Automatic tracking, super-resolution and recognition of human faces from surveillance video

Identifying an individual from surveillance video is a difficult, time consuming and labour intensive process. The proposed system aims to streamline this process by filtering out unwanted scenes and enhancing an individual's face through super-resolution. An automatic face recognition system is then used to identify the subject or present the human operator with likely matches from a database. A person tracker is used to speed up the subject detection and super-resolution process by tracking moving subjects and cropping a region of interest around the subject's face to reduce the number and size of the image frames to be super-resolved respectively. In this paper, experiments have been conducted to demonstrate how the optical flow super-resolution method used improves surveillance imagery for visual inspection as well as automatic face recognition on an Eigenface and Elastic Bunch Graph Matching system. The optical flow based method has also been benchmarked against the ``hallucination'' algorithm, interpolation methods and the original low-resolution images. Results show that both super-resolution algorithms improved recognition rates significantly. Although the hallucination method resulted in slightly higher recognition rates, the optical flow method produced less artifacts and more visually correct images suitable for human consumption.

Candidate metastasis suppressor genes uncovered by array comparative genomic hybridization in a mouse allograft model of prostate cancer.

Background The purpose of this study was to identify candidate metastasis suppressor genes from a mouse allograft model of prostate cancer (NE-10). This allograft model originally developed metastases by twelve weeks after implantation in male athymic nude mice, but lost the ability to metastasize after a number of in vivo passages. We performed high resolution array comparative genomic hybridization on the metastasizing and non-metastasizing allografts to identify chromosome imbalances that differed between the two groups of tumors. Results This analysis uncovered a deletion on chromosome 2 that differed between the metastasizing and non-metastasizing tumors. Bioinformatics filters were employed to mine this region of the genome for candidate metastasis suppressor genes. Of the 146 known genes that reside within the region of interest on mouse chromosome 2, four candidate metastasis suppressor genes (Slc27a2, Mall, Snrpb, and Rassf2) were identified. Quantitative expression analysis confirmed decreased expression of these genes in the metastasizing compared to non-metastasizing tumors. Conclusion This study presents combined genomics and bioinformatics approaches for identifying potential metastasis suppressor genes. The genes identified here are candidates for further studies to determine their functional role in inhibiting metastases in the NE-10 allograft model and human prostate cancer.

Multi-criteria ranking and receptor modelling of airborne fine particles at three sites in the Pearl River Delta region of China

The multi-criteria decision making methods, Preference METHods for Enrichment Evaluation (PROMETHEE) and Graphical Analysis for Interactive Assistance (GAIA), and the two-way Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) receptor model were applied to airborne fine particle compositional data collected at three sites in Hong Kong during two monitoring campaigns held from November 2000 to October 2001 and November 2004 to October 2005. PROMETHEE/GAIA indicated that the three sites were worse during the later monitoring campaign, and that the order of the air quality at the sites during each campaign was: rural site > urban site > roadside site. The PMF analysis on the other hand, identified 6 common sources at all of the sites (diesel vehicle, fresh sea salt, secondary sulphate, soil, aged sea salt and oil combustion) which accounted for approximately 68.8 ± 8.7% of the fine particle mass at the sites. In addition, road dust, gasoline vehicle, biomass burning, secondary nitrate, and metal processing were identified at some of the sites. Secondary sulphate was found to be the highest contributor to the fine particle mass at the rural and urban sites with vehicle emission as a high contributor to the roadside site. The PMF results are broadly similar to those obtained in a previous analysis by PCA/APCS. However, the PMF analysis resolved more factors at each site than the PCA/APCS. In addition, the study demonstrated that combined results from multi-criteria decision making analysis and receptor modelling can provide more detailed information that can be used to formulate the scientific basis for mitigating air pollution in the region.

Influence of historic land use change on the biosphere-atmosphere-exchange of C and N trace gases in the humid, subtropical region of Queensland

Increases in atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), and nitrous oxide (N2O) due to human activities have been linked to climate change. GHG emissions from land use change and agriculture have been identified as significant contributors to both Australia’s and the global GHG budget. This is expected to increase over the coming decades as rates of agriculture intensification and land use change accelerate to support population growth and food production. Limited data exists on CO2, CH4 and N2O trace gas fluxes from subtropical or tropical soils and land uses. To develop effective mitigation strategies a full global warming potential (GWP) accounting methodology is required that includes emissions of the three primary greenhouse gases. Mitigation strategies that focus on one gas only can inadvertently increase emissions of another. For this reason, detailed inventories of GHGs from soils and vegetation under individual land uses are urgently required for subtropical Australia. This study aimed to quantify GHG emissions over two consecutive years from three major land uses; a well-established, unfertilized subtropical grass-legume pasture, a 30 year (lychee) orchard and a remnant subtropical Gallery rainforest, all located near Mooloolah, Queensland. GHG fluxes were measured using a combination of high resolution automated sampling, coarser spatial manual sampling and laboratory incubations. Comparison between the land uses revealed that land use change can have a substantial impact on the GWP on a landscape long after the deforestation event. The conversion of rainforest to agricultural land resulted in as much as a 17 fold increase in GWP, from 251 kg CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1 in the rainforest to 889 kg CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1 in the pasture to 2538 kg CO2 eq. ha-1 yr-1 in the lychee plantation. This increase resulted from altered N cycling and a reduction in the aerobic capacity of the soil in the pasture and lychee systems, enhancing denitrification and nitrification events, and reducing atmospheric CH4 uptake in the soil. High infiltration, drainage and subsequent soil aeration under the rainforest limited N2O loss, as well as promoting CH4 uptake of 11.2 g CH4-C ha-1 day-1. This was among the highest reported for rainforest systems, indicating that aerated subtropical rainforests can act as substantial sink of CH4. Interannual climatic variation resulted in significantly higher N2O emission from the pasture during 2008 (5.7 g N2O-N ha day) compared to 2007 (3.9 g N2O-N ha day), despite receiving nearly 500 mm less rainfall. Nitrous oxide emissions from the pasture were highest during the summer months and were highly episodic, related more to the magnitude and distribution of rain events rather than soil moisture alone. Mean N2O emissions from the lychee plantation increased from an average of 4.0 g N2O-N ha-1 day-1, to 19.8 g N2O-N ha-1 day-1 following a split application of N fertilizer (560 kg N ha-1, equivalent to 1 kg N tree-1). The timing of the split application was found to be critical to N2O emissions, with over twice as much lost following an application in spring (emission factor (EF): 1.79%) compared to autumn (EF: 0.91%). This was attributed to the hot and moist climatic conditions and a reduction in plant N uptake during the spring creating conditions conducive to N2O loss. These findings demonstrate that land use change in subtropical Australia can be a significant source of GHGs. Moreover, the study shows that modifying the timing of fertilizer application can be an efficient way of reducing GHG emissions from subtropical horticulture.

From margins to mainstream : how screen and creative industries developed in the Northern Rivers region of NSW : 2000–2010

This thesis explores the proposition that growth and development in the screen and creative industries is not confined to the major capital cities. Lifestyle considerations, combined with advances in digital technology, convergence and greater access to broadband are altering requirements for geographic location, and creative workers are being drawn away from the big metropolises to certain regional areas. Regional screen industry enclaves are emerging outside of London, in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, in Nova Scotia in Canada and in New Zealand. In the Australian context, the proposition is tested in an area regarded as a ‘special case’ in creative industry expansion: the Northern Rivers region of NSW. A key feature of the ‘specialness’ of this region is the large number of experienced, credited producers who live and operate their businesses within the region. The development of screen and creative industries in the Northern Rivers over the decade 2000 – 2010 has implications for regional regeneration and offers new insights into the rapidly changing screen industry landscape. This development also has implications for creative industry discourse, especially the dominance of the urban in creative industries thought. The research is pioneering in a number of ways. Building on the work conducted for my Masters thesis in 2000, a second study was conducted during the research phase, adapting creative industries theory and mapping methods, which have been largely city and nation-centric, and applying them to a regional context. The study adopted an action research approach as an industry development strategy for screen industries, while at the same time developing fine-grained ground up methods for collecting primary quantitative data on the size and scope of the creative industries. In accordance with the action research framework, the researcher also acted in the dual roles of industry activist and screen industry producer in the region. The central focus of the research has been both to document and contribute to the growth and development of screen and creative industries over the past decade in the Northern Rivers region. These interventions, along with policy developments at both a local and national level, and broader global shifts, have had the effect of repositioning the sector from a marginal one to a priority area considered integral to the future economic and cultural life of the region. The research includes a detailed mapping study undertaken in 2005 with comparisons to an earlier 2000 study and to ABS data for 2001 and 2006 to reveal growth trends. It also includes two case studies of projects that developed from idea to production and completion in the region during the decade in question. The studies reveal the drivers, impediments and policy implications for sustaining the development of screen industries in a regional area. A major finding of the research was the large and increasing number of experienced producers who operate within the region and the leadership role they play in driving the development of the emerging local industry. The two case studies demonstrate the impact of policy decisions on local screen industry producers and their enterprises. A brief overview of research in other regional areas is presented, including two international examples, and what they reveal about regional regeneration. Implications are drawn for creative industries discourse and regional development policy challenges for the future.

Development of an autonomous unmanned aerial system to collect time-stamped samples from the atmosphere and localize potential pathogen sources

This paper presents the hardware development and testing of a new concept for air sampling via the integration of a prototype spore trap onboard an unmanned aerial system (UAS).We propose the integration of a prototype spore trap onboard a UAS to allow multiple capture of spores of pathogens in single remote locations at high or low altitude, otherwise not possible with stationary sampling devices.We also demonstrate the capability of this system for the capture of multiple time-stamped samples during a single mission.Wind tunnel testing was followed by simulation, and flight testing was conducted to measure and quantify the spread during simulated airborne air sampling operations. During autonomous operations, the onboard autopilot commands the servo to rotate the sampling device to a new indexed location once the UAS vehicle reaches the predefined waypoint or set of waypoints (which represents the region of interest). Time-stamped UAS data are continuously logged during the flight to assist with analysis of the particles collected. Testing and validation of the autopilot and spore trap integration, functionality, and performance is described. These tools may enhance the ability to detect new incursions of spores

Evaluation of novel Streptococcus pyogenes vaccine candidates incorporating multiple conserved sequences from the C-repeat region of the M-protein

A major challenge for Streptococcus pyogenes vaccine development is the identification of epitopes that confer protection from infection by multiple S. pyogenes M-types. Here we have identified and characterised the distribution of common variant sequences from individual repeat units of the C-repeat region (CRR) of M-proteins representing 77 different M-types. Three polyvalent fusion vaccine candidates (SV1, SV2 and SV3) incorporating the most common variants were subsequently expressed and purified, and demonstrated to be alpha-helical by Circular Dichroism (CD), a secondary conformational characteristic of the CRR in the M-protein. Antibodies raised against each of these constructs recognise M-proteins that vary in their CRR, and bind to the surface of multiple S. pyogenes isolates. Antibodies raised against SV1, containing five variant sequences, also kill heterologous S. pyogenes isolates in in vitro bactericidal assays. Further structural characterisation of this construct demonstrated the conformation of SV1 was stable at different pHs, and thermal unfolding of SV1 a reversible process. Our findings demonstrate that linkage of multiple variant sequences into a single recombinant construct overcomes the need to embed the variant sequences in foreign helix promoting flanking sequences for conformational stability, and demonstrates the viability of the polyvalent candidates as global S. pyogenes vaccine candidates.

The accuracy of a new system for estimating organ volume using ultrasound

A new system is described for estimating volume from a series of multiplanar 2D ultrasound images. Ultrasound images are captured using a personal computer video digitizing card and an electromagnetic localization system is used to record the pose of the ultrasound images. The accuracy of the system was assessed by scanning four groups of ten cadaveric kidneys on four different ultrasound machines. Scan image planes were oriented either radially, in parallel or slanted at 30 C to the vertical. The cross-sectional images of the kidneys were traced using a mouse and the outline points transformed to 3D space using the Fastrak position and orientation data. Points on adjacent region of interest outlines were connected to form a triangle mesh and the volume of the kidneys estimated using the ellipsoid, planimetry, tetrahedral and ray tracing methods. There was little difference between the results for the different scan techniques or volume estimation algorithms, although, perhaps as expected, the ellipsoid results were the least precise. For radial scanning and ray tracing, the mean and standard deviation of the percentage errors for the four different machines were as follows: Hitachi EUB-240, −3.0 ± 2.7%; Tosbee RM3, −0.1 ± 2.3%; Hitachi EUB-415, 0.2 ± 2.3%; Acuson, 2.7 ± 2.3%.

Nonprofit organisations face a restructuring state : the case of local social services in the Hunter region of New South Wales

This paper is concerned with certain of the characteristics of local social services, and their role in a restructuring Australian welfare state. I am particularly concerned with the distinctive gender characteristics of these organisations, because in comparison with most other organisations they have a feminised quality. This partly mirrors women's traditional role of undertaking the major part of the caring labour of society. However, simultaneously work in these organisation deviates from more traditional patterns where employed women occupy subordinate positions. In many community organisations, women occupy leadership roles. The analysis here is concerned with the apparently paradoxical nature of these organisations in their capacity to entrench traditional gender roles and to challenge these by allowing women to fill management positions. It is also concerned to examine whether changes that have been occurring in the community services sector over the last two decades are likely to enhance women's general position in the society, or diminish the power exercised by women. The paper draws in a preliminary way on a study of local services in the Hunter Region of NSW undertaken in the latter half of 1992. These preliminary findings are set against the broader picture of developments in the contemporary welfare state.

Capitalisation of interest on short term loan “irreconcilable with what is right”

Higher than usual rates of interest charged by lenders on short term loans is not of itself considered to be a penalty or evidence of unconscionable conduct. These types of lenders often charge higher rates to take account of increased losses from higher than usual defaults by borrowers.

World's pre-eminent powers recent treatment to international law : a paradigm of interest served or harmed

The US's recent rejection of some international laws may have been done to ensure American interests but it may have the opposite effects. While its recent rejection of some international legal arrangements has meant an unpopular opinion of America, its interest has been served.

The effects of cold air (-110°C) and water (8°C) cryotherapy on knee skin temperature

Exposure to cold air, whole body cryotherapy (WBC), is a novel treatment employed by athletes. In WBC individuals dressed in minimal clothing are exposed to a temperature below -100°C for 2-4 min. The use of WBC has been advocated as a treatment for various knee injuries. PURPOSE: To compare the effects of two modalities of cryotherapy, -110°C WBC and 8°C cold water immersion (CWI) on knee skin temperature (Tsk). METHODS: With ethical approval and written informed consent 10 healthy active male participants (26.5±4.9 yr, 183.5±6.0 cm, 90.7±19.9 kg, 26.8±5.0 kg/m2, 23.0±9.3% body fat (measured by DXA), 7.6 ± 2.0 mm patellar skin fold; mean±SD) were exposed to 4 min of CWI and WBC. The treatment order was randomised in a controlled crossover design, with a minimum of 7 days between treatments. During WBC participants stood in a chamber (-60±3°C) for 20 s before entering the main chamber (-110°C±3°C) where they remained for 3 min and 40 s. For CWI participants were seated in a tank filled with cold water (8±0.3°C) and immersed to the level of the sternum for 4 min. Right knee Tsk was assessed via non-contact, infrared thermal imaging. A quadrilateral region of interest was created using inert markers placed 5 cm above and below the most superior and inferior aspect of the patella. Tsk within this quadrilateral was recorded pre, immediately post and every 10 min thereafter for 60 min. Tsk changes were examined using a two-way (treatment x time) repeated measures analyses of variance. In addition, a paired sample t-test was used to compare baseline Tsk before both treatments. RESULTS: Knee Tsk was similar before treatment (WBC: 29.9±0.7°C, CWI: 29.6±0.9°C, p>0.05). There was a significant main effect for treatment (p<0.05) and time (p<0.001). Compared to baseline, Tsk was significantly reduced (p<0.05) immediately post and at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min after both cooling modalities. Knee Tsk was lower (p<0.05) immediately after WBC (19.0±0.9°C) compared to CWI (20.5±0.6°C). However, from 10 to 60 min post, knee Tsk was lower (p<0.05) following the CWI treatment. CONCLUSION: WBC elicited a greater decrease in knee Tsk compared to CWI immediately after treatment. However, both modalities display different recovery patterns and Tsk after CWI was significantly lower than WBC at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60 min after treatment.