowledge which is “good” for advancing learning in the global community
Development of an ultra-wide band-based real-time vibrator tip locating system for intelligent concrete consolidation
No full textProper consolidation of concrete is critical to the long-term strength of concrete bridge structures. Vibration is a commonly used method to make concrete flow able and to remove the excessive entrapped air, therefore contributing to proper concrete consolidation. To introduce vibrations to freshly placed concrete, various tools such as internal vibrators are widely used in the construction industry. Producing a dense concrete without segregation with these tools requires an experienced vibrator operator. Inexperienced vibrator operators tend to over-consolidate or under-consolidate concrete. Many of these quality problems have their roots in the lack of quality control methods that can provide real-time feedback on the quality of concrete consolidation to vibrator operators. The proposed research involves the development of a real-time wireless sensing-based internal vibrator tracking system to support intelligent concrete consolidation operations. Specifically, the research team will explore the use of an Ultra Wideband (UWB) tracking system to realize precise localization of internal vibrators. Multiple tags will be attached to each vibrator for deriving its precise poses. Computer programs will be developed to track tags, to infer vibrator poses, and to visualize operators' vibration effort in real-time. Once a vibrator is tracked, the vibration location, time, and depth associated with this vibrator will be displayed on a computer in real-time. A vibrator operator can leverage such information to visualize the distribution of his vibration effort, and spot areas that may need mitigation actions. The new concrete consolidation tool will allow contractors to proactively address concrete consolidation issues, a problem common to many concrete construction projects.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Raghav Krishnamoorth
Tailoring oxides of copper-Cu2O and CuO nanoparticles and evaluation of organic dyes degradation
No full textMultisensory models for human spatial orientation including threshold effects
No full textThesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 2010.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student-submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-71).E-Observer, a stand-alone executable version of the Observer model developed by Newman and Oman (2009), was developed. The complicated structure of the Observer model and its parameters made this conversion challenging. The resulting Windows PC executable uses a publically available library (MATLAB component runtime v7.1 0). E-Observer parameters are limited to the preset choices in Observer. A hypothetical example of the use of E-Observer to analyze an aircraft accident radar trajectory data is discussed. Like many other dynamic models for human spatial orientation, Observer does not incorporate perception thresholds, which limits its use to relatively large stimuli and hence cannot be used for investigation of certain accidents and flight simulator design, which involve sub-threshold motions. The literature on motion thresholds is reviewed which suggests that vestibular perception thresholds are not mechanical thresholds, but are due to signal-in-noise phenomenon. As a fIrst step towards incorporating thresholds in Observer, modeling yaw perception thresholds was attempted and two detection models are proposed - a Matched Filter model and a Two-Threshold model. The Matched Filter detector model matches the noisy perception with a noise-free stimulus template and evaluates how much they correlate. Based on the correlation, the model fInally decides if the signal is present or not. However, this model applies only in cases where the subject is in an experiment, and knows the expected stimulus waveform. Grabherr et al (2008) proposed a high pass filter model for direction recognition thresholds based on their recognition data. This thesis explores an alternative modeling approach assuming that the CNS samples the angular velocity estimate and its derivative, and applies thresholds to both. Whether the motion stimulus is detected or not depends on how many of these samples cross the threshold level. The performance of both models was compared against the Grabherr et. al. data It was found that both models are able to approximate the 79.4% detection criterion for thresholds determined in Grabherr's study. However, the two threshold model does not assume that the subject knows the stimulus waveform. Supported by Project SA1302 by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute through NASA NCC 9-58.by Raghav Harini Venkatesan.S.M
The Illuminator: Energy system development kit
No full textEngineering has a significant cultural component in addition to its widespread perception as an engine of innovation and economic growth. This cultural component corresponds to how users and communities react or adapt to technological innovations and their influence on the advancement of such innovations. Hence, it is critical to prioritize the social aspect as much as the technical aspect of the energy transition.With the fast-growing world and its energy demand, it becomes necessary to shift renewable energy-producing technologies to keep this planet habitable. But during the transition, it is essential to maintain the flexibility, reliability, availability, and robustness of the current energy system. With multiple actors involved in the energy system, it becomes inevitable to have a united front to make an effective transition and offer holistic solutions to the challenges. For this, communication among them is important.This thesis has contributed to developing a toolkit catering to the cultural component of engineering and bringing different actors in the energy system to the same platform. It takes the route of co-simulation and modelling of energy system components. The modular and user-centred design of the toolkit helps to educate the communities to increase their acceptance of renewables, educate students about recent changes in the energy system, and foster communication among domain experts by simulating the challenges of energy transition and system integration. Illuminator's table top approach makes it easy for users to operate and understand the energy system demonstrations.The outcomes show example demonstrations simulated for a specific group of users by leveraging Illuminator's modularity, table top approach, and scalability.Electrical Engineering | Sustainable Energy Technolog
A formula to measure the effect of police interventions
No full textCurrently, there is not a clear and well-defined metric available that can be used to measure safety and in turn justify resource allocation within the police Department. This metric will help decision-makers understand the situation better prior to taking major decisions. The large amount of data available to the police is not yet used to its full potential when making these critical decisions. This project aims to translate and quantify the qualitative concept of safety by relying on measurable values found in the Netherlands. The creation of this metric will successfully allow the police to compare, over time, how police resource allocation and intervention tactics lead to a safer society in the Netherlands. The proposed final equation is put together, combining Crime-Harm Index, Utility, and Effectiveness factor of the police. Each of these individual components of the equation were studied individually and the final equation has been explained and validated with hypothetical values. This leads to a composite safety factor, which is bounded from 0 to 1. The safety factor can belater visualised, essentially displaying a hot-spot map that updates frequently. This will help the police in determining the effectiveness of their decisions and measure the impact of their interventions to a certain extent. Moving forward, we believe the Dutch National Police should take such a form of measurement into serious consideration, as this equation explores a more holistic representation of safety in Dutch society through various factorsJoint Interdisciplinary Project 202
