Deep Neural Network and Data Augmentation Methodology for off-axis iris segmentation in wearable headsets

A data augmentation methodology is presented and applied to generate a large dataset of off-axis iris regions and train a low-complexity deep neural network. Although of low complexity the resulting network achieves a high level of accuracy in iris region segmentation for challenging off-axis eye-patches. Interestingly, this network is also shown to achieve high levels of performance for regular, frontal, segmentation of iris regions, comparing favorably with state-of-the-art techniques of significantly higher complexity. Due to its lower complexity, this network is well suited for deployment in embedded applications such as augmented and mixed reality headsets

Smart Augmentation - Learning an Optimal Data Augmentation Strategy

A recurring problem faced when training neural networks is that there is typically not enough data to maximize the generalization capability of deep neural networks(DNN). There are many techniques to address this, including data augmentation, dropout, and transfer learning. In this paper, we introduce an additional method which we call Smart Augmentation and we show how to use it to increase the accuracy and reduce overfitting on a target network. Smart Augmentation works by creating a network that learns how to generate augmented data during the training process of a target network in a way that reduces that networks loss. This allows us to learn augmentations that minimize the error of that network. Smart Augmentation has shown the potential to increase accuracy by demonstrably significant measures on all datasets tested. In addition, it has shown potential to achieve similar or improved performance levels with significantly smaller network sizes in a number of tested cases

A PRiME perspective on economics curriculum design

The United Nations’ Principles of Responsible Management Education initiative aspires to transform the relationship between business and society by ensuring that the next generation of business leaders are shaped by management education that conceptualises businesses as generators of sustainable value. Simplistic economic models overemphasize the role of narrow profit maximization on the part of firms in generating broader economic wellbeing. More nuanced views of the relationships between firms and the societies in which they operate, such as those that allow for market power in product and labour markets, for the presence of externalities in the production of goods and services, for a role of the state in the provision of public goods, and for the existence of market failures more generally, offer profoundly different advice to aspiring practitioners of responsible management. This article proposes an introductory economics curriculum for management students that gives due emphasis to these more nuanced perspectives and thus equips aspiring business leaders with the skills they will need to build profitable enterprises that also fulfil the objective of generating sustainable value as envisioned by the Principles of Responsible Management Education

September 30, 1999

The Breeze is the student newspaper of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia

Construction and Interpretation Of Corpus-Based English Poetry Vocabulary Profile

Vocabulary Profilers (VPrs) are deeply rooted in pedagogical purposes. The current investigation, however, uses the Classic and Compleat VPrs to: 1) determine the distribution and content of vocabulary in an English poetry corpus 2) explain differences in the constituents of the vocabulary profile (VP), 3) explore the role of language users in constructing the VP. The corpus includes Extended Corpus (EC: 1.363.225 words), Micro Corpus (MC: 43.200 words) from thirty-six poets, and two poems translated into Arabic. The main results show that Types, Offlist words, Academic and Anglo-Saxon words outline the VP, and that the number of Types and the size of the Individual Mental Lexicon constitute the main features of the translator’s VP. The paper concludes that the poet’s construction of the poetry VP undergoes multilayer interpretation by the reader/analyst and the translator, who utilize their socio-environmental context to pin down the semantic potential of the VP anew