Finger vein verification algorithm based on fully convolutional neural network and conditional random field

Owing to the complexity of finger vein patterns in shape and spatial dependence, the existing methods suffer from an inability to obtain accurate and stable finger vein features. This paper, so as to compensate this defect, proposes an end-to-end model to extract vein textures through integrating the fully convolutional neural network (FCN) with conditional random field (CRF). Firstly, to reduce missing pixels during ROI extraction, the method of sliding window summation is employed to filter and adjusted with self-built tools. In addition, the traditional baselines are endowed with different weights to automatically assign labels. Secondly, the deformable convolution network, through replacing the plain counterparts in the standard U-Net mode, can capture the complex venous structural features by adaptively adjusting the receptive fields according to veins' scales and shapes. Moreover, the above features can be further mined and accumulated by combining the recurrent neural network (RNN) and the residual network (ResNet). With the steps mentioned above, the fully convolutional neural network is constructed. Finally, the CRF with Gaussian pairwise potential conducts mean-field approximate inference as the RNN, and then is embedded as a part of the FCN, so that the model can fully integrate CRF with FCNs, which provides the possibility to involve the usual back-propagation algorithm in training the whole deep network end-to-end. The proposed models in this paper were tested on three public finger vein datasets SDUMLA, MMCBNU and HKPU with experimental results to certify their superior performance on finger-vein verification tasks compared with other equivalent models including U-Net

Expanding knowledge and practice of construction management systems and procedures.

This submission is a highly focused collection of research-based and scholarly publications in the specialist field of Construction Management. Emphasis is placed on management systems and procedures involved in the procurement and production phases of the total building process. A coherent, original, independent and significant contribution to the advancement and application of knowledge has been made through applied research and dissemination of findings to academic peers, construction industry professionals and students in higher education. This has been achieved through: academic, professional and research-based textbooks; research monographs; refereed papers in learned journals; refereed papers to premier national and international conferences; and papers to foremost construction industry professional institutions.Textbooks have been published by Macmillan, Thomas-Telford in collaboration with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Longman and Palgrave with three commissioned by and contributing to the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) 'Education Framework' for construction industry. Peer-reviewed papers have been published by eminent journals based within the UK, North America, Australia, Hong Kong and China whilst refereed conference papers have been published both in the UK and internationally at leading research symposia. Among the refereed journal and conference papers presented, a number have merited prestigious awards reflecting "the outstanding contribution to research knowledge and communication within the construction industry" (ciob, 1988) and in recognition of "making a practical and lasting contribution towards the improvement of standards in building practice and education in building"(CIOB, 2004).This submission reflects a distinguished level of dissemination of applied research and scholarship over a twenty year period. The body of work presented has established a highly significant and authoritative contribution to the better understanding of construction management systems andprocedures. Furthermore, it has influenced, where applicable, thinking and practice within the subject field within research groups, higher education, the professions and the construction industry

Market Driven Pedagogy For Financial Economics Decisions – An Exploratory Study

The exploratory study attempted to expand existing partial resolutions of graduates’ employability with the market driven pedagogy of financial economics decision (FED) program. The study related the effectiveness of the market driven pedagogy of FED to the motivational aspects of learning on a purposive sample. The methodology used the Repeated Measure design with a series of analysis of data mining approach onto an empirical data created by the existing research instrument. The analyses used were Delphi, Paired t-Test, one-way Repeated Measures ANOVA and Bayesian transformation procedure to determine a pedagogy index (PI). PI considered only the Affective and Cognitive motivation variables for learning. The Conative and Social motivation variables were also analyzed to provide secondary support for discussion and further reasoning. The exploratory study supported Kline’s (2004) argument list of fallacies in null hypothesis. Issues formulating the problem statement and significant findings about motivation for learning also concurred with recent independent studies. Additionally, the study informed that concept mapping and decision tree were within the top 20% cognitive skills desired by interns. Social learning through continuous professional development and advent of computing technology was seen as keen media for learning. Though both genders learned different and were extrinsic motivated; their professional abilities were acceptable by industries. The implicative conclusion of the study was that suitable instructional pedagogy had increased motivation for learning FED. Incremental learning of FED was expected from facilitation by computer based instructional pedagogy towards social learning. At the same time, educational technology catalyst now available for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics known as Pedagogy 3.0 was expected to extend to FED

Reconciling discrepancies in the source characterization of VOCs between emission inventories and receptor modeling

Emission inventory (EI) and receptor model (RM) are two of the three source apportionment (SA) methods recommended by Ministry of Environment of China and used widely to provide independent views on emission source identifications. How to interpret the mixed results they provide, however, were less studied. In this study, a cross-validation study was conducted in one of China's fast-developing and highly populated city cluster- the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. By utilizing a highly resolved speciated regional EI and a region-wide gridded volatile organic compounds (VOCs) speciation measurement campaign, we elucidated underlying factors for discrepancies between EI and RM and proposed ways for their interpretations with the aim to achieve a scientifically plausible source identification. Results showed that numbers of species, temporal and spatial resolutions used for comparison, photochemical loss of reactive species, potential missing sources in EI and tracers used in RM were important factors contributed to the discrepancies. Ensuring the consensus of species used in EIs and RMs, utilizing a larger spatial coverage and longer time span, addressing the impacts of photochemical losses, and supplementing emissions from missing sources could help reconcile the discrepancies in VOC source characterizations acquired using both approaches. By leveraging the advantages and circumventing the disadvantages in both methods, the EI and RM could play synergistic roles to obtain robust SAs to improve air quality management practices

Research notes: social movement revealing opportunities for grassroots transport initiatives: lessons from Hong Kong

Transportation infrastructures, as both enablers and victims of social movements, often become major political arenas of cities. In this article, we unravel the understudied role that social movements play in the formation of grassroots transport initiatives. We illustrate this role by synthesizing how grassroots efforts have created, diversified, and networked social innovations in urban transport systems in the 2019 Anti-Extradition Law Amendment Bill Movement in Hong Kong. We document the timeline of the movement and related solidarity activities, which led to various grassroots transport initiatives. We identify three lines of research that appear to be decisively informative to transport literature: a) emergency experiences, community capacities and mobility resilience, b) grassroots engagement in transport disruption management and c) community-oriented governance for a participatory smart city. These issues require particular attention in future research to guide transport policy on grassroots initiatives toward sustainable transport systems

Ambient halocarbon mixing ratios in 45 Chinese cities

During this study 158 whole air samples were collected in 45 Chinese cities in January and February 2001. The spatial distribution of different classes of halocarbons in the Chinese urban atmosphere, including chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), Halon-1211, and other chlorinated compounds is presented and discussed. Most of these compounds were enhanced compared to background levels. However, the mean enhancement of CFCs was relatively small, with CFC-12 and CFC-11 increases of 6% (range 1-31%) and 10% (range 2-89%), respectively, with respect to the global background. On the contrary, strongly enhanced levels of CFC replacement compounds and halogenated compounds used as solvents were measured. The average Halon-1211 concentration exceeded the background of 4.3 pptv by 75% and was higher than 10 pptv in several cities. Methyl chloride mixing ratios were also strongly elevated (78% higher than background levels), which is likely related to the widespread use of coal and biofuel in China. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Uncovering Research Trends in Safety Culture in the Global Construction Industry: A Bibliometric Analysis (1995-2020)

Introduction: Safety culture has mainly been used across several safety management literatures to describe the level of safety within workplaces. This paper presents the research landscape and scientific developments on safety culture in the global construction industry. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach was employed to identify, screen, and analyze the published documents indexed in the Elsevier Scopus database. Next, the research landscape and scientific developments on the topic were examined by bibliometric analysis (BA) through co-authorship, keywords co-occurrence, and citations. Results: Results showed that 738 documents were published and indexed on the topic between 1995 and 2020. The findings showed that articles are the preferred medium, whereas Engineering is the preferred subject theme for published documents on the topic. The journal of Safety Science (published by Elsevier) is the most influential source of publications on the topic. In contrast, Dongping Fang, based at Tsinghua University (China), is the most influential researcher due to the substantial research grants and financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation. Further analysis showed that the most prolific authors on the topic are based in China, Australia, and Indonesia, although the United States has published the most documents. BA also revealed large networks of researchers and co-occurring keywords and the organizations and countries that currently exist, collaborate, and cite each other works on the topic. Conclusion: The findings indicate that safety culture in the global construction industry has undergone significant scientific developments resulting in high research impact mainly due to its role in preserving the health and safety of workers

Towards Internationalization: A Critical Assessment of China's Public Administration Research in a Global Context 2000-2014

Since the establishment of the Chinese Public Administration Society (CPAS) in 1988, Public Administration (PA) research and practice have grown considerably after a gap of more than 30 years. Emerging universities and local research institutes have established specialized departments/centres for PA. This study reports on mainland China's performance in PA research by examining publication size, impact and scientometric indicators, including China's global publication share, growth rate, citation impact and leading journals based on the last 15 years publications data, as retrieved from the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) database; recognized international collaborators and domestic contributors are also considered. Findings suggest that the quantity and quality of mainland China's PA research has increased steadily, with mainland scholars playing equally as important roles as their international peers. Evidence suggests that mainland China scholars will continue to achieve international publishing success. Finally, opportunities and challenges brought about by internationalization are also discussed

Image promotion and program improvement of the full-time M.B.A. program at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

by Cheung Po-Yu, Tang Poon-Tung, Denny.Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1996.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 102-103).ABSTRACT --- p.iiTABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.viLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS --- p.ixLIST OF TABLES --- p.xiACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.xiiiCHAPTERChapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1What is M.B.A. ？ --- p.1Criticisms of Worldwide MBA Programs --- p.2Changes of MBA Program --- p.3MBA Programs in Hong Kong --- p.3Programs Offered by The Chinese University of Hong Kong --- p.4Programs Offered by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology --- p.6Corporate Communication Practices in CUHK MBA Program --- p.7Purpose of Study --- p.9Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.10Corporate Image --- p.10Key to Public Trust --- p.11Retain Quality Students --- p.11Let the Image Do the Recruiting --- p.12Corporate Communication --- p.13Introduction - What is It ？ --- p.13Means of Corporate Communication --- p.13Corporate Advertising --- p.13Product Advertising --- p.14Public Relations --- p.15Existing communication channels of the MBA Programs in CUHK --- p.16Public --- p.16Chapter III. --- RESEARCH METHOD --- p.19Objectives --- p.19Research Design --- p.20Literature Review --- p.20Research Method --- p.21Questionnaire Design --- p.21Sampling --- p.21Test of Questionnaires --- p.24Limitations --- p.24Chapter IV. --- RESEARCH FINDINGS AMD ANALYSIS --- p.26Overall Sample Characteristics --- p.26Questionnaire 1 --- p.26Nature of Business --- p.26Departments Respondents Belong To --- p.28Overall Findings --- p.29Questionnaire 2 --- p.41Nature of Respondents --- p.41Overall Findings --- p.41Chapter V. --- RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.53Product Strategies --- p.54Global Perspective with Focus on Asia - Pacific --- p.55Inclusion Mandarin as a Non-credit Core Course --- p.56Set up Another Concentration in China Studies --- p.58Enrich International Exchange Program by Increasing the Number of Overseas Universities --- p.59Include Study Tours to Different Countries --- p.61Enrich and Revise Current Curriculum --- p.62Introduction of Enrichment Programs --- p.63Design of Career Strategies of MBA Graduates --- p.65Set up Independent MBA Placement Office --- p.66Reorganize Networking with Existing Alumni --- p.72Communication Strategies --- p.74Public Relations --- p.74Set up Center for Corporate Partnership --- p.75Exhibitions --- p.76Publications and Promotional Items --- p.77Government Lobbying --- p.78Redefine the Organization and Build Up Distinctive Symbol for the Graduate School --- p.79Chapter VI. --- CONCLUSIONS --- p.81TABLES --- p.83APPENDIXES --- p.91REFERENCES --- p.10