A User Study of the Just Noticeable Difference in Animation Level of Detail Set in a Game Environment

Background. A previous study on performance benefits of joint reduction for animations was made by the authors of this thesis. The results of the study showed that a reduction in joint count is highly beneficial for performance. What that study left out was the perception of Level of Detail (LoD) of animations, and what the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) of a percentage decrease on the joint count would be. Thus motivating a study on peoples’ perception of animation quality. Objectives. The aim is to study the perception of LoD of animations in a game-like environment whilst doing a simple search-and-click task. Aiming to find the JND between animations with a different number of joints while the players are set with a task that does not involve interacting with the characters performing the animation. Methods. A psychophysical experiment was performed using a game implementation in Unity. Unity was chosen because it has easy access to develop scripts and a game environment. Furthermore, it has a marketplace where already made content can be downloaded and reused, which made the user study much easier to create. Results. A total of 85.71% did not see any difference between the different qualities used for the animations. The 14.29% that saw a difference in the animations all saw the difference between the lowest and the one next to the lowest quality animation. Conclusions. Three out of 21 participants were able to see a difference in the lowest animation quality, whilst no one saw any difference in the other qualities. Thus, people were not able to see a density reduction of up to 62.26% fewer joints for the chosen animation. Due to the low number of positive detections in the quality change of the animations, the JND could not be reliably computed

Relationen mellan personlighet, känsla av sammanhang, politiskt intresse och politisk inriktning bland högskolestudenter

Personlighet påverkar många livsaspekter. Tidigare forskning har visat att politik är en av dessa aspekter. Forskning inom området har konstaterat ett samband mellan personlighet och riktningen av personers politiska orientering samt mellan personlighet och Känsla av sammanhang (KASAM). Däremot fanns en forskningslucka kring relationen mellan KASAM och politik. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka relationen som de fem grundläggande personlighetsdimensionerna och KASAM har till Politiskt intresse samt Politisk inriktning, men även relationen mellan personlighetsdimensionerna och KASAM. Hundrafemtiofem studenter deltog varav 37 män. Datainsamling gjordes via enkät, som bestod av BFI-44, SOC-13 samt självrapportering av Politiskt intresse och inriktning. Databearbetningen skedde via korrelationsanalys samt regressionsanalys. Studiens resultat visade att personlighet hade ett samband med politik samt KASAM och att KASAM hade ett samband med en högerorienterad politisk inriktning. Eftersom relationen mellan KASAM och politik var relativt outforskad kan resultatet av denna studie ses som ett intressant ämne för framtida forskning

”MEN DET ÄR JU MÄNNISKOR VI JOBBAR MED. MÄNNISKOR KAN VARA OFÖRUTSÄGBARA” : - Om hur socialtjänsten uppmärksammar och åtgärdar eventuella missförhållanden i familjehemsvården

Studiens syfte är att belysa hur eventuella missförhållanden i pågående familjehemsplaceringar kommer till kännedom för socialtjänsten, samt att belysa vilka åtgärder socialtjänsten använder för placerade barn och/eller familjehem, när missförhållanden föreligger. Den tidigare forskningen lyfter fram hur barn påverkas vid missförhållanden och beskriver socialtjänstens utmaningar samt möjliga åtgärder vid missförhållanden. De teoretiska perspektiven som används är anknytningsteorin och kristeorin. Den använda metoden i denna studie är sex semistrukturerade intervjuer med socialsekreterare från två olika städer i Mellansverige. De centrala resultat som framkommer är att socialtjänsten uppmärksammar eventuella missförhållanden genom att få information från myndigheter, familjehemsplacerade barn, familjehem och biologfamiljer genom orosanmälningar, barnsamtal, hembesök samt uppföljningsmöten. De åtgärder som socialtjänsten använder för barn och/eller familjehem när det föreligger missförhållanden är att inte genomföra någon direkt åtgärd, sätta in råd och stödåtgärder i familjehem genomföra utredningar på familjehem utifrån barns bästa och omplaceringar av barn. The purpose of this study is to highlight how abusive situations in ongoing foster care placements come to the knowledge of the social services, and what actions the social services use for placed children and/or foster care, when abusive circumstances exist. The previous research highlights how children are affected in abusive situations and describes the social service's challenges as well as possible actions in abusive situations. The theoretical perspectives used are attachment theory and crisis theory. The method used in this study is six semi-structured interviews with social workers from two different cities in Central Sweden. The central results that emerge are that the social services obtains knowledge of possible abuses by obtaining information from authorities, foster care children, foster families and biological families through reports of concern, meetings with children, home visits and follow-up meetings. The actions that the social services use for children and/or foster families when there are confirmed abuses are not to take any immediate action, to put in counselling and support measures in foster families to conduct investigations on foster families based on children's best interests and relocation of children

A User Study of the Just Noticeable Difference in Animation Level of Detail Set in a Game Environment

Background. A previous study on performance benefits of joint reduction for animations was made by the authors of this thesis. The results of the study showed that a reduction in joint count is highly beneficial for performance. What that study left out was the perception of Level of Detail (LoD) of animations, and what the Just Noticeable Difference (JND) of a percentage decrease on the joint count would be. Thus motivating a study on peoples’ perception of animation quality. Objectives. The aim is to study the perception of LoD of animations in a game-like environment whilst doing a simple search-and-click task. Aiming to find the JND between animations with a different number of joints while the players are set with a task that does not involve interacting with the characters performing the animation. Methods. A psychophysical experiment was performed using a game implementation in Unity. Unity was chosen because it has easy access to develop scripts and a game environment. Furthermore, it has a marketplace where already made content can be downloaded and reused, which made the user study much easier to create. Results. A total of 85.71% did not see any difference between the different qualities used for the animations. The 14.29% that saw a difference in the animations all saw the difference between the lowest and the one next to the lowest quality animation. Conclusions. Three out of 21 participants were able to see a difference in the lowest animation quality, whilst no one saw any difference in the other qualities. Thus, people were not able to see a density reduction of up to 62.26% fewer joints for the chosen animation. Due to the low number of positive detections in the quality change of the animations, the JND could not be reliably computed

Synchrotron based phase contrast X-ray imaging combined with FTIR spectroscopy reveals structural and biomolecular differences in spikelets play a significant role in resistance to Fusarium in wheat

Background: Fusarium head blight (FHB), a scab principally caused by Schw., is a serious disease of wheat. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential of combining synchrotron based phase contrast X-ray imaging (PCI) with Fourier Transform mid infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy to understand the mechanisms of resistance to FHB by resistant wheat cultivars. Our hypothesis is that structural and biochemical differences between resistant and susceptible cultivars play a significant role in developing resistance to FHB. Results: Synchrotron based PCI images and FTIR absorption spectra (4000-800 cm) of the floret and rachis from Fusarium-damaged and undamaged spikes of the resistant cultivar 'Sumai3', tolerant cultivar 'FL62R1', and susceptible cultivar 'Muchmore' were collected and analyzed. The PCI images show significant differences between infected and non-infected florets and rachises of different wheat cultivars. However, no pronounced difference between non-inoculated resistant and susceptible cultivar in terms of floret structures could be determined due to the complexity of the internal structures. The FTIR spectra showed significant variability between infected and non-infected floret and rachis of the wheat cultivars. The changes in absorption wavenumbers following pathogenic infection were mostly in the spectral range from 1800-800 cm. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was also used to determine the significant chemical changes inside floret and rachis when exposed to the FHB disease stress to understand the plant response mechanism. In the floret and rachis samples, PCA of FTIR spectra revealed differences in cell wall related polysaccharides. In the florets, absorption peaks for Amide I, cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin were affected by the pathogenic fungus. In the rachis of the wheat cultivars, PCA underlines significant changes in pectin, cellulose, and hemicellulose characteristic absorption spectra. Amide II and lignin absorption peaks, persistent in the rachis of Sumai3, together with increased peak shift at 1245 cm after infection with FHB may be a marker for stress response in which the cell wall compounds related to pathways for lignification are increased. Conclusions: Synchrotron based PCI combined with FTIR spectroscopy show promising results related to FHB in wheat. The combined technique is a powerful new tool for internal visualisation and biomolecular monitoring before and during plant-microbe interactions to understand both the differences between cultivars and their different responses to disease stress.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye