Good Apples Research Articles

Gabor feature-based apple quality inspection using kernel principal component analysis

Automated inspection of apple quality involves computer recognition of good apples and blemished apples based on geometric or statistical features derived from apple images. This paper introduces a Gabor feature-based kernel principal component analysis (PCA) method by combining Gabor wavelet representation of apple images and the kernel PCA method for apple quality inspection using near-infrared (NIR) imaging. First, Gabor wavelet decomposition of whole apple NIR images was employed to extract appropriate Gabor features. Then, the kernel PCA method with polynomial kernels was applied in the Gabor feature space to handle non-linear separable features. The results show the effectiveness of the Gabor-based kernel PCA method in terms of its absolute performance and comparative performance compared to the PCA, kernel PCA with polynomial kernels, Gabor-based PCA and the support vector machine methods. Using the proposed Gabor kernel PCA eliminated the need for local feature segmentation, but also resolved the non-linear separable problem. An overall 90.6% recognition rate was achieved.

The Influence of Ethical Theories in the Practice of Health Education

Health educators increasingly need to have an awareness and appreciation for various ethical traditions as they develop and implement interventions that serve disparate populations, representing different cultural, racial, and faith traditions. Informed consent, right of privacy, confidentiality, anonymity, beneficence, nonmaleficence, respect/autonomy, justice, and others are often cited as principles in health education practice (Beauchamp & Childress, 1994; McDermott & Sarvella, 1999). Perhaps as important for the practice of health education is the need to understand the ethical traditions from which these principles are derived. Ethics is a systematic body of knowledge whose subject matter is human conduct. An ethical theory provides a framework whereby an agent is able to evaluate whether human actions are acceptable. Whereas health education curricula emphasize the social sciences, which describes human behavior as it is, ethics reflects on what ought to be done. Well-known types of ethical theories include natural law, utilitarianism, Kantianism, liberal rights, cultural relativism, and others. In addition, evolving out of the metaethical project initiated by G. E. Moore, are intuitionism, emotivism, prescriptivism, descriptivism, and contextualism. Metaethics concentrates on the language of moral discourse and has moved away from normative ethics, which focuses on the action and the agent. Adherence to any of these ethical theories has implications for health education practice. Health education necessarily entails engagement in controversial areas, where proposed solutions to perceived health problems, consciously or unconsciously, originate from an ethical tradition. Health educators have ethical frameworks that guide their behaviors and what they think is right or wrong, good or bad, normal or not normal. The Health Education Code of Ethics can further assist in serving as a guideline. Dissonance may occur, however, when a health educator encounters someone from a different ethical tradition, which, if not resolved, may lead to ineffective health promotion endeavors. Ethical traditions include normative and relativistic ethics. Relativistic theories assume that ethical rules are formed by each community and are relevant and authoritative only for people in that community, that moral rules are unnatural and obedience to them is only the result of public opinion, and that might makes right. In contrast to this relativistic position are the normative ethical theories, such as the natural law theory, which assume that principles are universal. This tradition, which originated with the Greeks and is the foundation for many mainstream religious traditions, is based on a teleology or final cause. Everything in nature has a distinct end to achieve or a function to fulfill. Aristotle thought that every art and every inquiry and similarly every action and pursuit aimed at some good, which was the special function of a thing (Stumpf, 1983). For example, apple trees have a certain nature. To have good apple trees, a person must act toward these trees in accord with their nature. The person must give them water, good soil with proper nutrients, and sunlight in order to produce good apple trees. If trees fail to produce apples, then the cultivator is doing something wrong and, if good apples are produced, something right. Humans similarly have a distinctive nature. As the proper function of an apple tree is not revealed by opinion but by analysis of the tree’s nature, appropriate human behavior is discovered by analysis of human nature. What implications does the interaction between ethical traditions have for health education practice? Usually there is agreement on what constitutes a problem despite the pluralism of American society. Differences most often occur in etiological descriptions and proposed solutions. Ethical competency is most crucial here. For example, some of the most controversial topics relate to sex and sexuality. Most people coming from various ethical traditions can agree that teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease

Medicine in the UK after Shipman: Has “all changed, changed utterly”?

Medicine in the UK after Shipman: Has “all changed, changed utterly”?

Shipping the Good Apples Out: A New Perspective

An alternative explanation is provided for the Alchian and Allen substitution theorem, which posits that a per unit tax or shipping fee applied to similar goods will increase the relative consumption of the higher‐quality good. The usual explanation is that consumers substitute out of “bad apples” and into “good apples.” This article generalizes the Alchian and Allen result in an n‐good world, providing an alternative explanation that is more cogent in situations where the two goods (for example $500 and $5 wines) are not close substitutes.

NIR/MIR DUAL–SENSOR MACHINE VISION SYSTEM FOR ONLINE APPLE STEM–END/CALYX RECOGNITION

A nearinfrared (NIR) and midinfrared (MIR) dualcamera imaging approach for online apple stemend/calyxdetection is presented in this article. How to distinguish the stemend/calyx from a true defect is a persistent problem in appledefect sorting systems. In a singlecamera NIR approach, the stemend/calyx of an apple is usually confused with true defectsand is often mistakenly sorted. In order to solve this problem, a dualcamera NIR/MIR imaging method was developed. TheMIR camera can identify only the stemend/calyx parts of the fruit, while the NIR camera can identify both the stemend/calyxportions and the true defects on the apple. A fast algorithm has been developed to process the NIR and MIR images. Onlinetest results show that a 100% recognition rate for good apples and a 92% recognition rate for defective apples were achievedusing this method. The dualcamera imaging system has great potential for reliable online sorting of apples for defects.

Shipping the Good Apples Out? An Empirical Confirmation of the Alchian‐Allen Conjecture

Alchian and Allen show that a per unit transactions cost lowers the relative price of, and raises the relative demand for, high‐quality goods. We extend their theory, deriving a relationship between per unit and ad valorem trade costs and the quality composition of trade. Detailed international trade data for many importers and exporters are used to test these predictions. Within a narrowly defined commodity classification, exporters charge destination‐varying prices that covary positively with shipping costs and negatively with tariffs. These results provide a clear rejection of the iceberg assumption on transportation costs and a strong confirmation of the classical Alchian‐Allen hypothesis. We show that these results cannot be explained by monopoly pricing‐to‐market behavior.

Fuzzy-based determination of model and parameters of dual-wavelength vision system for on-line apple sorting

One of the basic tasks in developing a multi-wavelength machine vision system for on-line fruit sorting is to determine the sorting model and system parameters including the wavelength (or filter) combination and the sorting threshold. A fuzzy method was proposed to evaluate the performance of a dual-wavelength vision system developed for on-line sorting of apples. Three sorting models were developed based on the sizes of defect blobs extracted from apple images. Twelve dual-filter combinations were tested and compared under different sorting requirements. Experimental results showed the effectiveness of the fuzzy method in determining the model and system parameters for the on-line dual-wavelength vision sorting system to meet any user-specified sorting requirements for both good and defective apples.

Detecting internal breakdown in apples using interactance measurements

Abstract A technique using body transmittance in the 450- to 1050-nm region was evaluated as a non-destructive technique for identifying apples with internal breakdown. Apples with internal breakdown absorbed shorter wavelengths of light ( 750 nm) was absorbed more by good apples than detective ones. A classifier based on the ratio between the light intensity at 720 and 810 nm was used to segregate apples with internal breakdown from good apples. Only 6.3% of the good apples were incorrectly classified; however. bruises on the apples contributed to the incorrect classification of good apples. None of the apples with severe internal breakdown were incorrectly classified. Apples with very slight internal breakdown contributed to most of the 12.0% error of misclassifying defective fruit as good. The number of misclassified apples was reduced by adjusting the cut-off; however, the number of good fruit that would be discarded increased.

The rotten apple and the good apples: Orthodox, Catholics, and Turks in Philippe de Mézières' crusading propaganda

Philippe de Mézières, one of the most prolific and idiosyncratic of the French crusading propagandists, has long been a subject of scholarly attention. In spite of all efforts, however, his general attitude to the crusade in the east is still an open question. This paper aims to reveal Philippe's approach to the crusade in the second half of the fourteenth century by attempting to unveil his ‘image’ of the Greek Orthodox people in the Balkans and the Turks. It will be argued that, in the context of contemporary French authors, Philippe's view no longer corresponded to recent developments in the attitudes toward Islam and the eastern Europeans. The Crusade was being reoriented, and the value system of the West was changing in the face of the Turkish advance. Deeply rooted in French medieval chivalric and religious traditions, Philippe underwent an internal transformation between the years 1369 and 1396, but he, nevertheless, failed to adapt to the changing realities of the time.

DEFECT DETECTION IN APPLES BY MEANS OF X-RAY IMAGING

X-ray radiograms were obtained for 400 to 700 each of four State of Washington apple cultivars (Fuji,Granny Smith, Red and Golden Delicious) and 79 Braeburns carrying assorted defects (bruises, senescencebrowning, rot, watercore and insect damage). Radiograms of whole apples, most out of long term storage, were obtainedwith line scanning x-ray, suitable for real-time inspection, and with high resolution film, at two orientations, followingwhich the apples were sliced and photographed. Apples were characterized as defective or not based on the appearancein these photos. Sets of x-ray images for a given cultivar/orientation (good and bad apples mixed randomly) wereinspected by human observers and the recognition rates recorded. When still images were viewed on a computer screen,acceptable recognition (= 50% of defective apples recognized, = 5% of good apples classified defective) of images wasobtained for senescence browning of Red Delicious, for watercore and stem rot in Fuji (requiring orientation), possiblyfor watercore in Red Delicious, and for codling moth damage in the first four cultivars 8 to 19 days after larval entry.However, when images were scrolled across the screen at increasing rates, simulating a three-chain sorting line,recognition fell off to unacceptable levels at rates one half that corresponding to a commercial sorting line. This decreaseis not unexpected in light of previous work in more structured situations. The implications for devising an apple sortingsystem based on x-ray are discussed.

The case for case-mix adjustment in practice profiling. When good apples look bad

The case for case-mix adjustment in practice profiling. When good apples look bad

Theory and Practice of Regulatory Enforcement: Occupational Health and Safety Regulation in British Columbia

Data about the activities of occupational health and safety officials in British Columbia is utilized to explore competing explanations for the overwhelming prevalence of persuasion over punishment in regulatory enforcement. By plotting the compliance histories of individual firms, this study demonstrates that many offenders repeatedly commit the same infraction. Few of these repeat offenders are punished. These findings suggest that the very limited use of penalties is not a result of the vast majority of firms being good apples induced to comply by mechanisms of social control other than punishment. Rather, there appears to be institutionalized tolerance of widespread violations. The enforcement deficit may be partly explained by such aspects of regulatory structure as the ongoing relationship between regulated firms and field officers who are the gatekeepers of the penalty process.

Chlorine Producers Fight Back Against Call for Chemical's Phaseout

Chlorine producers and their trade association, the Chlorine Institute (CI), have launched a counterattack against environmental activists and others calling for a complete phaseout of the ubiquitous chemical. One of CI's new weapons is a study detailing the benefits that chlorine bestows on the economies of the U.S. and Canada and the costs of switching to a chlorine-free environment. Another is a soon-to-be-released review of the impact that chlorine has on health and the environment. Last year, the International Joint Commission on Great Lakes Water Quality, the Canada-U.S. binational environmental watchdog focusing on the Great Lakes, called for a gradual phaseout of chlorine and chlorine-containing compounds as industrial feedstocks. Greenpeace also has called for a ban on chlorine (C&EN, April 19, page 11). But a CI spokesman says a complete ban would be tantamount to throwing out all the good apples with the bad. And it would be costly. Charles River Associates (CRA), the independent ...

Utopia, El Dorado, The Holy Grail and all that Excellence in emergency medicine

<i>Utopia, El Dorado, The Holy Grail and all that</i> Excellence in emergency medicine

THE EFFECT OF UNIT FEES ON THE CONSUMPTION OF QUALITY

A law‐of‐demand explanation to the Alchian‐Allen, or “shipping the good apples out,” proposition rests on a change in the relative price of quality when a unit fee is introduced. However, the manner in which quality is consumed is crucial. In some cases, for instance, there is no substitution between the quality attribute and the priced, quantity‐measured attribute. This paper shows that in these cases the relative price of quality is unchanged by a unit fee. Nevertheless, while the “unit fee” proposition fails to obtain for individual choice, it does hold in aggregate.

Shipping the Good Apples Out: Some Ambiguities in the Interpretation of "Fixed Charge"

Previous articleNext article No AccessCommentsShipping the Good Apples Out: Some Ambiguities in the Interpretation of "Fixed Charge"John UmbeckJohn Umbeck Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Political Economy Volume 88, Number 1Feb., 1980 Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/260856 Views: 6Total views on this site Citations: 23Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1980 The University of ChicagoPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Charlotte Emlinger, Viola Lamani International trade, quality sorting and trade costs: the case of Cognac, Review of World Economics 156, no.33 (Jan 2020): 579–609.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10290-019-00372-zJ. Harold Mulherin Armen Alchian: Some organizational thoughts, Journal of Corporate Finance 44 (Jun 2017): 375–384.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2016.03.006Junichi Minagawa, Thorsten Upmann THE GENERALIZED ALCHIAN-ALLEN THEOREM: A SLUTSKY EQUATION FOR RELATIVE DEMAND, Economic Inquiry 53, no.44 (Mar 2015): 1893–1907.https://doi.org/10.1111/ecin.12205Junichi Minagawa, Thorsten Upmann A note on parental time allocation, Labour Economics 25 (Dec 2013): 153–157.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2013.03.004Jean Eid, Travis Ng, Terence Tai-Leung Chong Shipping the Good Horses Out, Southern Economic Journal 80, no.22 (Oct 2013): 540–561.https://doi.org/10.4284/0038-4038-2012.038Junichi Minagawa, Thorsten Upmann A conditional demand approach to the Alchian–Allen effect, Economics Letters 120, no.33 (Sep 2013): 546–551.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2013.06.017Liqun Liu, Andrew J. Rettenmaier, Thomas R. Saving How much and how often: A model of repeated consumption with endogenous consumption frequency, Economics Letters 110, no.33 (Mar 2011): 186–188.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econlet.2010.11.032Liqun Liu The Alchian–Allen theorem and the law of relative demand: The case of multiple quality-differentiable brands, Mathematical Social Sciences 61, no.11 (Jan 2011): 52–57.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mathsocsci.2010.10.002M. P. Ramos, J.-C. Bureau, L. Salvatici Trade composition effects of the EU tariff structure: beef imports from Mercosur, European Review of Agricultural Economics 37, no.11 (Feb 2010): 1–26.https://doi.org/10.1093/erae/jbq007Rachael E. Goodhue, Jeffrey T. LaFrance, Leo K. Simon Wine Taxes, Production, Aging and Quality, Journal of Wine Economics 4, no.11 (Jun 2012): 27–45.https://doi.org/10.1017/S1931436100000663 David Hummels and Alexandre Skiba Shipping the Good Apples Out? An Empirical Confirmation of the Alchian‐Allen Conjecture Hummels and Skiba, Journal of Political Economy 112, no.66 (Jul 2015): 1384–1402.https://doi.org/10.1086/422562Yoram Bauman Shipping the Good Apples Out: A New Perspective, Economic Inquiry 42, no.33 (Mar 2007): 534–536.https://doi.org/10.1093/ei/cbh079Liqun Liu Relative Efficiency of AD Valorem and Unit Taxes: The Case of Endogenous Quality, Public Finance Review 31, no.33 (Aug 2016): 291–301.https://doi.org/10.1177/1091142103031003004Laura Razzolini, William F. Shughart, Robert D. Tollison On the Third Law of Demand, Economic Inquiry 41, no.22 (Mar 2007): 292–298.https://doi.org/10.1093/ei/cbg008Julian M. Alston, Jennifer S. James Chapter 33 The incidence of agricultural policy, (Jan 2002): 1689–1749.https://doi.org/10.1016/S1574-0072(02)10020-XJennifer S. James, Julian Alston Taxes and Quality: A Market-Level Analysis, SSRN Electronic Journal (Jan 2002).https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.295497TYLER COWEN, ALEXANDER TABARROK GOOD GRAPES AND BAD LOBSTERS: APPLYING THE ALCHIAN AND ALLEN THEOREM, Economic Inquiry 33, no.22 (Apr 1995): 253–256.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1995.tb01860.xEric P. Bertonazzi, Michael T. Maloney, Robert E. Mccormick SOME EVIDENCE ON THE ALCHIAN AND ALLEN THEOREM: THE THIRD LAW OF DEMAND?, Economic Inquiry 31, no.33 (Jul 1993): 383–393.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1993.tb01300.xCecil E. Bohanon, T. Norman Van Cott Product Quality and Taxation: a Reconciliation, Public Finance Quarterly 19, no.22 (Aug 2016): 233–237.https://doi.org/10.1177/109114219101900206Michael Staten, John Umbeck Shipping the Good Students Out: The Effect of a Fixed Charge on Student Enrollments, The Journal of Economic Education 20, no.22 (Jul 2014): 165–171.https://doi.org/10.1080/00220485.1989.10844620RAYMOND C. BATTALIO, JOHN H. KAGEL, OWEN R. PHILLIPS OPTIMAL PRICES AND ANIMAL CONSUMERS IN CONGESTED MARKETS, Economic Inquiry 24, no.22 (Apr 1986): 181–193.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1986.tb01805.xWILLIAM H. KAEMPFER, RAYMOND T. BRASTOW THE EFFECT OF UNIT FEES ON THE CONSUMPTION OF QUALITY, Economic Inquiry 23, no.22 (Apr 1985): 341–348.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1465-7295.1985.tb01769.xPeter Cullen Economic aspects of hotel and catering industry changes, International Journal of Hospitality Management 4, no.44 (Jan 1985): 167–171.https://doi.org/10.1016/0278-4319(85)90054-4

Shipping the Good Apples Out: The Alchian and Allen Theorem Reconsidered

Gould and Segall argued that the introduction of a third, composite good vitiates the Alchian and Allen (A-A) theorem that a common charge on two substitute goods leads, real income held constant, to a relative increase in the consumption of the higher to lower quality commodity. Using Hicks's third law, however, it is demonstrated that the direct substitution effect tends to dominate the interaction effect with the third good, if the two substitutes are close. Absolute changes are also investigated and some operational propositions offered with casual supporting observations. A-A's proposition is shown to be a useful price-theoretic construction, though not a direct implication of the law of demand.

Shipping the Good Apples Out: The Alchian and Allen Theorem Reconsidered

Gould and Segall argued that the introduction of a third, composite good vitiates the Alchian and Allen (A-A) theorem that a common charge on two substitute goods leads, real income held constant, to a relative increase in the consumption of the higher to lower quality commodity. Using Hicks's third law, however, it is demonstrated that the direct substitution effect tends to dominate the interaction effect with the third good, if the two substitutes are close. Absolute changes are also investigated and some operational propositions offered with casual supporting observations. A-A's proposition is shown to be a useful price-theoretic construction, though not a direct implication of the law of demand.

Are Bad Works of Art ‘Works of Art’?

Some years ago I came across the following question thrown out almost casually in the course of discussion: How many of us, it was asked, want to call a ‘bad work of art’ a ‘work of art’? The question was clearly rhetorical; the author quite obviously did not consider that anyone in his right mind would suggest that a bad work of art was a work of art. This struck me as rather odd. Surely there can be good and bad works of art, just as there can be good and bad apples or good and bad men. An apple does not cease to be an apple just because it is bad, unless perhaps it has become thoroughly rotten; but the gardener who says ‘The Coxes are bad this year’ does not mean that they have grown rotten on the trees, much less that they are not apples at all. Moreover, if so-called bad works of art are not works of art, what are they? You may not think highly of the works in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition but they are not totally dissimilar to some works in Bond Street next door which are highly regarded.

Are Bad Works of Art ‘Works of Art’?

Some years ago I came across the following question thrown out almost casually in the course of discussion: How many of us, it was asked, want to call a ‘bad work of art’ a ‘work of art’? The question was clearly rhetorical; the author quite obviously did not consider that anyone in his right mind would suggest that a bad work of art was a work of art. This struck me as rather odd. Surely there can be good and bad works of art, just as there can be good and bad apples or good and bad men. An apple does not cease to be an apple just because it is bad, unless perhaps it has become thoroughly rotten; but the gardener who says ‘The Coxes are bad this year’ does not mean that they have grown rotten on the trees, much less that they are not apples at all. Moreover, if so-called bad works of art are not works of art, what are they? You may not think highly of the works in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition but they are not totally dissimilar to some works in Bond Street next door which are highly regarded.