Robust multi-clue face tracking system

In this paper we present a multi-clue face tracking system, based on the combination of a face detector and two independent trackers. The detector, a variant of the Viola-Jones algorithm, is set to generate very low false positive error rate. It initiates the tracking system and updates its state. The trackers, based on 3DRS and optical flow respectively, have been chosen to complement each other in different conditions. The main focus of this work is the integration of the two trackers and the design of a closed loop detector-tracker system, aiming at achieving superior robustness at real-time operation on a PC platform. Tests were carried out to assess the actual performance of the system. With an average of about 95% correct face location rate and no significant false positives, the proposed approach appears to be particularly robust to complex backgrounds, ambient light variation, face orientation and scale changes, partial occlusions, different\ud facial expressions and presence of other unwanted faces

The implementation issue in norm diffusion: the cases of WTO anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty in China

China increasingly integrates into the international system, but has the social capitalist China been effectively contained by the Western-led liberal order? Most current literatures assume China’s ratification of international treaties as the signal to its full adoption of international norms, and scholars such as John Ikenberry thus argue that China is getting contained by the Western liberal order. However, a new wave of norm diffusion scholars suggests that even the ratified norms may not have the expected domestic impacts; the implementation process is decisive to the real changes ‘on the ground’. Following this vein, this thesis studies China’s implementation of international liberal norms in order to understand how the liberal world contains China in its order. This thesis compares the implementation of two WTO trading norms namely anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty in China as the representative case studies. The analysis suggests that these two norms have made important changes to China’s legal system, institution-building, field-level practices and its domestic discourse. By employing political comparative methods, it proves the WTO implementing instruments as effective in promoting the progresses of this implementation process. However, the analysis further suggests that the cultural match of these two international liberal norms with China’s social capitalist traditions also contributes to strong domestic resistances to the implementation process. The consequences of this dis-match are largely reflected in China’s field-level practices of and its domestic discourses over these two norms. This thesis provides a complex answer to the question raised at the beginning. As the case studies illustrate, although anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty conflict with China’s social capitalist traditions, China chooses to play by the rules because of its ‘problem-solving’ concerns and because of the pressure from the WTO and its members. China, both the state sectors and non-state actors, values its identity as a member of the international society, and is willing to act as the defender of the current international order. Even though, China is not a passive receiver of the liberal normative structure. The dis-match between the liberal norms and China’s social capitalist tradition inevitably results in the internal resistance to the tendency of China being fully contained by the international liberal order. This resistance will not be eliminated by any external pressure

Genome-wide identification, functional analysis and expression profiling of pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) sub-family in potato

The plant pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR) family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters has comprehensively been researched in relation to transport of antifungal agents and resistant pathogens. In our study, analyses of the whole family of PDR genes present in the potato genome were provided. This analysis resolves discrepancies of potato PDR proteins and provides an expression analysis of all annotated potato PDR genes based on RNA-seq data. The results indicate that the potato genome contains 76 encoding PDR proteins and that these genes show a specific expression patterns, both at the organ level and in response to various hormonal treatment. These data provide some clues for future molecular genetic analysis of this important subfamily of ABC transporters. In addition, potato PDR genes may also play some important roles in the transportation of antifungal agents and resistant pathogens.Keywords: ABC transporter, potato, pleiotropic drug resistance (PDR), RNA-seq.African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(30), pp. 4722-472

Robust Nonlinear Model Predictive Control of an Autonomous Launch and Recovery System

Launching and recovering a lifeboat from a mother ship is a critical task for rescuing people in high sea states, which can be dangerous to both the mother ship crew and lifeboat personnel. A reliable and efficient control system is crucial to reducing the risk but has not been developed to a mature stage to establish an autonomous launch and recovery system (LARS). A successful manually controlled launch and recovery (L&amp;R) mission relies on empirically assessing the risk and planning the operation ahead of initiating the process. This article proposes a control scheme for the LARS which executes the task in two stages: the L&amp;R risk assessment is conducted in the first stage before hoisting the lifeboat; then in the second stage, input signals are manipulated to accomplish the task once the mission is identified to be safe. We propose a robust tube-based model predictive control (TMPC) law in both stages. It can explicitly consider uncertainties in the LARS model and guarantee constraint satisfaction by bounding possible system trajectories in a predefined tube. Hence degradation of control performance caused by inaccurate system modeling can be minimized to improve the operation safety level of the entire process. The performance of the proposed control scheme is demonstrated by numerical simulations.<br/

From the ancient Silk Road to the belt and road initiative: narratives, signalling and trust-building

Narratives help in interpreting and understanding surrounding political realities. Yet, the divergence of narratives may also create distrust, and it is an important reason for greatly diverging perceptions of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) between China and the international community. This paper explores how trust can be bridged between different narratives. It discusses the notions of trust and how the Chinese concept of ‘brightness’ contributes to a strategic signalling process for trust-building in strategic cooperation. This paper proposes that trust-building is a process of signalling and knowledge building. Only when the signal sent for strategic cooperation fits the other parties’ knowledge about the sender, can the trust-building process succeed. This compatibility between signals and developed knowledge can be the result of several rounds of signalling, in which the signal sender’s honesty regarding their self-interests and intentions is the necessary pre-condition