A principal aim of computer graphics is to generate images that look as real as photographs. Realistic computer graphics imagery has however proven to be quite challenging to produce, since the appearance of materials arises from complicated physical processes that are difficult to analytically model and simulate, and image-based modeling of real material samples is often impractical due to the high-dimensional space of appearance data that needs to be acquired. This book presents a general framework based on the inherent coherency in the appearance data of materials to make image-based appearance modeling more tractable. We observe that this coherence manifests itself as low-dimensional structure in the appearance data, and by identifying this structure we can take advantage of it to simplify the major processes in the appearance modeling pipeline. This framework consists of two key components, namely the coherence structure and the accompanying reconstruction method to fully recover the low-dimensional appearance data from sparse measurements. Our investigation of appearance coherency has led to three major forms of low-dimensional coherence structure and three types of coherency-based reconstruction upon which our framework is built. This coherence-based approach can be comprehensively applied to all the major elements of image-based appearance modeling, from data acquisition of real material samples to user-assisted modeling from a photograph, from synthesis of volumes to editing of material properties, and from efficient rendering algorithms to physical fabrication of objects. In this book we present several techniques built on this coherency framework to handle various appearance modeling tasks both for surface reflections and subsurface scattering, the two primary physical components that generate material appearance. We believe that coherency-based appearance modeling will make it easier and more feasible for practitioners to bring computer graphics imagery to life. This book is aimed towards readers with an interest in computer graphics. In particular, researchers, practitioners and students will benefit from this book by learning about the underlying coherence in appearance structure and how it can be utilized to improve appearance modeling. The specific techniques presented in our manuscript can be of value to anyone who wishes to elevate the realism of their computer graphics imagery. For understanding this book, an elementary background in computer graphics is assumed, such as from an introductory college course or from practical experience with computer graphics.

As one of the most rapidly aging nations in the world, Taiwan is experiencing a growing demand for elder care labour. Limited state - funded care services combine with an ever - increasing number of dependent elderly members, to create a crisis of care that continues to be managed primarily by families. Although t his is a culture where sons bear the primary filial responsibility in a patrilineal structure of filial care, daughters - in - law are often expected to provide significant levels of care to their parents - in - law when they require assistance. Women's increased participation in the workforce since the 1980s, however, poses an additional challenge to families who are now trying to meet the competing demands of paid work and elder care. A growing number of families now seek care assistance by employing a foreign li ve - in care worker, an alternative that creates employment opportunities - with attendant costs - for women from less developed economies seeking to support their families. When working abroad as care workers, migrant women and their families also experienc e contradictory demands of meeting the economic and care needs of family members. This thesis takes a multi - le vel approach that incorporates life course, gender, class and transnational perspectives, and the concept of ambivalence to investigate a 'dual' family reality: how do Taiwanese families with dependent elders and Vietnamese migrant care workers and their families negotiate care arrangements and kinship ties when trying to meet the needs of family members, often in combination with paid work? Based on an ethnographic study in Taiwan from May to August 2009 and from November 2010 to April 2011, findings from intensive interviews with Taiwanese family members and Vietnamese care workers reveal multiple contexts of care negotiations. In Taiwan, sons, th eir wives (daughters - in - law to the elder) and their brothers and sisters work out their share of filial responsibility in the household and family context. When Taiwanese families employ Vietnamese care workers, the Taiwanese employers, their elderly fami l y members and extended family negotiate good care and a stable working relationship with their Vietnamese care workers in the context of domestic employment. D espite their physical absence, the Vietnamese women who are hired as care workers continue to work out multiple family care responsibilities as mothers, wives, daughters or daughters - in - law from afar. This thesis reveals the phenomenon of the global care chains as an outcome of negotiating contradictory work, care and kinship ties in both Taiwanese and Vietnamese families over time. Cultural norms, class differences, changing gender relations, state policies, market forces, regional economic inequalities and labour migration provide relevant contexts for understanding how global care chains produce both continuity and change in the lives of family members in both geographical and transnational contexts.

Proceedings of the 4th Asia Pacific Conference on Educational Integrity, held at University of Wollongong in September 2009. Papers covered a range of topics such as: whistle-blowing, teaching ethics, academic freedom, research apprenticeships, assessing academic integrity, bullying in the classroom, plagiarism prevention. Roundtable sessions focused on the impact of participatory social media and academic integrity, and role-playing ethical dilemmas in teaching and learning contexts. [Publisher website]