Problems Of Contemporary Research Research Articles

Weight thresholded regularized robust coding for vision sensing-based hand gesture detection in collaborative robotics

Vision sensing-based hand gesture recognition is considered an important contemporary research problem of collaborative robotics in a human-robot coexisting environment. The problem becomes more complex in challenging environments, where a robot needs to correctly recognize a human gesture to perform navigation or some other designated job, even in the presence of poor illumination conditions, occlusion, etc. This work proposes a novel approach of successfully utilizing regularized robust coding (RRC)-based models to solve such hand gesture detection problems in real-life, challenging situations. The RRC model is used for robust regression of a signal or image and is known as an improvement over the classical sparse representation-based classification (SRC) model. In this work, we propose three novel variants of weight thresholding mechanism in conjunction with RRC (named WTRRC algorithms) which essentially employ more error-tolerant concepts of logistic functions for weight update, when the dictionary is formed by real-world, photometrically irregular hand gesture images. Extensive case studies in real-world environments (i) with poor illumination, and (ii) with both poor illumination and occlusions firmly establish superior performances of the proposed WTRRC variants compared to other state-of-the-art algorithms in such collaborative robotics problems.

Flotsam, Jetsam, and Forward-Moving Vessels on the Sea of Well-Being: Commentary on "Emotional Well-Being: What Is it and Why it Matters".

I dispute the characterization of psychological aspects of well-being as fragmented and a landscape of confusion in need of an organizing conceptual framework. After 30+ years of research in this area, I see progress toward a multi-faceted, ever more differentiated understanding of what well-being is. This richness reflects decades of painstaking empirical inquiry. I also challenge the view that emotion is the overarching theme of well-being research. Missing from the target article was much-needed emphasis on empirical assessment tools. A growing problem in contemporary research is the proliferation of thin, poorly validated measures, which should concern all of the newly funded Emotion Networks. I conclude with a call for greater emphasis on major historical challenges that are undermining the well-being and health of many.

Potential Contributions of Behavior Analysis to Research on Pro-environmental Behavior.

Large parts of contemporary research on pro-environmental behavior focus on mechanistic explanations and mental constructs. Exclusive reliance on this approach may hinder the search for novel solutions to conceptual problems, more powerful methods, and innovative behavior change interventions. Theoretical diversity, on the other hand, can render a field adaptive in its responses to crises and impasses. Against this background, we describe the complementary approach of behavior analysis and its potential contributions to problems of contemporary research on pro-environmental behavior. Behavior analysis (1) provides a consistent account of phenomena that are difficult to reconcile with the mechanistic perspective, (2) redirects the spotlight to context, (3) provides a framework and methodology for assessing behavior with actual environmental impact, and (4) could inspire the development of new intervention techniques. Based on these contributions, we conclude that behavior analysis could substantially enrich research on pro-environmental behavior.

MiR-6718-5p and miR-4329 can be used as potential biomarkers for acute myocardial infarction.

The prevention and prognosis of the onset or recurrence of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a difficult problem in contemporary research. In this study, peripheral blood samples were collected from seven patients with AMI and nine healthy adults, and exosome microRNAs (miRNAs) were extracted. The miRNA differential expression profiles of serum exosomes in patients with AMI were obtained by using the next-generation sequencing technology combined with bioinformatics analysis. Reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used to verify the primary screening of differential exosome miRNAs to reveal the possible mechanism of their action on AMI. Compared with healthy individuals, 544 miRNAs were upregulated and 518 miRNAs were downregulated in AMI patients preoperatively. Among these miRNAs, we selected miR-6718 and miR-4329 for qPCR verification. The expression of miR6718 and miR-4329 in patients with myocardial infarction was significantly lower than that in normal controls.

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF AN INCLUSIVE EDUCATION TEACHER FROM COMPETENCY-BASED APPROACH POSITION

The relevance of the theoretical study presented in the article is due to the need for scientific support for the training of teachers for activities in the context of inclusive education. The competency-based approach is the theoretical basis for the development of teacher’s professional activity model that meets the requirements of taking into account the specifics of educational needs of students from different groups. However, the positions of competency-based approach are interpreted ambiguously in pedagogy, and this complicates its theoretical and empirical application. The purpose of this article is to analyze the competency-based approach as a concrete scientific methodology for modeling the personal and professional characteristics of an inclusive education teacher. As leading methods we used: analysis, synthesis, generalization, modeling. The results obtained made it possible to identify both the possibilities and limitations of the competency-based approach in the study and justification of the personal and professional characteristics of pedagogical activity. Its use is advisable in conjunction with basic research of professional pedagogical activity, revealing its essential semantic, nuclear characteristics. It is indicated that as a conceptual basis for applying the competency-based approach to the practice of inclusive education it is proposed to consider N.V Kuzmina’s theory of personality professionalism and activity, which is heuristic to the contemporary research problems of transprofessionalism of a specialist.

Chaos-Based Random Sampling for Photometric Invariant Shoe Detection With Vision Sensor in Human–Robot Coexisting Environments

People-following in a leader-follower scheme is considered as a major contemporary research problem in the domain of human-robot coexistence. The problem essentially requires human detection and tracking, and, in recent times, vision sensing based shoe detection has evolved as an effective mechanism for human detection. The problem gets more challenging when the environment becomes affected by photometric conditions like varying illumination, shadows, specularities, etc. Recently, a state-of-the-art fast image template matching algorithm, called photometric-invariant CFAsT-match (PICFAsT-match), has been specifically proposed for shoe detection based people-following in those challenging environments. In this approach, for determining the best shoe matching result corresponding to a frame, each single transformation included in a number of specified grids of general affine transformations is evaluated. However, in order to achieve a high speed real-life implementation of PICFAsT-match, every transformation is assessed by considering a handful number of pixels sampled randomly from the images. Research beyond PICFAsT-match reveals that the matching accuracy significantly relies on the quality of the random sampling. In this paper, we propose an improved variant of PICFAsT-match, called chaos based PICFAsT-match (CBPICFAsT-match), where a novel approach for this process of random sampling of pixels has been developed. This strategy is based on the state-time histories of multiple fractional order chaotic systems. Experimental results aptly demonstrate the superiority of the proposed algorithm, when compared to competing state-of-the-art algorithms, successfully employed for the said shoe detection purpose in human-robot coexisting environments.

LQG based control design of electric vehicle driveline

In this paper LQG (Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian) based control design for drive line of Electric vehicle is presented. Driveline oscillations is a phenomenon of fluctuating vehicle speed caused by torsional vibrations in the vehicle drive line which results as jerks in the vehicle motion. These oscillations result in uncomfortable vehicle ride which is contemporary research problem. The control objective is to achieve steady state driveline in lesser time for this purpose LQG based control is pursued with certain modification in vehicle dynamic model. This paper includes driveline modelling, control design and verification by simulations. Results of simulation show the considerable mitigation of oscillations and LQG based control for driveline of electric vehicle works very well.

Selected problems of contemporary research on behavior

Business decision-making often entails the risk of the decision data being inaccurate. In order to increase the chance of success, research is conducted on the behavior of potential customers, their reactions to the actions taken or opinions about the implemented solutions. The most frequently used method of studying behaviors and reactions to undertaken action is conducting a survey among the potential recipients of the proposed solution. Despite the great ease of conducting such research, the problem of reliability of the results remains, because, as experiments show, some answers given by the respondents are not always true. This fact greatly undermines the purposefulness of the entire study and the obtained results, as well as render the drawn conclusions to be of low business value. The modern IT technologies allow not only to increase the reliability of research, but also provide completely new and very reliable methods of acquiring real behavior, which significantly enhances the effectiveness of the undertaken economic solutions. However, the novel methods of collecting data on behavior raise new legal problems of their application and practical usage. Legislative measures are taken to protect privacy. In this paper, the authors provide a broad review of the problems of the contemporary research on behavior. An empirical study is conducted, which demonstrates 53% inaccuracy in a sample survey response.

Robust Computer Algebra, Theorem Proving, and Oracle AI

In the context of superintelligent AI systems, the term “oracle” has two meanings. One refers to modular systems queried for domain-specific tasks. Another usage, referring to a class of systems which may be useful for addressing the value alignment and AI control problems, is a superintelligent AI system that only answers questions. The aim of this manuscript is to survey contemporary research problems related to oracles which align with long-term research goals of AI safety. We examine existing question answering systems and argue that their high degree of architectural heterogeneity makes them poor candidates for rigorous analysis as oracles. On the other hand, we identify computer algebra systems (CASs) as being primitive examples of domain-specific oracles for mathematics and argue that efforts to integrate computer algebra systems with theorem provers, systems which have largely been developed independent of one another, provide a concrete set of problems related to the notion of provable safety that has emerged in the AI safety community. We review approaches to interfacing CASs with theorem provers, describe well-defined architectural deficiencies that have been identified with CASs, and suggest possible lines of research and practical software projects for scientists interested in AI safety.

Tackling the Problem of Construct Proliferation

Construct proliferation—the accumulation of ostensibly different but potentially identical constructs representing organizational phenomena—is a salient problem in contemporary research. While a number of construct validation procedures exist, relatively few validation studies conduct comprehensive assessments of the discriminant validity of theoretically distinct constructs. In this article, we outline the key considerations a researcher must take into account when attempting to establish the empirical distinctness of new or existing constructs and provide a step-by-step guide on how to assess the discriminant validity of constructs while accounting for three major sources of measurement error: random error, specific factor error, and transient error. Using a number of popular measures from the leadership literature, we provide an illustrative example of how to conduct a study of discriminant validity. We include several analytic strategies in our study and discuss the similarities and differences between the results they yield. We also discuss several additional issues related to this type of research and make recommendations for conducting discriminant validity analyses.

Sustainable Making? Balancing Optimism and Criticism in HCI Discourse

We examine the recent move from a rhetoric of “users” toward one of “makers,” “crafters,” and “hackers” within HCI discourse. Through our analysis, we make several contributions. First, we provide a general overview of the structure and common framings within research on makers. We discuss how these statements reconfigure themes of empowerment and progress that have been central to HCI rhetoric since the field's inception. In the latter part of the article, we discuss the consequences of these shifts for contemporary research problems. In particular, we explore the problem of designed obsolescence, a core issue for Sustainable Interaction Design (SID) research. We show how the framing of the maker, as an empowered subject, presents certain opportunities and limitations for this research discourse. Finally, we offer alternative framings of empowerment that can expand maker discourse and its use in contemporary research problems such as SID.

The Lvov–Warsaw School as a Source of Inspiration for Argumentation Theory

The thesis of the paper holds that some future developments of argumentation theory may be inspired by the rich logico-methodological legacy of the Lvov–Warsaw School (LWS), the Polish research movement that was most active from 1895 to 1939. As a selection of ideas of the LWS which exploit both formal and pragmatic aspects of the force of argument, we present: Ajdukiewicz’s account of reasoning and inference, Bocheński’s analyses of superstitions or dogmas, and Frydman’s constructive approach to legal interpretation. This paper does not aim at exhaustive elaboration of any of these topics or their usefulness in current discussions within argumentation theory. Rather, we intend to indicate chosen directions of a potentially fruitful research program for the emerging Polish School of Argumentation which would consist in application of methods and conceptions elaborated by the LWS to selected open problems of contemporary research on argumentation.

Large-amplitude oscillations in the rectangular Fermi accelerator

Exponential energy growth in a rectangular billiard with an oscillating bar has been clearly demonstrated earlier. Using the log-normal approximation, analytical estimates for the energy growth rate have also been provided. However, these analytical estimates are valid only when the amplitude of oscillation of the bar is small. In this paper, for larger oscillation amplitude, the log-normal approximation is numerically shown to be invalid and analytical estimates are obtained for the true energy growth rate in the case of very large particle velocities or small bar length. It is also shown that when everything else remains constant, the length of the bar which gives rise to maximum energy growth rate decreases as the oscillation amplitude increases and the true value of this maximizing length is also smaller than what is predicted by the log-normal approximation. Thus, the rectangular Fermi accelerator forms a very good example of a contemporary research problem where the limitations of the log-normal approximation can be easily appreciated.

A Survey of Medium Access Mechanisms for Providing QoS in Ad-Hoc Networks

In this survey we attempt to describe the Quality of Service (QoS) mechanisms employed by Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols designed for ad-hoc networks. We begin with background information: an overview of the related work, the definition of QoS and QoS-related metrics, a general description of contention-free and contention-based protocols for wireless networks, a discussion of issues affecting QoS provisioning in ad-hoc networks, as well as a novel classification of the QoS mechanisms. Then, each mechanism is briefly explained and implementation examples from different protocols are provided. Furthermore, a separate section is devoted to the completed and ongoing standardization work in the field. Afterwards, an extensive comparison of salient features, advantages and disadvantages of all described MAC mechanisms is given in order to guide future protocol designers. Finally, we comment on the most probable future research directions. Based on the presented survey, we observe that QoS provisioning is not only challenging but also a significant contemporary research problem. The protocol designs presented in the literature usually involve trade-offs between certain metrics, and currently there is no ideal solution which deals with all the issues affecting ad-hoc networks. Therefore, we trust that this survey will be of great help to designers of future QoS-aware protocols.

Conceptualizing nursing research with offenders: Another look at vulnerability

In this article, vulnerability is examined as it applies to the conduct of nursing research with offenders. As a group, offenders present with a multitude of acute and chronic physical and mental health care needs; they are subject to discrimination, stigmatization, and marginalization; and as such, they often experience dual, multiple, or overlapping vulnerabilities. As research participants, they are especially vulnerable to coercion, as a direct consequence of their dependency status within the correctional system. Embracing a research agenda that focuses on offenders as a vulnerable population is fraught with ambiguities not generally encountered in other settings. The ethical conduct of research with vulnerable populations reflects a contemporary research problem that requires ongoing discourse within the nursing community and the health care community at large.

Scientific programming in field theory, part 1

Today, field-theory scientists tackle most contemporary research problems numerically, not analytically. For this purpose, the field-theory community has developed, combined, and described numerous...

Some problems of contemporary research on the mechanical properties of crystals

Some problems of contemporary research on the mechanical properties of crystals

Nekotorye problemy sovremennykh issledovanii mekhanicheskikh svoistv kristallov

Nekotorye problemy sovremennykh issledovanii mekhanicheskikh svoistv kristallov