Pose Invariant 3D Face Authentication based on Gaussian Fields Approach

This thesis presents a novel illuminant invariant approach to recognize the identity of an individual from his 3D facial scan in any pose, by matching it with a set of frontal models stored in the gallery. In view of today’s security concerns, 3D face reconstruction and recognition has gained a significant position in computer vision research. The non intrusive nature of facial data acquisition makes face recognition one of the most popular approaches for biometrics-based identity recognition. Depth information of a 3D face can be used to solve the problems of illumination and pose variation associated with face recognition. The proposed method makes use of 3D geometric (point sets) face representations for recognizing faces. The use of 3D point sets to represent human faces in lieu of 2D texture makes this method robust to changes in illumination and pose. The method first automatically registers facial point-sets of the probe with the gallery models through a criterion based on Gaussian force fields. The registration method defines a simple energy function, which is always differentiable and convex in a large neighborhood of the alignment parameters; allowing for the use of powerful standard optimization techniques. The new method overcomes the necessity of close initialization and converges in much less iterations as compared to the Iterative Closest Point algorithm. The use of an optimization method, the Fast Gauss Transform, allows a considerable reduction in the computational complexity of the registration algorithm. Recognition is then performed by using the robust similarity score generated by registering 3D point sets of faces. Our approach has been tested on a large database of 85 individuals with 521 scans at different poses, where the gallery and the probe images have been acquired at significantly different times. The results show the potential of our approach toward a fully pose and illumination invariant system. Our method can be successfully used as a potential biometric system in various applications such as mug shot matching, user verification and access control, and enhanced human computer interaction

The Not-So-Silent Rise of Nationalism: A COVID-19 Result

Since the discovery and surge of the COVID-19 virus in the early days of 2020, we saw the creepy crawl of accusations and counteraccusations, the divisions between the scientific communities, the lack of exemplary conduct by the political elites, the lack of transparency in the reporting of death statistics, and the increasing lack of confidence and support for people. Amidst all this was a burgeoning of defensive and, on many occasions, offensive nationalism. A stage that mirrored resounding the amended final command from the 1924 George Orwell’s Animal farms, wherein the Pigs, the more intelligent of the manor farm animals, proclaim that some animals are more equal than others

Gramscian 'Counter hegemony' in Narendra Modi's New India Perspective

The 'counter hegemony' that Gramsci, (1987:344) talks about is about leaders and their understanding and how well they conceptualise the psychology of the masses. Counter hegemonies have transformative power and Modi continues to prove that. In this special editorial, the author reviews the leadership of Mr Modi in India

Future of Healthcare

In the current editorial, I delineate the factors that must constitute a recipient rights-based health care system, at least a future health care system. As a reflection on what transpired in the two years of the pandemic, the considerations offered are to assist in rebuilding a realistic allied health care perspective that would not only meet the demands of the future but is able to cope should some other crisis-hit humanity. The conception here calls for more dominant roles for human services professionals involved in social care from various persuasions, such as social work, psychology and several other disciplines that are sector-specific to children and the frail aged

COVID-19: An Ontological Human Circus?

Geopolitical and national interests predominate, given that a war between Russia and Ukraine would result in a daily economic decline in both countries. I am convinced that countries, not their people, wage wars. People have other concerns, such as food and a virus that has apparently not yet left these countries. Several plausibility arguments are presented in the first section of the paper, which addresses the persistently debated virus's origins. In contrast, its leadership continues to flounder. Numerous healthcare workers perished on the front lines, but there was scant coverage of their deaths during the first year of the pandemic and none since. The elderly, the frail elderly, and even the young are the most severely affected by the pandemic deaths that have occurred over the past two years and continue to occur. Current ontology is concerned with the controversies, hypotheses, and theories surrounding this damned insignificant RNA and its capacity to cause such catastrophic harm to humanity. Indeed, the issue is its disputed and contested origin. After two years, it appears that the graphs, countries, and news that are updated every minute on the Worldometer have not changed. However, something has changed; for example, countries have ceased to report the incidence of COVID-19 deaths

An exploration of process oriented guided inquiry learning in undergraduate Chemistry classes

The research study explored student’s understanding of stereochemistry and their perceptions of learning chemistry in first year undergraduate chemistry classes following a modified Process-Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning (POGIL) that included group work. A 5-item two-tier stereochemistry concept diagnostic test (SCDT) was developed and administered to explore their understanding of stereochemistry concepts. The students’ perception of POGIL learning was gauged in an effort to establish construct and convergent validity to the SALG instrument

A Study on Predictor Variables of Organizational Climate in Educational Institutes

The Organization Climate is a fancied term which is relevant at any point of time and is transient. The contextual reference of Organizational Climate is made for its ability to attract, retain and nurture talent. But, even though higher education in India is important; it failed to attract the best talent. The Organizational Climate and its contents where subjected to further scrutiny in this paper in Institutes of Higher Education in Visakhapatnam.The study examines the profile factors and their influence on the components of Organizational Climate. Further, the inter and intra relationships were also tested. The results show direction to the practioners for improving the significant influencing factors. The sample of 150 faculty members were drawn from five Institutes of Higher Education in Visakhapatnam.The human resources practices relating to Working Conditions, Job Design, Performance Management, Compensation, Relations, Communications, Training and Development, Objectivity and Rationality, Grievance Handling and Welfare were considered for estimating the organizational climate. The multi-regression and mean analysis find organizational climate as moderate. The gender diversity and female influence were there in the Educational Institutes. However, Compensation has a very low mean. The Performance Management, Objectivity & Rationality and Relations were found to be the major influencers.&nbsp