Tracking object poses in the context of robust body pose estimates

This work focuses on tracking objects being used by humans. These objects are often small, fast moving and heavily occluded by the user. Attempting to recover their 3D position and orientation over time is a challenging research problem. To make progress we appeal to the fact that these objects are often used in a consistent way. The body poses of different people using the same object tend to have similarities, and, when considered relative to those body poses, so do the respective object poses. Our intuition is that, in the context of recent advances in body-pose tracking from RGB-D data, robust object-pose tracking during human-object interactions should also be possible. We propose a combined generative and discriminative tracking framework able to follow gradual changes in object-pose over time but also able to re-initialise object-pose upon recognising distinctive body-poses. The framework is able to predict object-pose relative to a set of independent coordinate systems, each one centred upon a different part of the body. We conduct a quantitative investigation into which body parts serve as the best predictors of object-pose over the course of different interactions. We find that while object-translation should be predicted from nearby body parts, object-rotation can be more robustly predicted by using a much wider range of body parts. Our main contribution is to provide the first object-tracking system able to estimate 3D translation and orientation from RGB-D observations of human-object interactions. By tracking precise changes in object-pose, our method opens up the possibility of more detailed computational reasoning about human-object interactions and their outcomes. For example, in assistive living systems that go beyond just recognising the actions and objects involved in everyday tasks such as sweeping or drinking, to reasoning that a person has missed sweeping under the chair or not drunk enough water today. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

An in situ evaluation of nutrient effects in lakes

A method for performing in situ nutrient enrichment experiments on natural likeJ)liytoplankton ccmmunities was developed and evaluated. One set of experiments in which it was employed was designed to detect limiting nutrients and to provide a basis for predicting future experiment results. Productivity increased in response to all three of the treatment variables used, N, P, and EDTA, but response patterns varied from experiment to experiment. Individual species responded differently to different treatments, and interactions among the treatment variables were important in shaping the community responses to mixtures of two or three variables. The most consistent features of the productivity results were incorporated into a most probable response pattern, which was partially validated by a second series of experiments

The geometry of dynamical triangulations

We discuss the geometry of dynamical triangulations associated with 3-dimensional and 4-dimensional simplicial quantum gravity. We provide analytical expressions for the canonical partition function in both cases, and study its large volume behavior. In the space of the coupling constants of the theory, we characterize the infinite volume line and the associated critical points. The results of this analysis are found to be in excellent agreement with the MonteCarlo simulations of simplicial quantum gravity. In particular, we provide an analytical proof that simply-connected dynamically triangulated 4-manifolds undergo a higher order phase transition at a value of the inverse gravitational coupling given by 1.387, and that the nature of this transition can be concealed by a bystable behavior. A similar analysis in the 3-dimensional case characterizes a value of the critical coupling (3.845) at which hysteresis effects are present.Comment: 166 pages, Revtex (latex) fil

Restriction Fragment Polymorphisms in Candidate Genes Associated with Hypertension

This thesis describes an investigation of the role of genetic variation and its association with hypertension. Using molecular biology techniques it is possible to analyse DNA from subjects and distinguish variants of genes that might be involved in blood pressure regulation as potential predictors of essential hypertension. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) at the gene loci for renin, atrial natriuretic peptide, glucocorticoid receptor and kallikrein have been identified and their frequency determined in three different study groups to establish an association with blood pressure. Measurement of renin, atrial natriuretic peptide and other physiological parameters associated with blood pressure was carried out on selected individuals, and the results correlated with RFLPs. The main conclusions from the study were:- 1. There was no significant association of RFLPs with blood pressure. 2. There was a striking and significant ethnic difference for several of the RFLPs studied. 3. There was no association of physiological measurements with any of the RFLPs

Designing 21st Century Standard Ware: The Cultural Heritage of Leach and the Potential Applications of Digital Technologies

This practice-based research investigates the potential applications of digital manufacturing technologies in the design and production of hand-made tableware at the Leach Pottery. The methodology for the research establishes an approach grounded in my previous experience as a maker that is informed by an open, experimental, emergent, and responsive framework based on Naturalistic Inquiry. A critical contextual review describes the cultural heritage of Leach which, for the purposes of the research, is developed through the Leach Pottery as a significant site, the historical production of the iconic Leach Standard Ware and the contemporary production of Leach Tableware. This is followed by an examination of Potter’s Tools in the Leach production environment, and a review of makers’ digital ceramic practice. The contextual review is followed by an explication of ‘standards’ presented through visual lineages of Standard Ware and Leach Tableware to define ‘standard’ at a design (macro) level, followed by an examination of how ‘standard’ operates at a making (micro level) level. This chapter presents new knowledge in relation to defining the visual field of Leach Pottery tableware production and its standards of design. A chapter focussed on practice presents the outcomes and analysis of my engagement with digital manufacturing technologies which resulted in the development of new tools to support Leach Tableware production and the interrogation of Leach forms, in different mediums, which led to the creation of Digital-Analogue Leach forms. The practice culminated in the design and development of new 21st century Standard Ware: a range of 9 forms, called Echo of Leach, that were developed by myself using digital and analogue methods: the designs were realised by myself, the Leach Studio, and a further four makers. The outcomes of the research were presented in a three month exhibition at the Leach Pottery in 2013. The conclusions of the research draw on the key points raised in the analysis of the practice and relate these to the approaches to making pottery that are highlighted in the cultural heritage of Leach in the contextual review. These are also discussed in relation to ways in which these findings could be taken forward into development of knowledge about Standard Ware, especially in a broader studio pottery context

Function of bovine blood and mammary gland mononuclear cells during the nonlactating period

Bovine mammary mononuclear cells have been shown previously to be hyporesponsive in various functional assays compared to blood mononuclear cells. Mammary mononuclear cell hyporesponsiveness may contribute to susceptibility of the bovine mammary gland to intramammary infection, particularly during physiological transitions of the gland when susceptibility to infection is highest. Therefore, experiments were conducted to determine whether mammary mononuclear cell hyporesponsiveness in proliferative assays was reversible in vitro, and to evaluate potential methods of overcoming hypo responsiveness. Production of interleukin—2 by mammary mononuclear cells was evaluated also to determine if hyporesponsiveness in proliferative assays was due to lack of secretion of interleukin-2. Addition of autologous heat-inactivated serum to bovine mammary mononuclear cells in culture enhanced proliferation of these cells in response to mitogenic lectins and allogeneic cells markedly. In particular, proliferative responses of mammary mononuclear cells isolated during physiological transitions of the gland could be enhanced by addition of serum. Ability of recombinant bovine interleukin-1β and interleukin-2, which are critical components in mononuclear cell proliferation, to enhance mammary mononuclear cell proliferation was evaluated. Recombinant interleukin-1β was ineffective in enhancing blood or mammary mononuclear cell proliferation in the presence or absence of suboptimal concentrations of mitogens. In contrast, recombinant interleukin-2 enhanced blood and mammary mononuclear cell proliferation markedly in the presence and absence of suboptimal concentrations of mitogens, including proliferation of cells isolated during physiological transitions of the mammary gland. Mammary mononuclear cell response to optimal concentrations of mitogens was comparable to that of blood mononuclear cells, possibly due to addition of 2-mercaptoethanol to culture media. Production of interleukin~2 by mammary mononuclear cells was comparable to blood mononuclear cells. Data presented in these studies suggest that previously reported mammary mononuclear cell hyporesponsiveness may have partially been due to suboptimal culture conditions, and that based upon proliferative capacity and production of interleukin-2 bovine mammary mononuclear cells may be comparable to blood mononuclear cells. Consequently, enhancement of mammary mononuclear cells in vivo to combat intramammary infections may be feasible. Data presented herein further suggest that recombinant bovine interleukin-2 may be effective as an immunoenhancer of bovine mammary mononuclear cells