Nonrigid Structure-From-Motion From 2-D Images Using Markov Chain Monte Carlo

In this paper we present a new method for simultaneously determining three dimensional (3-D) shape and motion of a non-rigid object from uncalibrated two dimensional (2- D) images without assuming the distribution characteristics. A non-rigid motion can be treated as a combination of a rigid rotation and a non-rigid deformation. To seek accurate recovery of deformable structures, we estimate the probability distribution function of the corresponding features through random sampling, incorporating an established probabilistic model. The fitting between the observation and the projection of the estimated 3-D structure will be evaluated using a Markov chain Monte Carlo based expectation maximisation algorithm. Applications of the proposed method to both synthetic and real image sequences are demonstrated with promising results.

A virtual surgery in general practice: evaluation of a novel undergraduate virtual patient learning package

Background: A suite of 10 online virtual patients developed using the IVIMEDS ‘Riverside’ authoring tool has been introduced into our undergraduate general practice clerkship. These cases provide a multimedia-rich experience to students. Their interactive nature promotes the development of clinical reasoning skills such as discriminating key clinical features, integrating information from a variety of sources and forming diagnoses and management plans.

Aims: To evaluate the usefulness and usability of a set of online virtual patients in an undergraduate general practice clerkship.
Method: Online questionnaire completed by students after their general practice placement incorporating the System Usability Scale questionnaire.

Results: There was a 57% response rate. Ninety-five per cent of students agreed that the online package was a useful learning tool and ranked virtual patients third out of six learning modalities. Questions and answers and the use of images and videos were all rated highly by students as useful learning methods. The package was perceived to have a high level of usability among respondents.

Conclusion: Feedback from students suggest that this implementation of virtual patients, set in primary care, is user friendly and rated as a valuable adjunct to their learning. The cost of production of such learning resources demands close attention to design.

Using location-aware technology for learning Geography in a real digital space outside the classroom

The use of new mobile technologies is still in its infancy in many secondary schools and there is limited evidence of the educational and pedagogical benefits on pupils’ learning in the formal school context. This qualitative study focuses on the use of handheld devices to teach a topic in geography to an examination class. Action research combined with pupil observations and focus group interviews are used to capture the pupils’ experiences of using mediascapes. Activity Theory is used as a lens to structure the analysis of the data and to report on the cognitive and affective impact of m-learning on pupils’ academic performance in the topic. Increased attainment and the development of wider skills for lifelong learning were identified in the study. The adaptability of the majority of pupils to the technology resulted in increased levels of willingness to learn in this novel context.

Development of a multi-media book for clinical supervision training in undergraduate nursing

There is an increased interest in higher education in the use of e-learning resources for students. This can be attributed to many factors including, the availability of advanced technology systems, a growing student population that is technology focused, financial implications and the recruitment of international students. However, the introduction of technology and e-learning into teaching has given rise to issues regarding quality and quantity of educational practice . The challenge now is for educationalists is to deliver an optimal learning experience that is effective and appropriate for students’ learning needs.

AVEC 2011–The First International Audio/Visual Emotion Challenge

The Audio/Visual Emotion Challenge and Workshop (AVEC 2011) is the first competition event aimed at comparison of multimedia processing and machine learning methods for automatic audio, visual and audiovisual emotion analysis, with all participants competing under strictly the same conditions. This paper first describes the challenge participation conditions. Next follows the data used – the SEMAINE corpus – and its partitioning into train, development, and test partitions for the challenge with labelling in four dimensions, namely activity, expectation, power, and valence. Further, audio and video baseline features are introduced as well as baseline results that use these features for the three sub-challenges of audio, video, and audiovisual emotion recognition.

Distinguished algebraic semantics for t-norm based fuzzy logics:Methods and algebraic equivalencies

This paper is a contribution to Mathematical fuzzy logic, in particular to the algebraic study of t-norm based fuzzy logics. In the general framework of propositional core and ?-core fuzzy logics we consider three properties of completeness with respect to any semantics of linearly ordered algebras. Useful algebraic characterizations of these completeness properties are obtained and their relations are studied. Moreover, we concentrate on five kinds of distinguished semantics for these logics-namely the class of algebras defined over the real unit interval, the rational unit interval, the hyperreals (all ultrapowers of the real unit interval), the strict hyperreals (only ultrapowers giving a proper extension of the real unit interval) and finite chains, respectively-and we survey the known completeness methods and results for prominent logics. We also obtain new interesting relations between the real, rational and (strict) hyperreal semantics, and good characterizations for the completeness with respect to the semantics of finite chains. Finally, all completeness properties and distinguished semantics are also considered for the first-order versions of the logics where a number of new results are proved. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The systematic development of an innovative DVD to raise awareness of preconception care

The purpose of this article is to describe the design, development and process evaluation of a preconception counselling resource (a DVD) for women with pre-gestational diabetes. DVD design and development centred on two key stakeholders ('DVD user group' and 'professional advisory group') working alongside a professional multimedia company. The DVD user group provided feedback on preferred DVD style, and informed modifications and improvements. The professional advisory group prepared the script, and ensured content and face validity. Evaluation of the DVD's acceptability and usefulness was assessed among women with diabetes via a postal questionnaire. Development phase: the resulting DVD is a 45-minute programme with three parts, featuring eight women with diabetes sharing their views and experiences, alongside an evidence-based commentary. The programme focuses on the importance of preventing an unplanned pregnancy (highlighting contraception) and on essential planning advice. Evaluation phase: 97 women (89 with type 1 and 8 with type 2 diabetes) evaluated the DVD using a rating scale of 0-10. Mean (SD) scores were: 9.1 (1.3) for quality; 9.0 (1.4) for content; 8.8 (1.5) for interest; 8.7 (1.8) for usefulness; 7.8 (2.2) for knowledge acquisition; and 8.0 (2.1) for knowledge confirmation. This combined user and multi-professional advisory group approach has produced an innovative and highly acceptable preconception counselling resource for women with diabetes. The development process and outcome evaluation are an important point of reference for future educational programmes. Future research will evaluate the impact of this preconception counselling resource on pregnancy planning indicators and pregnancy outcome.

End-of-Life care and people with intellectual disabilities: A multi-media educational resource

Aim This study aimed to develop and evaluate a multi-media educational resource in palliative and end-of-life care for specialist palliative care and intellectual disability services which promoted collaborative working. Methods: A mixed methods design involving three phases was used. Qualitative data were obtained from semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of professionals (n=30) and family carers (n=5) and from two focus groups with people with intellectual disabilities (n=17). Data were content analysed as outlined y Newell and Burnard (2006). This identified training needs and issues, in end-of-life care for this population which were confirmed through quantitative data from services in a regional scoping study analysed using descriptive statistics. A DVD and manual were developed and evaluated with twelve professionals. Data were collected using a solicited diary, the Readiness for Inter-professional Learning Scale, Likert Scales and an evaluation questionnaire. Thematic analysis and descriptive statistics appropriate to data were used.Results: Findings suggest that this resource demonstrates the need for and benefits of partnership working and transferability of this learning to practice could address issues at end-of-life for people with intellectual disabilities. Conclusions: Findings of this study have importance for partnership working and service provision in end-of-life care for this population.

Novel Radio Link Buffer Management Schemes for End-User Multi-class Traffic in High Speed Packet Access Networks

The requirement to provide multimedia services with QoS support in mobile networks has led to standardization and deployment of high speed data access technologies such as the High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) system. HSDPA improves downlink packet data and multimedia services support in WCDMA-based cellular networks. As is the trend in emerging wireless access technologies, HSDPA supports end-user multi-class sessions comprising parallel flows with diverse Quality of Service (QoS) requirements, such as real-time (RT) voice or video streaming concurrent with non real-time (NRT) data service being transmitted to the same user, with differentiated queuing at the radio link interface. Hence, in this paper we present and evaluate novel radio link buffer management schemes for QoS control of multimedia traffic comprising concurrent RT and NRT flows in the same HSDPA end-user session. The new buffer management schemes—Enhanced Time Space Priority (E-TSP) and Dynamic Time Space Priority (D-TSP)—are designed to improve radio link and network resource utilization as well as optimize end-to-end QoS performance of both RT and NRT flows in the end-user session. Both schemes are based on a Time-Space Priority (TSP) queuing system, which provides joint delay and loss differentiation between the flows by queuing (partially) loss tolerant RT flow packets for higher transmission priority but with restricted access to the buffer space, whilst allowing unlimited access to the buffer space for delay-tolerant NRT flow but with queuing for lower transmission priority. Experiments by means of extensive system-level HSDPA simulations demonstrates that with the proposed TSP-based radio link buffer management schemes, significant end-to-end QoS performance gains accrue to end-user traffic with simultaneous RT and NRT flows, in addition to improved resource utilization in the radio access network.

Investigation of the M2/G2/1/ ∞, N Queue with Restricted Admission of Priority Customers and its Application to HSDPA Mobile Systems

This paper investigates a queuing system for QoS optimization of multimedia traffic consisting of aggregated streams with diverse QoS requirements transmitted to a mobile terminal over a common downlink shared channel. The queuing system, proposed for buffer management of aggregated single-user traffic in the base station of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), allows for optimum loss/delay/jitter performance for end-user multimedia traffic with delay-tolerant non-real-time streams and partially loss tolerant real-time streams. In the queuing system, the real-time stream has non-preemptive priority in service but the number of the packets in the system is restricted by a constant. The non-real-time stream has no service priority but is allowed unlimited access to the system. Both types of packets arrive in the stationary Poisson flow. Service times follow general distribution depending on the packet type. Stability condition for the model is derived. Queue length distribution for both types of customers is calculated at arbitrary epochs and service completion epochs. Loss probability for priority packets is computed. Waiting time distribution in terms of Laplace-Stieltjes transform is obtained for both types of packets. Mean waiting time and jitter are computed. Numerical examples presented demonstrate the effectiveness of the queuing system for QoS optimization of buffered end-user multimedia traffic with aggregated real-time and non-real-time streams.

Decoding semantics across fMRI sessions with different stimulus modalities:a practical MVPA study

Both embodied and symbolic accounts of conceptual organization would predict partial sharing and partial differentiation between the neural activations seen for concepts activated via different stimulus modalities. But cross-participant and cross-session variability in BOLD activity patterns makes analyses of such patterns with MVPA methods challenging. Here, we examine the effect of cross-modal and individual variation on the machine learning analysis of fMRI data recorded during a word property generation task. We present the same set of living and non-living concepts (land-mammals, or work tools) to a cohort of Japanese participants in two sessions: the first using auditory presentation of spoken words; the second using visual presentation of words written in Japanese characters. Classification accuracies confirmed that these semantic categories could be detected in single trials, with within-session predictive accuracies of 80-90%. However cross-session prediction (learning from auditory-task data to classify data from the written-word-task, or vice versa) suffered from a performance penalty, achieving 65-75% (still individually significant at p « 0.05). We carried out several follow-on analyses to investigate the reason for this shortfall, concluding that distributional differences in neither time nor space alone could account for it. Rather, combined spatio-temporal patterns of activity need to be identified for successful cross-session learning, and this suggests that feature selection strategies could be modified to take advantage of this.