Using Bezier Curve analysis in context of Expression Analysis

Affective computing is an area of research under increasing demand in the field of computer vision. Expression analysis, in particular, is a topic that has been undergoing research for many years. In this paper, an algorithm for expression determination and analysis is performed for the detection of seven expressions: sadness, anger, happiness, neutral, fear, disgust and surprise. First, the 68 landmarks of the face are detected and the face is realigned and warped to obtain a new image. Next, feature extraction is performed using LPQ. We then use a dimensionality reduction algorithm followed by a dual RBF-SVM and Adaboost classification algorithm to find the interest points in the features extracted. We then plot bezier curves on the regions of interest obtained. The curves are then used as the input to a CNN and this determines the facial expression. The results showed the algorithm to be extremely successfu

Intermodulation distortion performance enhancement of microwave power amplifiers

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.This thesis reports the author's investigation of the effects of the injection of specific signals on the intermodulation distortion performance of microwave power amplifiers. Theory, simulation and practical results are presented, analysed and compared. The thesis gives the reader background knowledge of power amplifiers and their nonlinearities and go on to analyse the phenomena of intermodulation distortion product generation in power amplifiers. The analysis is based on a three-tone test since this highlights a second kind of third order intermodulation distortion (IMD3), which are in general higher in amplitude than the first kind of IMD3 found in a two-tone test. A mathematical analysis and a simulation of a MESFET amplifier are performed. It enables the comparison of the performance of IMD cancellation by injection of signals whose frequencies are chosen to be first, the second harmonic of the fundamental signals, second, the sum of the fundamental signal frequencies and finally the difference frequencies of the fundamental signals. A practical implementation of the difference frequency technique is then presented and practical results are compared to the other two techniques of second harmonic injection and the injection of the sum of fundamental frequencies. It is further shown that in practise these two techniques may be considered as a single technique

The blues and jazz in Albert Murray\u27s fiction: A study in the tradition of stylization

The use of the blues as a critical theory and as a literary model for the crafting of fiction opens new possibilities for both intellectual and artistic exploration. Reflecting the power of human agency amidst antagonism, the blues is the music of personal triumph over the brutality of circumstances despite any change in condition. The music\u27s emphasis on improvisation reveals human agency because through instrumentation, singing, stylistic nuances, audience participation and/or venue individuals transform perceived or imagined woefulness into hopefulness. Studying the blues and its cultural legacy is significant in identifying the mechanisms by which individuals and ultimately entire communities sustain themselves. The literature that uses the blues as an aesthetic guide demonstrates variety of experience, human agency, and an individual crafting of identity in relation to group identity.;Albert Murray\u27s Scooter series, Train Whistle Guitar (1974), The Spyglass Tree (1991) and The Seven League Boots (1995), lends insight into the ways in which the blues contributes to the writing of fiction. Initially set in the 1920s and 30s Jim Crow U.S. South, the series follows Scooter through maturity into the 1960s. Scooter is reared in the blues tradition; its history is his life. Music abounds, living conditions are harsh but his community exudes vitality that parallels the music. The blues is intrinsically linked with heroic activity because it demonstrates the ways in which personal agency transforms actual or perceived limitations.;In Murray\u27s blues-based series, a modeling of jazz is the logical outcome of Scooter\u27s characterization because jazz resonates with ingenuity and variety while being rooted in African American culture. This study analyzes Scooter\u27s maturity as it parallels the development of the blues through the country blues (Train Whistle Guitar), classic blues to jazz during Scooter\u27s college years (The Spyglass Tree), and the smoothness of style consistent with swing-style jazz during Scooter\u27s mature adulthood (The Seven League Boots). Scooter\u27s characterization will be considered in conjunction with Thomas Malory\u27s, Arthur in Le Morte D\u27Arthur (1485); Ralph Ellison\u27s protagonist in Invisible Man (1952); and Richard Wright\u27s Bigger Thomas in Native Son (1940)