The Science of Disguise

Technological advances have made digital cameras ubiquitous, to the point where it is difficult to purchase even a mobile phone without one. Coupled with similar advances in face recognition technology, we are seeing a marked increase in the use of biometrics, such as face recognition, to identify individuals. However, remaining unrecognized in an era of ubiquitous camera surveillance remains desirable to some citizens, notably those concerned with privacy. Since biometrics are an intrinsic part of a person\u27s identity, it may be that the only means of evading detection is through disguise. We have created a comprehensive database of high-quality imagery that will allow us to explore the effectiveness of disguise as an approach to avoiding unwanted recognition. Using this database, we have evaluated the performance of a variety of automated machine-based face recognition algorithms on disguised faces. Our data-driven analysis finds that for the sample population contained in our database: (1) disguise is effective; (2) there are significant performance differences between individuals and demographic groups; and (3) elements including coverage, contrast, and disguise combination are determinative factors in the success or failure of face recognition algorithms on an image. In this dissertation, we examine the present-day uses of face recognition and their interplay with privacy concerns. We sketch the capabilities of a new database of facial imagery, unique both in the diversity of the imaged population, and in the diversity and consistency of disguises applied to each subject. We provide an analysis of disguise performance based on both a highly-rated commercial face recognition system and an open-source algorithm available to the FR community. Finally, we put forth hypothetical models for these results, and provide insights into the types of disguises that are the most effective at defeating facial recognition for various demographic populations. As cameras become more sophisticated and algorithms become more advanced, disguise may become less effective. For security professionals, this is a laudable outcome; privacy advocates will certainly feel differently

Teachers’ Perceptions of Strategy Based Reading Instruction for Reading Comprehension

Strategy based reading instruction helps teachers differentiate the teaching of reading. It also supports many types of readers by explicitly teaching and modeling reading comprehension strategies. The purpose of this study is to explore the effectiveness of strategy based reading instruction for improving student reading comprehension. Additionally, it examines teachers\u27 perceptions of the effectiveness of this approach. The review of the literature supports the idea that strategy based reading instruction is an effective way to improve reading comprehension. Teachers in kindergarten through eighth grade were surveyed on their perceptions of strategy based reading instruction\u27s effectiveness for improving reading comprehension. Results indicated that the teachers enjoy using this method and that it is an effective way to improve reading comprehension

Understanding the role of B cells during Leishmania amazonensis infection

Leishmaniasis is a vector-borne zoonotic disease caused by obligate intracellular protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Infection of C3HeB/FeJ and C57BL/6 mice with Leishmania major stimulates a healing cell-mediated immune response, while Leishmania amazonensis infection leads to chronic disease. Here we show C3HeB/FeJ mice co-infected with both species of Leishmania heal, while co-infected C57BL/6 mice do not. Using an in vitro killing assay we determined B cells from infected C57BL/6 mice are ineffective in promoting parasite killing compared to B cells from infected C3HeB/FeJ mice. Furthermore, infected C57BL/6 mice produce less antigen-specific antibodies as compared to infected C3HeB/FeJ mice. The mechanism behind the inability of C57Bl/6 mice to heal L. amazonensis is not known. Here we describe for the first time a difference in the draining lymph node germinal center B cell response between co-infected C3H and B6 mice. There are more germinal center B cells, more antibody isotype-switched germinal center B cells, more memory B cells and more antigen-specific antibody-producing cells in co-infected C3H mice compared to B6 mice as early as 2 weeks post-infection. We also show that IL-21 production in both mouse strains is similar at 2 weeks, suggesting the difference in these mouse strains is due to intrinsic B cell differences, rather than a difference in IL-21 production within germinal centers. Mice infected with L. amazonensis have a non-polarized T helper cell response and non-healing, chronic lesions. In vitro, a productive response to this pathogen has been recapitulated through macrophage production of both nitric oxide and superoxide. We show FcγR and cytochrome b558 are necessary for superoxide production during an established infection. We demonstrate NADPH oxidase assembly of gp91phox and p67phox occurs by day 1 during the in vitro infection and is localized directly adjacent to the parasite. However, measurable superoxide production was only detectable at day 5 in vitro, indicating that assembly of these subunits was not sufficient to trigger superoxide production. Using wortmannin inhibition of PI3K, we show inhibition of superoxide production at day 5 and indicating that PI3K is critical for superoxide production at this late stage of infection. These data establish that the FcγR-NADPH oxidase activation pathway is required to kill intracellular L. amazonensis. We propose that this novel pathway requires L. major antigen-specific B cell production of antibodies which bind stimulatory Fcγ receptors to produce superoxide through PI3K-mediated activation of assembled NADPH oxidase complexes that are associated with intracellular amastigote parasites. Understanding the role of this pathway in controlling non-healing cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. amazonensis may be critical in determining specific immunomodulation to successfully treat this disease

More Crop per Drop: Benchmarking On-Farm Irrigation Water Use for Crop Production.

Efficient use of irrigation is essential to meet food production needs of growing global populations while ensuring long-term sustainability of freshwater resources. However, lack of on-farm irrigation data constrains understanding of irrigation variation and no framework exists to benchmark irrigation use using actual irrigation data. The following work investigates variation in irrigation using a database of ca. 1400 maize and soybean fields over 9 years in Nebraska and presents a framework to benchmark irrigation use using a separate database of ca. 1000 maize and soybean fields in Nebraska as proof of concept. “State-of-the-art” crop models estimated yield potential and irrigation water requirements for each field-year observation and were compared against producer-reported yield and irrigation. Precipitation and ETo accounted for \u3e68% of observed year-to-year variation in irrigation in maize and soybean fields. Irrigation differed by ca.150 mm between regions due to differences in available water holding capacity. Weather and soils explained field-to-field variation in irrigation; however, the majority of field-to-field variation remained unexplained, attributable to producer behavior. Fields with above/below-average irrigation remained consistent across all years, suggesting behavioral components of irrigation variability. Findings illustrate the difficulty of predicting field-scale irrigation due to multiple biophysical and behavioral factors driving irrigation decisions. Increased availability of high-quality, on-farm irrigation data is needed to inform decision-making related to water resources and irrigated agriculture. Benchmarking found that 82% of fields reached ≥70% of yield potential. Nearly 75% of maize and ca. 40% of soybean fields were irrigated above simulated irrigation requirements, indicating room for improvement in irrigation use. Irrigation surplus increased with decreasing soil water holding capacity. Fields irrigated using high-level technology (e.g. soil water sensors) received 95 mm less irrigation than fields where irrigation decisions were not properly informed, with no yield difference between scheduling methods. Half of current irrigation volumes could be potentially reduced in above- or near-average rainfall years if current irrigation surplus is eliminated, but only 10% in drought years. The framework developed can be used to benchmark irrigation use for crop production at different spatial levels (field, region, state), help prioritize extension and research activities, and inform policy and incentive programs. Advisor: Patricio Grassin

More Crop per Drop: Benchmarking On-Farm Irrigation Water Use for Crop Production.

Efficient use of irrigation is essential to meet food production needs of growing global populations while ensuring long-term sustainability of freshwater resources. However, lack of on-farm irrigation data constrains understanding of irrigation variation and no framework exists to benchmark irrigation use using actual irrigation data. The following work investigates variation in irrigation using a database of ca. 1400 maize and soybean fields over 9 years in Nebraska and presents a framework to benchmark irrigation use using a separate database of ca. 1000 maize and soybean fields in Nebraska as proof of concept. “State-of-the-art” crop models estimated yield potential and irrigation water requirements for each field-year observation and were compared against producer-reported yield and irrigation. Precipitation and ETo accounted for \u3e68% of observed year-to-year variation in irrigation in maize and soybean fields. Irrigation differed by ca.150 mm between regions due to differences in available water holding capacity. Weather and soils explained field-to-field variation in irrigation; however, the majority of field-to-field variation remained unexplained, attributable to producer behavior. Fields with above/below-average irrigation remained consistent across all years, suggesting behavioral components of irrigation variability. Findings illustrate the difficulty of predicting field-scale irrigation due to multiple biophysical and behavioral factors driving irrigation decisions. Increased availability of high-quality, on-farm irrigation data is needed to inform decision-making related to water resources and irrigated agriculture. Benchmarking found that 82% of fields reached ≥70% of yield potential. Nearly 75% of maize and ca. 40% of soybean fields were irrigated above simulated irrigation requirements, indicating room for improvement in irrigation use. Irrigation surplus increased with decreasing soil water holding capacity. Fields irrigated using high-level technology (e.g. soil water sensors) received 95 mm less irrigation than fields where irrigation decisions were not properly informed, with no yield difference between scheduling methods. Half of current irrigation volumes could be potentially reduced in above- or near-average rainfall years if current irrigation surplus is eliminated, but only 10% in drought years. The framework developed can be used to benchmark irrigation use for crop production at different spatial levels (field, region, state), help prioritize extension and research activities, and inform policy and incentive programs. Advisor: Patricio Grassin

Reviews

Review of Of Common Cloth: Women in the Global Textile Industry, From Subservience to Strike: Industrial Relations in the Banking Industry, Understanding Industrial Relation

Asset-based and citizen-led development : using a diffracted power lens to analyze the possibilities and challenges

Asset-based community development or Asset-based and citizen-led development (ABCD) is being used in a range of development contexts. Some researchers have been quick to dismiss ABCD as part of the neoliberal project and an approach that perpetuates unequal power relations. This article uses a diffracted power analysis to explore the possibilities associated with ABCD as well as the challenges. It focuses on the application of ABCD in the Philippines, Ethiopia and South Africa, and finds that ABCD can reverse internalized powerlessness, strengthen opportunities for collective endeavours and help to build local capacity for action

Does funded research reflect the priorities of people living with type 1 diabetes? A secondary analysis of research questions

© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. Objectives This study explored the divergence and convergence between funded research about type 1 diabetes and the research agenda of people living with the condition and their carers. Design, method, setting A secondary analysis was undertaken of existing data from two UK organisations who regularly work with patients and carers to identify research priorities. The research ideas of people with diabetes were identified in two ways: in 15 research question generation workshops involving approximately 100 patients and carers, and in a James Lind Alliance Type 1 Diabetes Priority Setting Partnership with approximately 580 patients, carers and clinicians (clinician question submissions were excluded from analysis). A total of 859 individual research questions were collected from patients and carers. Diabetes research funding activity was identified through extensive online searches which provided a total of 172 relevant research projects for analysis. Results The data were thematically analysed and areas of priority for research identified and compared between the patient and funded research agendas. The overall finding of this study is that there is substantial convergence between the two research agendas, alongside some important areas of divergence. The key areas of divergence were found in care delivery, injection issues, psychosocial impacts and women's health. We also demonstrate how an apparently convergent priority can host significant differences in emphasis between patientgenerated and funded research agendas. Conclusions We offer a comparison of a funded research agenda with one that has been derived directly from people with type 1 diabetes without initial framing by researchers. This provided a rare opportunity to explore the viewpoints of the end-users of research and compare them to realised research as determined by researchers and research organisations

Investigation of the causative agents of the 1982 Gazankulu poliomyelitis outbreak, using four biochemical techniques

Comparison of poliovirus strains was carried out to determine the origin of the virus in two isolates obtained during the 1982 outbreak of poliomyelitis in Gazankulu. Comparisons of the outbreak isolates with vaccine and wild-type strains of the same poliovirus type were carried out using four biochemical techniques. SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography (TLC) and reversed-phase high-performance liquid-chromatography (RP-HPLC) were used for comparing viral capsid proteins. Comparison of poliovirus strains at a genetic level was carried out using two-dimensional oligonucleotide mapping of viral RNA. Results showed the type 1 poliovirus isolate, 5061, to be a novel wild-type poliovirus. The type 2 isolate, 5068, was closely related to the poliovirus type 2 Sabin vaccine strain, P712. It was concluded that the intrinsic variability of poliovirus strains was responsible for the appearance of isolate 506