Example Based Image Analysis and Synthesis

Image analysis and graphics synthesis can be achieved with learning techniques using directly image examples without physically-based, 3D models. In our technique: -- the mapping from novel images to a vector of "pose" and "expression" parameters can be learned from a small set of example images using a function approximation technique that we call an analysis network; -- the inverse mapping from input "pose" and "expression" parameters to output images can be synthesized from a small set of example images and used to produce new images using a similar synthesis network. The techniques described here have several applications in computer graphics, special effects, interactive multimedia and very low bandwidth teleconferencing

Arguments Against a Configural Processing Account of Familiar Face Recognition

Face recognition is a remarkable human ability, which underlies a great deal of people's social behavior. Individuals can recognize family members, friends, and acquaintances over a very large range of conditions, and yet the processes by which they do this remain poorly understood, despite decades of research. Although a detailed understanding remains elusive, face recognition is widely thought to rely on configural processing, specifically an analysis of spatial relations between facial features (so-called second-order configurations). In this article, we challenge this traditional view, raising four problems: (1) configural theories are underspecified; (2) large configural changes leave recognition unharmed; (3) recognition is harmed by nonconfigural changes; and (4) in separate analyses of face shape and face texture, identification tends to be dominated by texture. We review evidence from a variety of sources and suggest that failure to acknowledge the impact of familiarity on facial representations may have led to an overgeneralization of the configural account. We argue instead that second-order configural information is remarkably unimportant for familiar face recognition

InterFace : A software package for face image warping, averaging, and principal components analysis

We describe InterFace, a software package for research in face recognition. The package supports image warping, reshaping, averaging of multiple face images, and morphing between faces. It also supports principal components analysis (PCA) of face images, along with tools for exploring the “face space” produced by PCA. The package uses a simple graphical user interface, allowing users to perform these sophisticated image manipulations without any need for programming knowledge. The program is available for download in the form of an app, which requires that users also have access to the (freely available) MATLAB Runtime environment

Strategies to reduce medication errors with reference to older adults

Background  In Australia, around 59% of the general population uses prescription medication with this number increasing to about 86% in those aged 65 and over and 83% of the population over 85 using two or more medications simultaneously. A recent report suggests that between 2% and 3% of all hospital admissions in Australia may be medication related with older Australians at higher risk because of higher levels of medicine intake and increased likelihood of being admitted to hospital. The most common medication errors encountered in hospitals in Australia are prescription/medication ordering errors, dispensing, administration and medication recording errors. Contributing factors to these errors have largely not been reported in the hospital environment. In the community, inappropriate drugs, prescribing errors, administration errors, and inappropriate dose errors are most common. Objectives  To present the best available evidence for strategies to prevent or reduce the incidence of medication errors associated with the prescribing, dispensing and administration of medicines in the older persons in the acute, subacute and residential care settings, with specific attention to persons aged 65 years and over. Search strategy  Bibliographic databases PubMed, Embase, Current contents, The Cochrane Library and others were searched from 1986 to present along with existing health technology websites. The reference lists of included studies and reviews were searched for any additional literature. Selection criteria  Systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials and other research methods such as non-randomised controlled trials, longitudinal studies, cohort or case-control studies, or descriptive studies that evaluate strategies to identify and manage medication incidents. Those people who are involved in the prescribing, dispensing or administering of medication to the older persons (aged 65 years and older) in the acute, subacute or residential care settings were included. Where these studies were limited, evidence available on the general patient population was used. Data collection and analysis  Study design and quality were tabulated and relative risks, odds ratios, mean differences and associated 95% confidence intervals were calculated from individual comparative studies containing count data where possible. All other data were presented in a narrative summary. Results  Strategies that have some evidence for reducing medication incidents are: •  computerised physician ordering entry systems combined with clinical decision support systems; •  individual medication supply systems when compared with other dispensing systems such as ward stock approaches; •  use of clinical pharmacists in the inpatient setting; •  checking of medication orders by two nurses before dispensing medication; •  a Medication Administration Review and Safety committee; and •  providing bedside glucose monitors and educating nurses on importance of timely insulin administration. In general, the evidence for the effectiveness of intervention strategies to reduce the incidence of medication errors is weak and high-quality controlled trials are needed in all areas of medication prescription and delivery

Bringing analysis of gender and social–ecological resilience together in small-scale fisheries research: Challenges and opportunities

The demand for gender analysis is now increasingly orthodox in natural resource programming, including that for small-scale fisheries. Whilst the analysis of social–ecological resilience has made valuable contributions to integrating social dimensions into research and policy-making on natural resource management, it has so far demonstrated limited success in effectively integrating considerations of gender equity. This paper reviews the challenges in, and opportunities for, bringing a gender analysis together with social–ecological resilience analysis in the context of small-scale fisheries research in developing countries. We conclude that rather than searching for a single unifying framework for gender and resilience analysis, it will be more effective to pursue a plural solution in which closer engagement is fostered between analysis of gender and social-ecological resilience whilst preserving the strengths of each approach. This approach can make an important contribution to developing a better evidence base for small-scale fisheries management and policy