An integrative approach to face and expression recognition from 3D scans

Biometrics is afield of study which pursues the association of a person's identity with his/her physiological or behavioral characteristics.^ As one aspect of biometrics, face recognition has attracted special attention because it is a natural and noninvasive means to identify individuals. Most of the previous studies in face recognition are based on two-dimensional (2D) intensity images. Face recognition based on 2D intensity images, however, is sensitive to environment illumination and subject orientation changes, affecting the recognition results. With the development of three-dimensional (3D) scanners, 3D face recognition is being explored as an alternative to the traditional 2D methods for face recognition.^ This dissertation proposes a method in which the expression and the identity of a face are determined in an integrated fashion from 3D scans. In this framework, there is a front end expression recognition module which sorts the incoming 3D face according to the expression detected in the 3D scans. Then, scans with neutral expressions are processed by a corresponding 3D neutral face recognition module. Alternatively, if a scan displays a non-neutral expression, e.g., a smiling expression, it will be routed to an appropriate specialized recognition module for smiling face recognition.^ The expression recognition method proposed in this dissertation is innovative in that it uses information from 3D scans to perform the classification task. A smiling face recognition module was developed, based on the statistical modeling of the variance between faces with neutral expression and faces with a smiling expression.^ The proposed expression and face recognition framework was tested with a database containing 120 3D scans from 30 subjects (Half are neutral faces and half are smiling faces). It is shown that the proposed framework achieves a recognition rate 10% higher than attempting the identification with only the neutral face recognition module.^

Comparison of snail density, standing stock, and body size between Caribbean karst wetlands and other freshwater ecosystems

Synthesizing data from multiple studies generates hypotheses about factors that affect the distribution and abundance of species among ecosystems. Snails are dominant herbivores in many freshwater ecosystems, but there is no comprehensive review of snail density, standing stock, or body size among freshwater ecosystems. We compile data on snail density and standing stock, estimate body size with their quotient, and discuss the major pattern that emerges. We report data from 215 freshwater ecosystems taken from 88 studies that we placed into nine categories. Sixty-five studies reported density, seven reported standing stock, and 16 reported both. Despite the breadth of studies, spatial and temporal sampling scales were limited. Researchers used 25 different sampling devices ranging in area from 0.0015 to 2.5 m2. Most ecosystem categories had similar snail densities, standing stocks, and body sizes suggesting snails shared a similar function among ecosystems. Caribbean karst wetlands were a striking exception with much lower density and standing stock, but large body size. Disparity in body size results from the presence of ampullariids in Caribbean karst wetlands suggesting that biogeography affects the distribution of taxa, and in this case size, among aquatic ecosystems. We propose that resource quality explains the disparity in density and standing stock between Caribbean karst wetlands and other categories. Periphyton in Caribbean karst wetlands has high carbon-to-phosphorous ratios and defensive characteristics that inhibit grazers. Unlike many freshwater ecosystems where snails are key grazers, we hypothesize that a microbial loop captures much of the primary production in Caribbean karst wetlands.

Human Capital Decisions and Employee Satisfaction at Selected Hotels in India

Understanding the role of human capital is one of the key considerations in delivering and sustaining competitiveness. Managing employees in the hospitality industry is particularly a challenging task as the industry is considered to be labor intensive. High turnover and increasing employee demands are among the problems that are identified as threats to maintaining a strong competitive position. Successful hotels attempt to retain their best employees in an effort to adapt to changing environments and increased competition. Effective hotel human resource systems can produce positive outcomes, through effective employee retention strategies that focus on work force motivation, attitudes and perception. The positive implementation of these strategies can influence and create employee satisfaction. This study aims to focus on the relationship between the mediating variables of motivation, attitudes, perception and their effect on employee satisfaction. These findings are based upon an extensive survey carried out between April 2009 and June 2009 in the small mountainous state of Uttarakhand, located within the Indian sub-continent. Although the area of study is confined to the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand, the authors contend that the findings and implications can be applied to other remote developing tourist destinations in other regions.