9,660 research outputs found
Self-Ordering Point Clouds
In this paper we address the task of finding representative subsets of points
in a 3D point cloud by means of a point-wise ordering. Only a few works have
tried to address this challenging vision problem, all with the help of hard to
obtain point and cloud labels. Different from these works, we introduce the
task of point-wise ordering in 3D point clouds through self-supervision, which
we call self-ordering. We further contribute the first end-to-end trainable
network that learns a point-wise ordering in a self-supervised fashion. It
utilizes a novel differentiable point scoring-sorting strategy and it
constructs an hierarchical contrastive scheme to obtain self-supervision
signals. We extensively ablate the method and show its scalability and superior
performance even compared to supervised ordering methods on multiple datasets
and tasks including zero-shot ordering of point clouds from unseen categories
Emotional complexity of fan-controlled comments: Affective labor of fans of high-popularity Chinese stars
In China, fan participation in media production is becoming more mainstream and diverse, and fan groups themselves are developing perceptible emotional attributes; thus, studies on affective labor involving fans are gradually increasing in number. Fan-controlled comments are a feature of fan culture that has received much attention due to their rapid growth and influence. This study uses sentiment analysis and keyword analysis to examine the main types of “emotions” felt by today's fans of highly popular stars and classifies them into four categories: idols, fan communities, the self, and the outside world. Both positive and negative emotions coexist. The study found that fans engage in this kind of obligatory affective labor, creating second-hand exchanges for personal spiritual enrichment, and focusing more on building and expressing emotions. In addition, as affective laborers, they gain a sense of belonging to a fan community and form group symbols because of their shared emotions and concerns. Throughout the process of controlling comments, the time and energy of the fan groups are consumed, their emotions are controlled, and their behavior is restrained; however, the immediate purpose they want to achieve is not achieved. What seems to be an active choice is a trap of alienated labor, bound, and controlled by forces
The Adirondack Chronology
The Adirondack Chronology is intended to be a useful resource for researchers and others interested in the Adirondacks and Adirondack history.https://digitalworks.union.edu/arlpublications/1000/thumbnail.jp
Free Movement of Persons and Access to the Labour Market: Lessons from the European Economic Community for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic Community.
PhD Theses.While a regional framework on the free movement of persons does not exist within
the current AEC, it envisions advancing the region to have a freer flow of skilled labour. It
has initiated the regional movement of selected high-skilled labour through the MRAs on the
movement of selected professionals and the MNP on the movement of businesspersons.
However, the AEC does not have any integration at the regional level on the movement of
low-skilled labour. Thailand, which is the most preferred destination for low-skilled AEC
labour, has entered into bilateral agreements with other four AEC member states, namely,
Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, in order to supplement the regional rule regarding
low-skilled labour.
This thesis postulates that the EEC free movement of persons framework, which
involved the movement of persons to pursue economic activities, could provide useful
lessons for the emerging AEC labour migration framework. The main supporting reason for
this hypothesis is that the original EEC framework has eventually developed into the most
mature regional system on the free movement of persons within the EU.
This thesis perceives the development of a regional framework on labour migration as
a historical development, which challenges labour migration theory. The central question of
this research is “How can participating states develop and accept a legal framework on labour
migration within regional economic associations?” This thesis aims to examine the feasibility
of regional integration on labour migration within the AEC, taking into account the
experiences of the EEC free movement of persons framework. It aims to explore approaches
and main features of the labour migration framework of the EEC and the AEC. The
examination mainly relies on obstacles to labour migration including access to the labour
market, permission to perform economic activities, permission to reside, family reunification,
working conditions, and protection from expulsion.
This thesis also aims to prove the hypothesis of the new regionalism theory, which
proposed that regionalism emerges from below and within the region. Through the lens of the
new regionalism theory, it explores the challenge that reliance only on existing international
law may be inadequate for regional cooperation to achieve deep regionalism in respect of
labour migration. Nevertheless, an effective regional framework could be initiated by new
rules agreed by the participating states or developed from reciprocal bilateral agreements
The Role of the Metabolome in the Development of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in High-Risk Minority Women: A Causal Investigation
Gestational Diabetes Mellitus (GDM) is the most common pregnancy complication worldwide. However, GDM prevalence is substantially lower in white Europeans (WEs) compared to other ethnicities, especially South Asians (SAs) who experience the highest risk. Globally, healthy diet promotion is the mainstay in GDM prevention, however current guidelines are predominantly based on evidence from WEs. Furthermore, metabolic factors responsible for the disparities in prevalence are unknown but may offer guidance for improved prevention and management.
This project aimed to (i) assess the association between diet and GDM across ethnic groups, (ii) determine if distinct metabolic profiles characterise GDM in SAs and WEs, and (iii) evaluate the presence of ethnic-specific causal associations between metabolites and gestational dysglycemia. Aims (ii) and (iii) utilised data from the Born in Bradford cohort (mean gestational age 26.1 weeks).
First, through a systematic review of observational and randomised studies, pre-pregnancy diet was found to associate with GDM in WEs, but not in Asians. Secondly, the multivariate analyses of metabolites identified 7 metabolites that were characteristic of GDM in both ethnicities, with an additional 6 characteristic in WEs only. Finally, through Mendelian Randomisation (MR) analyses, 14 metabolites associated with pregnancy dysglycemia in WEs and 11 in SAs. No metabolites were identified in both ethnicities. Cholesterols and fatty acids were the most commonly identified classes identified in WEs and SAs, respectively.
This project demonstrated (i) inconsistencies in the association between diet and GDM across ethnicities (ii) distinct metabolic profiles that associate with GDM in WEs and SAs and offers and supports the need for ethnic-specific manage GDM management strategies. In high-risk SAs, fatty acids may be the most important predictors of GDM. Future work should evaluate the role of pre-pregnancy fatty acid intake in GDM development in SAs to aid in the development of culturally tailored dietary interventions
The Effect of Performance Management on Perceived Justice in Family Businesses in Hungary
My research connects to three main disciplines: Family Business Management, Organizational Behaviour Management, and Human Resource Management. Specifically, in my thesis proposal, I study the Performance Management System and its effects on perceived justice at family businesses.
For identifying the research focus and questions and developing the research design, I apply the Interactive Model (Maxwell & Loomis, 2003), which has five main components: Purposes, Conceptual Framework, Research Questions, Methods, and Validity. In this interactive model, these five components form an integrated, interacting whole. The research questions play a central role. The components are closely tied to each other, and each element can influence and be influenced by the others, rather than being linked in a linear or cyclic sequence
Using Social Media to build a Counter-Power Movement: Multiple Sclerosis and CCSVI, a Case Study
The research is focused on a patient-based social media movement which advocated for clinical research into a discovery rejected by key elements of the medical establishment. This thesis aims to examine how social media interactions empowered patients, what motivated them to become a movement, and the elements which propelled the movement to create alternative patient associations.
This research comprises 62 individual, in-person, audio-recorded interviews with movement activists, and the researcher’s autoethnography as the founder and administrator of the movement’s Facebook Page. These methods are triangulated with academic publications, newspaper and television news, as well as other publicly-sourced materials relating to the case study.
The research finds that while the movement’s activities, from planning through protest, occurred solely on the streets of social media, activists experienced the same passion and urgency as the academic literature has described for on-the-street activists. That is, social media paralleled the “real streets” as a forum for the movement’s core activities. The research further finds that the traditional patient associations’ initial strategy of stonewalling the contested discovery was undercut by the momentum of the social media movement’s activities. They subsequently sought to quell the movement by lambasting social media as well as deploying a co-optation strategy, as described by the activists.
To conclude, social media function as streets and city halls where decisions taken can be implemented in the real world and permit geographically distributed as well as differently abled people to gather in significant numbers. The space where human interactions can foster social life and deepen personal emotional relations could be named the space of humanity. This is the space where timeless time and the realities of the counter power experience can happen, independent of whether that space is surrounded by real or digital bricks
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