An investigation into the use of physical modelling for the prediction of various feature types visible from different view points

This paper describes a general purpose flexible technique which uses physical modelling techniques for determining the features of a 3D object that are visible from any predefined view. Physical modelling techniques are used to determine which of many different types of features are visible from a complete set of viewpoints. The power of this technique lies in its ability to detect and parameterise object features, regardless of object complexity. Raytracing is used to simulate the physical process by which object features are visible so that surface properties (eg specularity, transparency) as well as object boundaries can be used in the recognition process. Using this technique occluding and non-occluding edge based features are extracted using image processing techniques and then parameterised. Features caused by specularity are also extracted and qualitative descriptions for these are defined.

Using camera motion to identify different types of American football plays

This paper presents a method that uses camera motion parameters to recognise 7 types of American football plays. The approach is based on the motion information extracted from the video and it can identify short and long pass plays, short and long running plays, quarterback sacks, punt plays and kickoff plays. This method has the advantage that it is fast and it does not require player or ball tracking. The system was trained and tested using 782 plays and the results show that the system has an overall classification accuracy of 68%.

Consciousness-raising tasks versus deductive approach : two form-focused instruction types in teaching grammar to Iranian high school EFL learners

Consciousness-raising (CR) task is a new way of teaching grammar developed in communicative contexts although little has been written on the effectiveness of CR tasks in EFL setting. The present study is an attempt to investigate the impact of CR tasks in Iranian EFL setting by comparing them with deductive, grammar lessons common in the Iranian schools. The subjects of this study were 80 EFL pre-university male students who were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control one. The control group received three ordinary teacher-fronted, deductive lessons, a common way of teaching methodology in Iran, on three grammatical structures (adverb placement, indirect object placement and the use of relative clause). The experimental group, however, was treated with three ‘consciousness-raising’ (CR) tasks dealing with the same target structures. The results showed that in the short-run, CR tasks were as effective as deductive approach in promoting the learners’ grammatical knowledge while in the long-run, the CR group maintained their gains more effectively than the deductive group. The conclusion is that CR tasks can function more effectively than deductive approach if the following conditions are met: (a) performing the consciousness-raising tasks in learners’ L1; (b) providing the learners with feedback whenever they encounter a problem in solving the tasks; (c) grouping the learners in such a way that at least one learner in each group would be more proficient than the other members to help the less proficient ones understand and discover the rules more effectively.

Costco and the Aussie shopper : a case study of the market entry of an international retailer

Retailing is a globalised industry, yet retailers must respond to local shopping habits if they are to be perceived as legitimate by the host country customers. However, some retailers may be unable or unwilling to respond to all customer requirements. Costco, the membership warehouse club retailer, has been successful in its international expansion efforts, establishing its first Australian store in Melbourne in 2009. In the first 12 months of operation, the store became one of Costco's top five stores in the world. We investigated this success by focussing on the customer and used institutional theory to analyse what concessions were made by the customer and the company. Data were collected from consumer interviews, site visits and secondary media and industry sources. Analysis revealed negotiations based on the rejection, acceptance or adaptation of the regulative, normative and cultural cognitive aspects of the Australian shopper and the Costco business model. Customers made concessions to accommodate the new business model, and Costco responded to entrenched Australian shopping habits. This case is the first to explore the outcome of retail internationalisation from the customers' perspective, revealing the concept of mutual concessions. The interaction and subsequent adaptation by both customer and retailer have resulted in the institutionalisation of new shopping norms in the host country and success for the international retailer.

Exploring the use of enterprise content management systems in different types of Organisations

Researchers and practitioners are starting to realize that it is unlikely that the full advantage of Electronic Content Management Systems (ECMS) can be realized unless both the technology capabilities and organisational context are taken into consideration. This study explores ECMS use in Replication, Diversification, Unification and Coordination type of organisations. A framework of ECMS-use is proposed suggesting different ways of using ECMS to support diverse organisational needs. Following a qualitative case study research approach, interviews were conducted with IT and business managers and ECMS users from each of the four types of organisations. Results suggest that, depending on the organisation’s business needs, ECMS use in organisations can be categorized as 1) Minimal-use, 2) Standard Adoption-use, 3) Customized-use or 4) Leveraged-use. Findings suggest that managers can gain more realistic benefits from ECMS use by understanding why and how different types of ECMS-use can support the way in which their businesses operate.

Gesture types for functions

This paper reports on the different gesture types employed by twenty-three Year 10 students as they endeavoured to explain their understanding of rate of change associated with the functions resulting from two different computer simulations. These gestures also have application to revealing students’ understanding of functions. However, interpretation of gesture is problematic but classification of gestures assisted in the analysis of the videorecorded interviews probing participants’ conceptions of rate of change. This paper builds on the classifications reported in previous research. Five additional gesture types are presented, which provide insights into students’ thinking about rate of change, and hence functions.

Beyond 'types' in environmental agencies

Dr Brian Coffey contends that Dr Sue Briggs' commentary - 'From advocates to zealots' (PUBLIC ADMISTRATION Today, issue 27: July-September 2011) - on bureaucratic types in environmental agencies - 'raises an important issue: the need for reformers to understand the characteristics of public servants'.

Embedded restricted Boltzmann machines for fusion of mixed data types and applications in social measurements analysis

Analysis and fusion of social measurements is important to understand what shapes the public’s opinion and the sustainability of the global development. However, modeling data collected from social responses is challenging as the data is typically complex and heterogeneous, which might take the form of stated facts, subjective assessment, choices, preferences or any combination thereof. Model-wise, these responses are a mixture of data types including binary, categorical, multicategorical, continuous, ordinal, count and rank data. The challenge is therefore to effectively handle mixed data in the a unified fusion framework in order to perform inference and analysis. To that end, this paper introduces eRBM (Embedded Restricted Boltzmann Machine) – a probabilistic latent variable model that can represent mixed data using a layer of hidden variables transparent across different types of data. The proposed model can comfortably support largescale data analysis tasks, including distribution modelling, data completion, prediction and visualisation. We demonstrate these versatile features on several moderate and large-scale publicly available social survey datasets.

Exploring a recently developed census population model of the diversity of the sixteen psychological types in Australia

It is important for practitioners to know about the distribution of the sixteen psychological types in the country in which they operate. For instance: Are more females with Feeling preferences found in particular occupational categories? Can you make valid distinctions on the basis of the types found in sales workers compared with other categories? What are the differences in the Australian distribution of psychological types compared with the UK and USA? Participants in this workshop will be encouraged to make connections between their own experience of the diversity of types and a recently developed Australian Census Population Type Table which for the first time approaches a national probability sample. We will explore the patterns of type distribution in Australia, and compare the data with national population Type Tables developed in the UK and the USA.

Biosensors, types and applications

Biosensor has rapidly become essential analytical tools, since they offer higher performance in terms of sensitivity and selectively than any other currently available diagnostic device. The development of biosensor technology represents a crucial task for environmental pollution management, there is a considerable need to project and realize biosensors with the best features for commercialization, such as selectivity, sensitivity, stability, reproducibility and low cost. With appropriate progress testing and commercialization, biosensors will have an important impact on environmental monitoring, reducing costs and increasing the efficiency of certain applications. The same multiple approach might be used for development of biosensor platforms suitable for use in fields as diverse as environmental and agrifood to industry, research security and defence, medical and clinical. This review paper focussed on the various types of biosensors and applications in environmental monitoring.

A review of the impact of different types of leading interview questions on child and adult witnesses with intellectual disabilities

Children and adults with intellectual disabilities have traditionally been considered poor witnesses because they are easily misled and produce less accurate information in interviews when compared with individuals without intellectual disabilities. However, witnesses’ levels of accuracy depend on the types of questions that they are asked, such as whether they are open or closed and whether they contain misleading information. In the current systematic review, we examined the literature investigating the different types of misleading questions commonly used in interviews, and their influence on the memories of adults and children with and without an intellectual disability. Thirteen articles that met inclusion criteria were reviewed. It was found that, compared with other question types, open and closed questions that presumed certain information to be true elicited the greatest number of errors in children and adults with intellectual disabilities compared with other question types. These findings reinforce the notion that the onus is on interviewers – particularly when interviewing vulnerable witnesses – to avoid leading questions that presume information that may not be true.

Errors in the identification of question types in investigative interviews of children

This study examined the incidence and nature of the errors made by trainee coders during their coding of question types in interviews in which children disclosed abuse. Three groups of trainees (online, postgraduate and police) studied the coding manual before practising their question coding. After this practice, participants were given two-page field transcripts to code in which children disclosed abuse. Their coding was assessed for accuracy; any errors were analysed thematically. The overall error rate was low, and police participants made the fewest errors. Analysis of the errors revealed four common misunderstandings: (1) the use of a ‘wh’ question always denotes a specific cued-recall question; (2) ‘Tell me’ always constitutes an open-ended question; (3) open-ended questions cannot include specific detail; and (4) specific questions cannot elicit elaborate responses. An analysis of coding accuracy in the one group who were able to practise question coding over time revealed that practice was essential for trainees to maintain their accuracy. Those who did not practise decreased in coding accuracy. This research shows that trainees need more than a coding manual; they must demonstrate their understanding of question codes through practice training tasks. Misunderstandings about questions need to be elicited and corrected so that accurate codes are used in future tasks.