Human Facial Emotion Recognition System in a Real-Time, Mobile Setting

The purpose of this project was to implement a human facial emotion recognition system in a real-time, mobile setting. There are many aspects of daily life that can be improved with a system like this, like security, technology and safety. There were three main design requirements for this project. The first was to get an accuracy rate of 70%, which must remain consistent for people with various distinguishing facial features. The second goal was to have one execution of the system take no longer than half of a second to keep it as close to real time as possible. Lastly, the system must maintain user privacy by not saving any of their images for training. To accomplish the goal within the constraints of the design requirements, a neural network is used. The network has two layers. The first layer has 512 nodes and the second has 7 nodes. The first important step was to run and save a model that contains the weights for the network, which occurred on Google Colaboratory. The system works locally on a laptop by capturing an image with a camera connected by USB, then manipulating that image to be a grayscale, 48 by 48-pixel image. The system provides a best guess as to what the user’s emotion is and prints it on the screen. In the end, the system was successful in recognizing the user\u27s emotions 57.27% of the time. The entire process runs continuously, and a photo is taken roughly once every half second

Peace Corps Ecuador Children and Youth Development

Master’s International (Peace Corps), Summer 2016 -- Quito, Ecuador -- Partner Agencie(s): Peace Corps; Hogar del Nino San Vincente de Paulhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134361/1/Poster_Williamson.pd

The Album

How are we shaped by the objects in our lives? In this personal reflection and material culture examination, I reflect on the significance of a gift from my father, and where my affinity for this object fits into my family history and the larger social context of technology and memory

Joint angle affects volitional and magnetically-evoked neuromuscular performance differentially

This study examined the volitional and magnetically-evoked neuromuscular performance of the quadriceps femoris at functional knee joint angles adjacent to full extension. Indices of volitional and magnetically-evoked neuromuscular performance (N= 15 healthy males; 23.5 ± 2.9 years; 71.5 ± 5.4 kg; 176.5 ± 5.5 cm) were obtained at 25°; 35° and 45° of knee flexion. Results showed that volitional and magnetically-evoked peak force (PFV; PTFE, respectively) and electromechanical delay (EMDV; EMDE, respectively) were enhanced by increased knee flexion. However, greater relative improvements in volitional compared to evoked indices of neuromuscular performance were observed with increasing flexion from 25° to 45° (e.g. EMDV; EMDE: 36% vs. 11% improvement, respectively; F[2,14] = 6.8; p < 0.05). There were no significant correlations between EMDV and EMDE or PFV and PTFE, respectively at analogous joint positions. These findings suggest that the extent of the relative differential between volitional and evoked neuromuscular performance capabilities is joint angle-specific and not correlated with performance capabilities at adjacent angles, but tends to be smaller with increased flexion. As such, effective prediction of volitional from evoked performance capabilities at both analogous and adjacent knee joint positions would lack robustness

A Coffee-Scented Space: Historical, Cultural, and Social Impacts of the Japanese Kissaten

A 2016-2017 William Prize for best essay in East Asian Studies was awarded to Claire Williamson (Jonathan Edwards College \u2717) for her essay submitted to the East Asian Studies Program, “A Coffee-Scented Space: Historical, Cultural, and Social Impacts of the Japanese Kissaten.” (William Kelly, Professor of Anthropology and Sumitomo Professor of Japanese Studies, advisor.) Japan has a long and well-documented history as a tea culture, from everyday practices to the refined aesthetics of the tea ceremony and its associated arts. Yet modern Japan is also a highly developed culture of coffee, and this is the topic that Claire Williamson addresses in A Coffee-Scented Space: Historical, Cultural, and Social Impacts of the Japanese Kissaten. The notion of coffee shops, especially in urban settings, providing not only nourishment but also places for social engagement was the starting point for Williamson’s analysis. However, the Japanese landscape of coffee shops is quite variegated, and it is a strength of the essay that she explores some of these differences and their significance. Williamson does this historically by using a framework of First, Second, and Third Waves of coffee, and structurally by comparing several types of coffee shops, especially kissaten, chain shops, cafés, and coffee stands. The essay is excellent—it is an effective combination of using analytical and descriptive literatures and conducting thorough field research in Tokyo, Kanazawa, and other parts of Japan. The essay itself is a pleasure to read, well-structured and nicely phrased. It offers a grounded and persuasive account of Japan’s modern coffee culture, especially the enduring kissaten at its core

What is it like to be a Chartered Teacher doing action research?

Action research has become a widely accepted and popular form of teacher professional development/learning, within the UK and internationally, and forms part of the professional actions of the Scottish Chartered Teacher. Whilst action research may be a valuable form of professional development supported through awardbearing courses (such as the Scottish Chartered Teacher programmes), funded projects or partnerships with university colleagues, it is questionable to what extent this is continued or even valued by teachers beyond the parameters of CPD courses. If Chartered Teachers are to engage meaningfully in action research then it is vital we understand how they perceive the nature and purpose of such activities and explore the opportunities and limitations they may face. This is not just an issue for Chartered Teachers in Scotland but one that may concern any teacher attempting to engage in action research as part of their practice. To explore teachers’ lived experience of engaging in post-award non-funded action research a case-study approach was adopted. The case study comprised six qualified Chartered Teachers with this thesis focusing on the stories from three of the teachers. In-depth loosely structured interviews were held with participants at three intervals over the course of a year to discuss their current and ongoing action research work. In addition visual data was created by participants to explore, share, (re)present and negotiate their understandings of action research. Documentary data was also collected. A broadly inductive approach to the analysis was taken, coding both within and across cases. A thematic narrative analysis of the individuals’ stories was also undertaken because I believe teachers’ individual stories are critically important and was keen not to reduce these to ‘codes’ and ‘categories’. Emerging from the data are three significant themes - the importance of understanding the nature and purpose of action research; the teachers’ evolving identities as Chartered Teachers/action researchers; and the need to develop and promote a Third Space – creating a conceptually different way of being a teacher. The data shows that traditional notions of research are influencing these teachers’ understanding of action research and this limits their action research work. How teachers understand the nature and purpose of action research is deeply interrelated with their identity as a teacher/Chartered Teacher/action researcher. Their identity(ies), I suggest, is/are a site of struggle, contestation and negotiation and Chartered Teachers are, arguably, in an in-between space: they are simultaneously teacher and researcher, yet they are neither one nor the other. It is possible, then, to understand Chartered Teacher as a hybrid identity and I draw upon Third Space theory as a heuristic to understand Chartered Teacher as a distinctly different way of being a teacher. I argue that a more complex view is needed that promotes the dynamic and fluid nature of action research. The insights drawn from this study offer some understandings that may help us to (re)consider and (re)frame the way in which we understand the teacher as researcher

The Analysis of Ballpoint Inks with APCI-MS after Fading with Light, Hydrogen Peroxide and Sodium Hypochlorite Bleach

The ability to discriminate between different inks and to determine the length of time an ink has been on a substrate can provide important scientific evidence, especially in cases involving document fraud. Many techniques have been used to analyse inks for ink dating including chromatography and spectroscopy, but the results are unreliable as a result of factors affecting the aging process such as light. This study utilises established techniques in Forensic Document Examination, including filtered light examination but also novel techniques for ink analysis; Atmospheric Pressure Chemical Ionisation (APCI) to analyse inks and dyes with the aim of discriminating between samples based on their degradation products. APCI-MS was used for the first time to study nineteen ballpoint pens from a range of manufacturers by investigating the chemical processes that occur and the products that are formed following the deposition of ink onto a substrate and in solution. Monitoring the degradation process as an ink ages and fades enables the identification of components present in the inks. Using molecular mass data, accurate ink component identifications could be made over a period of two years on samples subjected to a range of external influences. Light, hydrogen peroxide and sodium hypochlorite bleach were used to simulate natural and deliberate fading of inks and dye solutions. Benzophenone and phenol molecules were identified as degradation products but their presence differed for each of the different conditions tested such as no phenol products when bleach was used. This novel approach to ink analysis utilises existing equipment commonly used by document examiner to analyse inks that are old or faded in some way, in order to discriminate between the inks or determine method of alteratio

Deletion of the trpc4 gene and its role in simple and complex strategic learning

The TRPC4 ion channel is expressed extensively in corticolimbic and a subpopulation of midbrain dopamine neurons. While TRPC4 knockout (KO) rats exhibit reduced sociability and social exploration, little is known about the role of TRPC4 in motivation and learning. To identify a function for TRPC4 channels in learning processes &#xa0;we tested TRPC4 KO and normal&#xa0;wild type (WT) rats. TRPC4 KO and WT rats exhibited no differences in Y-&#xad;maze&#xa0;learning or simple discrimination learning. Furthermore, on a more complex serial reversal shift task designed &#xa0;to assess strategic learning where the reward and non-&#xad;reward cues were repeatedly reversed between training sessions both TRPC4 KO and WT rats &#xa0; performed equally well. Finally, we found no &#xa0; performance differences when using a conditional reversal shift task where a tone signals the reversal of reward and non-reward cues within sessions. These data suggest that although TRPC4 channels may play a role in social interaction/anxiety &#xa0;they exert a minimal role in simple and complex strategic learning