A Two-Stage Learning Approach for Goalie, Net and Stick Pose Estimation in Ice Hockey

Accurate pose estimation of ice hockey goaltenders presents a unique challenge due to the dynamic nature of the sport and the intricate interactions among the goalie, equipment, and net. This study introduces a comprehensive investigation into goalie pose estimation using both One-Stage and Two-Stage Learning GoalieNet architectures. The One-Stage Learning GoalieNet predicts all keypoints simultaneously, while the Two-Stage Learning GoalieNet employs a Keypoint Predictor Network (KPN) to predict 26 out of 29 keypoints and a Keyheatmap Fusion Network (KFN) to predict 3 stick-related keypoints. Evaluation on a NHL dataset underscores the effectiveness of both approaches in accurately predicting keypoints. Results on the test data reveal a median percentage of detected keypoints of 71% for the Two-Stage approach and 70% for the One-Stage approach, along with normalized localization errors on detected keypoints of 0.0187 for the Two-Stage and 0.0194 for the One-Stage approach. This work introduces the first-ever goalie pose estimation technique designed specifically for ice hockey, accompanied by a thorough analysis of the obtained results

A Reexamination of the Philippine-Type Voice System and its Implications for Austronesian Primary-Level Subgrouping.

Ph.D. Thesis. University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa 2017

Land is Life: Settler Colonial Governance of National Parks and Hunting in Taiwan

This thesis situates Taiwan as a settler colonial state by examining the discourse around the governance of national parks and the criminalization of Indigenous hunting. Placed in the context of historical patterns of land dispossession and cultural genocide, these two issues represent the ongoing process of settler colonialism and the reproduction of settler colonial relations through environmentalism. I focus on the narratives around three case studies: the controversial and ultimately unsuccessful campaign for the Maqaw National Park, the Tumpu Daingaz buluo’s struggle with the Yushan National Park, and the Tama Talum Indigenous hunting constitutional reinterpretation case. I argue that settler colonial framings of Indigenous/environmental issues enable the continued enactment of colonial relations and policies. Settler narratives and environmentalism perpetuate settler colonialism through what Métis scholar Max Liboiron explains as the assumption of access to Indigenous land, cultures, and knowledge. These cases are often framed as a progressive and benevolent government inclusion of Indigenous cultures and ecological knowledge. However, a settler colonial lens of analysis demonstrates that these moves of settler inclusivity serve to preserve settler legitimacy and futures in Taiwan while deeper contentions over Indigenous sovereignty remain unresolved. Indigenous voices within these stories reveal a throughline of ongoing resistance and resurgence, offering alternative understandings that center Indigenous land and life. While settler narratives portray and encourage limiting frameworks that prioritize settler interests, Indigenous narratives and activism expand the ways for Indigenous self-determination, futures, and land relations

Investigating the influence of technology on Saudi women entrepreneurs overcoming gender discrimination

A small number of empirical studies are found in the literature which discuss entrepreneurship in comparative studies in the Gulf region, and which include Saudi Arabia. However, they tend to target entrepreneurship in general, but refer to male entrepreneurs specifically. The study presented in this thesis aims to develop research on women’s entrepreneurship in Saudi Arabia by understanding the effects of discrimination on entrepreneurial behaviour and investigating the influence of technology on entrepreneurship and gender discrimination. A total of 27 female entrepreneurs from the city of Jeddah, in Saudi Arabia, are interviewed and resources-based theory and institutional theory drawn on to investigate the topic. In addition, feminist theory and a feminist approach are applied throughout the research. Key findings suggest that Saudi women encounter cultural and institutional barriers that hinder entrepreneurial behaviour; cultural barriers having the greatest impact. Personal traits and characteristics possessed by these women greatly support their exploitation of opportunity. While different resources aid their entrepreneurial behaviour, technology has played a role not only in enhancing such behaviour, but also in helping Saudi women entrepreneurs overcome gender discrimination. Further, as research has shown, entrepreneurs have an influence on the economic development of many countries. Thus, it is expected that better understanding of the positive effect that Saudi women entrepreneurs have on the Saudi economy will encourage further research into this demographic and the impacts of gender discrimination on their success. Understanding the gender related barriers helps locate potential solutions that aim to minimise gender discrimination and enhance entrepreneurial behaviour and economic development. Finally, technology is found to be a positive factor for Saudi women and a major tool that has helped them overcome the challenges they face

Absorbeur solaire volumique haute température à propriétés optiques contrôlées

Solar-to-electricity power plants appear to be the most promises way for large electricity production in the future, in terms of costs as well as environmental impacts. Thus, reaching the required technology level still requires research and innovations in order to implement such power plants at large scale.In this context, volumetric solar receivers/absorbers could allow us to reach higher temperatures in comparison to surface receivers (actual concentrating solar power technology used in solar towers), leading to high efficiency thermodynamical cycles such as Brayton cycles. With the ANR-OPTISOL project, this thesis tends to give new answers on volumetric solar absorbers using ceramic foams:- Experimental studies of open pores ceramic foams used as high temperature volumetric solar absorber have been conducted at CNRS-PROMES laboratory (UPR 8521), with designed of a dedicated experiment for 5cm diameter samples operating under quasi-1D conditions submitted to concentrated solar power at the focal point of a vertical axis solar furnace;- A numerical code has been developed in order to solve coupled heat transfers in porous medium using the “equivalent homogeneous medium” hypothesis, then validated on the experimental campaigns;- Finally, an optimization algorithm has been used (“particle swarm optimization”) aiming the identification of the optimal geometrical characteristics maximizing the solar-to-thermal efficiency of ceramic foams.La production d’électricité par voie solaire apparait comme la solution la plus prometteuse pour l’avenir, tant en termes de coûts que de pollution. Cependant, afin d’atteindre le niveau de technologie requis pour envisager l’implémentation de telles centrales à grande échelle, plusieurs verrous technologiques et scientifiques sont encore à lever.Dans cette optique, les récepteurs/absorbeurs volumiques pourraient permettre d’atteindre de plus hautes températures que les récepteurs surfaciques (technologie actuellement utilisée dans les tours solaires à concentration), permettant l’usage de cycles thermodynamiques à haute rendement, tels que les cycles Brayton. Via le projet ANR-OPTISOL, la thèse présentée ici veut répondre en partie à ces problématiques par l’étude des absorbeurs solaires volumiques :- Une étude expérimentale des mousses céramiques utilisées comme absorbeur solaire volumique haute température a été menée au laboratoire CNRS-PROMES (UPR 8521). Une expérience a été conçue afin de tester des échantillons de 5cm de diamètre soumis au flux solaire concentré en conditions quasi-1D au foyer d’un four solaire à axe vertical ;- Un code de calcul des transferts thermiques couplés en milieu poreux a été développé utilisant l’hypothèse de « milieu homogène équivalent », puis validé sur les campagnes expérimentales ;- Finalement, un algorithme d’optimisation par essaim de particules a été utilisé afin de déterminer les propriétés géométriques optimales de mousses céramiques maximisant l’efficacité de conversion thermosolaire

Papers in Papuan linguistics No. 1

WILLIAM U. BROWN--A quantitative phonology of Mai Brat; PHILIP C. FIELDS-- A phonology of the Orya language; LIISA JARVINEN--The pronoun system of Mauwake; LINDA K. JONES--Question words in Yawa; DON LAYCOCK--Three vowels, semivowels, and neutralisation: orthographic and other problems of Sepik languages; JOHN R. ROBERTS--Reduplication in Arnele; DEIDRE SHELDEN-- Setting a course in Galela: an orientation system of North Halmahera; HOWARD SHELDEN--Galela pronominal verb prefixes; HEIN STEINHAUER--Demonstratives in the Blagar language of Dolap (Pura, Alor, Indonesia); F.S. WATUSEKE (translated, edited and with a foreword and postscript by C.L. Voorhoeve)-- The Ternate language; CARL R. WHITEHEAD--Tense, aspect, mood and modality: verbal morphology in Meny

Decomposition and its effects on mechanical properties in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys

The effects of variations in composition on the decomposition process in Al-Zn-Mg-Cu alloys (i.e. – 7xxx-series aluminum alloy) were studied emphasizing their effect on mechanical properties. Several experimental quaternary alloys were studied to compare their behavior with commercial 7xxx-series alloys. The investigation included studies on the effects of natural aging, artificial aging, quench sensitivity, precipitate free zone formation, and homogenization. Additionally, “true aging” curves (i.e. – hardness/strength vs. conductivity) were presented in order to visualize and quantify the entire precipitation process. It is obvious that fluctuations in the main alloying elements/processing parameters can alter the precipitation process, but the purpose of this work was to quantify those changes using standard industrial techniques. It was found that natural aging was detrimental for strength in the T6 temper for alloys containing more than 1.0 wt.% Cu, and was shown to alter the coarsening kinetics in the over-aged condition (T7). Conversely, for alloys with Cu contents less than 0.5% natural aging was shown to be beneficial for strength. Altering the Zn:Mg ratio was also shown to effect natural aging response of an alloy in addition to introducing additional precipitation processes (T-phase). Therefore, this work is a blueprint for advanced alloy manufacturing that allows for the rapid production of new alloys and tempers by narrowing the research focus depending on an alloy’s composition.Ph.D

BDS GNSS for Earth Observation

For millennia, human communities have wondered about the possibility of observing phenomena in their surroundings, and in particular those affecting the Earth on which they live. More generally, it can be conceptually defined as Earth observation (EO) and is the collection of information about the biological, chemical and physical systems of planet Earth. It can be undertaken through sensors in direct contact with the ground or airborne platforms (such as weather balloons and stations) or remote-sensing technologies. However, the definition of EO has only become significant in the last 50 years, since it has been possible to send artificial satellites out of Earth’s orbit. Referring strictly to civil applications, satellites of this type were initially designed to provide satellite images; later, their purpose expanded to include the study of information on land characteristics, growing vegetation, crops, and environmental pollution. The data collected are used for several purposes, including the identification of natural resources and the production of accurate cartography. Satellite observations can cover the land, the atmosphere, and the oceans. Remote-sensing satellites may be equipped with passive instrumentation such as infrared or cameras for imaging the visible or active instrumentation such as radar. Generally, such satellites are non-geostationary satellites, i.e., they move at a certain speed along orbits inclined with respect to the Earth’s equatorial plane, often in polar orbit, at low or medium altitude, Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), thus covering the entire Earth’s surface in a certain scan time (properly called ’temporal resolution’), i.e., in a certain number of orbits around the Earth. The first remote-sensing satellites were the American NASA/USGS Landsat Program; subsequently, the European: ENVISAT (ENVironmental SATellite), ERS (European Remote-Sensing satellite), RapidEye, the French SPOT (Satellite Pour l’Observation de laTerre), and the Canadian RADARSAT satellites were launched. The IKONOS, QuickBird, and GeoEye-1 satellites were dedicated to cartography. The WorldView-1 and WorldView-2 satellites and the COSMO-SkyMed system are more recent. The latest generation are the low payloads called Small Satellites, e.g., the Chinese BuFeng-1 and Fengyun-3 series. Also, Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSSs) have captured the attention of researchers worldwide for a multitude of Earth monitoring and exploration applications. On the other hand, over the past 40 years, GNSSs have become an essential part of many human activities. As is widely noted, there are currently four fully operational GNSSs; two of these were developed for military purposes (American NAVstar GPS and Russian GLONASS), whilst two others were developed for civil purposes such as the Chinese BeiDou satellite navigation system (BDS) and the European Galileo. In addition, many other regional GNSSs, such as the South Korean Regional Positioning System (KPS), the Japanese quasi-zenital satellite system (QZSS), and the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS/NavIC), will become available in the next few years, which will have enormous potential for scientific applications and geomatics professionals. In addition to their traditional role of providing global positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) information, GNSS navigation signals are now being used in new and innovative ways. Across the globe, new fields of scientific study are opening up to examine how signals can provide information about the characteristics of the atmosphere and even the surfaces from which they are reflected before being collected by a receiver. EO researchers monitor global environmental systems using in situ and remote monitoring tools. Their findings provide tools to support decision makers in various areas of interest, from security to the natural environment. GNSS signals are considered an important new source of information because they are a free, real-time, and globally available resource for the EO community