38,302 research outputs found
Pyramidal Fisher Motion for Multiview Gait Recognition
The goal of this paper is to identify individuals by analyzing their gait.
Instead of using binary silhouettes as input data (as done in many previous
works) we propose and evaluate the use of motion descriptors based on densely
sampled short-term trajectories. We take advantage of state-of-the-art people
detectors to define custom spatial configurations of the descriptors around the
target person. Thus, obtaining a pyramidal representation of the gait motion.
The local motion features (described by the Divergence-Curl-Shear descriptor)
extracted on the different spatial areas of the person are combined into a
single high-level gait descriptor by using the Fisher Vector encoding. The
proposed approach, coined Pyramidal Fisher Motion, is experimentally validated
on the recent `AVA Multiview Gait' dataset. The results show that this new
approach achieves promising results in the problem of gait recognition.Comment: Submitted to International Conference on Pattern Recognition, ICPR,
201
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Challenging the status quo: women's experiences of opting for a home birth in Andalucia, Spain
Objective
To explore the perceptions, beliefs and attitudes of women who opted for a home birth in Andalusia (Spain).
Background
Home birth is currently an unusual choice among Spanish women. It is not an option covered by the Spanish National Health Service and women who opt for a home birth have to pay for an independent midwife.
Design
A qualitative study with a phenomenological approach was adopted. All participants who took part in this study had chosen to have a home birth and given written consent to take part in the study.
Methods
Data collection was conducted in 2015–16. Face-to-face, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with women who chose a home birth in the last 5 years.
Findings
The sample consisted of thirteen women. Seven themes were created through analysis: 1. Getting informed about home birth; 2. Home birth as a choice, despite feeling unsupported; 3. The best way to have a personalized and a physiological birth; 4. Seeking a healing and empowering experience 5. The need for emotional safety, establishing a relationship and trusting the midwife; 6. Preparing for birth and working on fears; 7. Inequality of access (because of financial implications).
Conclusions
Women opted to plan birth at home because they wanted a personalised birth and control over their decision-making in labour, which they felt would not have been afforded to them in hospital settings. Andalusian maternity care leaders should strive to ensure that all pregnant women receive respectful and high-quality personalised care, by appropriately trained staff, both in the hospital and in the community
Bilayer graphene: gap tunability and edge properties
Bilayer graphene -- two coupled single graphene layers stacked as in graphite
-- provides the only known semiconductor with a gap that can be tuned
externally through electric field effect. Here we use a tight binding approach
to study how the gap changes with the applied electric field. Within a parallel
plate capacitor model and taking into account screening of the external field,
we describe real back gated and/or chemically doped bilayer devices. We show
that a gap between zero and midinfrared energies can be induced and externally
tuned in these devices, making bilayer graphene very appealing from the point
of view of applications. However, applications to nanotechnology require
careful treatment of the effect of sample boundaries. This being particularly
true in graphene, where the presence of edge states at zero energy -- the Fermi
level of the undoped system -- has been extensively reported. Here we show that
also bilayer graphene supports surface states localized at zigzag edges. The
presence of two layers, however, allows for a new type of edge state which
shows an enhanced penetration into the bulk and gives rise to band crossing
phenomenon inside the gap of the biased bilayer system.Comment: 8 pages, 3 fugures, Proceedings of the International Conference on
Theoretical Physics: Dubna-Nano200
Fabrication and Comprehensive Modeling of Ion-Exchanged Bragg Opitcal Add-Drop Multiplexers
Optical add–drop multiplexers (OADMs) based on asymmetric Y branches and tilted gratings offer excellent-performance in wavelength-division multiplexed systems. To simplify waveguide fabrication, ion-exchange techniques appear to be an important option in photosensitive glasses. Optimum OADM performance depends on how accurately the waveguide fabrication process and tilted Bragg grating operation are understood and modeled. Results from fabrication and comprehensive modeling are compared for ion-exchange processes that use different angles of the tilted grating. The transmission and reflection spectra for the fabricated and simulated OADMs show excellent agreement. The OADM’s performance is evaluated in terms of the measured characteristics of the Y branches and tilted gratings
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