6D Pose Estimation using an Improved Method based on Point Pair Features

The Point Pair Feature (Drost et al. 2010) has been one of the most successful 6D pose estimation method among model-based approaches as an efficient, integrated and compromise alternative to the traditional local and global pipelines. During the last years, several variations of the algorithm have been proposed. Among these extensions, the solution introduced by Hinterstoisser et al. (2016) is a major contribution. This work presents a variation of this PPF method applied to the SIXD Challenge datasets presented at the 3rd International Workshop on Recovering 6D Object Pose held at the ICCV 2017. We report an average recall of 0.77 for all datasets and overall recall of 0.82, 0.67, 0.85, 0.37, 0.97 and 0.96 for hinterstoisser, tless, tudlight, rutgers, tejani and doumanoglou datasets, respectively

A mathematical model for predicting cyclic voltammograms of electronically conductive polypyrrole

Polypyrrole is an attractive polymer for use as a high-energy-density secondary battery because of its potential as an inexpensive, lightweight, and noncorrosive electrode material. A mathematical model to simulate cyclic voltammograms for polypyrrole is presented. The model is for a conductive porous electrode film on a rotating disk electrode (RDE) and is used to predict the spatial and time dependence of concentration, overpotential, and stored charge profiles within a polypyrrole film. The model includes both faradic and capacitance charge components in the total current density expression

The psychological impact of long-term unemployment in mature-aged men : Volunteer work as a moderating variable

Previous research has recognised the negative psychological distress associated with unemployment for older workers aged over 40 years, as they are considered to be more at risk of being unemployed for a longer duration than other age groups. Several moderating variables of the negative effects of unemployment such as age, length of unemployment and leisure participation have also been identified. In examining the experiences of unemployment with an Australian mature-aged group of men, this study also investigated the potential moderating effect of volunteer work participation that had been noted previously but had never been explored. One-hundred and eighteen men aged between 38 and 60 years old (M. = 48.85 years) anonymously completed a booklet containing several measures of depression, anxiety, stress, alcohol consumption and abuse, and stress-related growth (ability to thrive as a result of negative life events). Compared to employed men, unemployed men were found to have significantly higher levels of depression, and thriving, but not increased anxiety, stress, or risk of alcohol abuse. Performing volunteer work was found to be related to lower levels of depression and stress in both employed and unemployed men. Results were explained in consideration of Jahoda\u27s (1981, 1982) deprivation theory, Fryer and Payne\u27s (1984) agency theory and Warr\u27s (1987, 1994) vitamin model. Limitations of the study and recommendations for further research are also discussed

Charge transport in underdoped bilayer cuprates

Within the t-J model, we study the charge transport in underdoped bilayer cuprates by considering the bilayer interaction. Although the bilayer interaction leads to the band splitting in the electronic structure, the qualitative behavior of the charge transport is the same as in the case of single layer cuprates. The conductivity spectrum shows a low-energy peak and the unusual midinfrared band. This midinfrared band is suppressed severely with increasing temperatures, while the resistivity in the heavily underdoped regime is characterized by a crossover from the high temperature metallic-like to the low temperature insulating-like behaviors, which are consistent with the experiments.Comment: 5 pages, Revtex, three figures are include

The Relationship Between Work Engagement, Perceived Organizational Support and Organizational Citizenship Behaviour in Zun Utara Industry Sdn. Bhd.

The purpose of this study is to identify the correlation between work engagement and perceived organizational support (POS) towards organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) at Zun Utara Industry Sdn. Bhd. The study arises from the need to know the factors that can affect the OCB. This study is utilizing the quantitative approach and data collection was solely on questionnaire. The sampling of data collection is based on Zun Utara Industry Sdn. Bhd., the manufacturer of chest freezer and bottle cooler. Work engagement was measured with 10-items. POS was measured with 8-items. OCB was measured with 10-items. All dimensions were measured with Five Point Likert Scale. A total of 80 sets pre-printed questionnaires was distributed, 76 sets questionnaires were returned and valid to process. The data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 19.0. Technique of data analysis used in this study including frequency analysis, descriptive analysis and reliability analysis. The Pearson Correlation was applied to test the hypotheses developed and investigate the correlation between independent variables and dependent variable. Besides, multiple regression analysis is conducted to analyze the relationship between independent variables and dependent variable. From the research finding, it provides better understanding of the factor influence the OCB in manufacturing sector. The findings revealed that work engagement was statistically and significantly affect to OCB. Some of the recommendations for future research have been provided for improvemen

The impact of sex and species of cells in herpes simplex virus infection

Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) is a large, enveloped DNA virus which belongs to the Herpesviridae family. HSV-1 is a highly infectious human pathogen that contacts mucosal surfaces to initiate infection and causes a range of diseases from mild cold sores to keratitis and encephalitis. A growing number of studies point to a sex difference in the prevalence and severity of viral infections. However, the role for sex in herpes infection is unclear due to the complexity of factors involving in the manifestation of HSV diseases. Furthermore, many primary infections are asymptomatic, contributing to the difficulty of studying HSV infections in humans. The neurotropic properties of HSV make it harder to reach information from infected humans for investigating the immune mechanisms controlling reactivation of latent infection within sensory ganglia or central nervous system. Therefore, mouse models have been used extensively to understand multiple aspects of HSV pathogenesis. However, the molecular basis underpinning cross-species differences between humans and mice in response to HSV-1 infection is unknown. In this thesis, we asked whether these two factors, sex and species, may influence HSV-1 replication. Much progress towards these goals has been made using reductionist approaches such as in vitro cell cultures and in many situations this is the only way that cell-intrinsic mechanisms can be dissected. We demonstrated that HSV-1 can adapt to specific sex and generate different mutations due to selective pressure derived from different sexes. Next, profiling of male and female transcriptomic programs revealed that the cytosolic sensing pathway is induced to a greater degree in female primary mouse skin cells (female cells), correlating with higher yields of infectious virions in male counterparts (male cells). In addition, female cells distinctively reactivated Xist, a critical component of X-inactivation, to silence the expression of the transcriptional repressor on the X chromosome, which thereby maintained higher innate immune responses and further explains the different growth phenotypes in HSV-1 replication between the two sexes. Collectively, we propose a model in which HSV-1 triggers a sex-specific regulation of antiviral response in the cytosolic sensing signalling via the control of Xist. During investigation of the sex difference, we coincidently found that viperin, an interferon-stimulated gene (ISG), is upregulated in mouse but not in all tested human cells, which is related to previous findings in the field and encouraged us to comprehensively study human-mouse differences in HSV-1 infection. We show that the growth kinetics of HSV-1 differed substantially in human and mouse cells. A computational pipeline was developed to analyse the cross-species RNA sequencing data, revealing over 60% of differentially regulated pathways between these two hosts in cell cultures. Strikingly, mouse cells upregulated more genes in the antiviral pathway driven by ISGs. To identify the key factor that influences the cross-species difference, we identified that Janus kinase 1 (Jak1) is essential for contributing to the human-mouse difference in HSV-1 replication. Lastly, we utilized virus mutants to show that HSV-1 vhs plays an important role to regulate JAK1 expression and therefore activation between human and mouse cells. In summary, this thesis has expanded our understanding on basic differences of cell cultures that sex and species can affect scientific interpretations in virus infection. Furthermore, the results presented in this study provide rich resources to translate data between the two sexes or mouse experiments into the human disease

Use of Mnemonics in Learning Novel Foreign Vocabulary: Help or Hindrance?

Research has consistently indicated that the use of mnemonic devices substantially enhances higher levels of retention in immediate recall of second language vocabulary words in comparison with other learning strategies. However, the evidence does not explain why the immediate benefits of mnemonic devices fail to extend to long-term retention. In addition, research on mnemonics has drawn mostly on the assessment of phonetic-hospitable languages such as English (as opposed to image-hospitable languages such as Chinese). To examine the use of mnemonic devices more thoroughly, this review will draw on psychological research on memory to discuss the efficacy of mnemonic methods, as opposed to rote rehearsal, in learning vocabulary in phonetic- and image-hospitable languages

Remote Teleoperated and Autonomous Mobile Security Robot Development in Ship Environment

We propose a wireless remote teleoperated and autonomous mobile security robot based on a multisensor system to monitor the ship/cabin environment. By doing this, pilots in charge of monitoring can be away from the scene and feel like being at the site monitoring and responding to any potential safety problems. Also, this robot can be a supplementary device for safety cabin crew members who are very busy and/or very tired of properly responding to crises. This can make one crew member on duty at the cabin a possible option. In fact, when the robot detects something unusual in the cabin, it can also notify the pilot so that the pilot can teleoperate the robot to response to whatever is needed. As a result, a cabin without any crew members on duty can be achieved through this type of robot/system