Kinds Of Backgrounds Research Articles

Entropy-Driven Morphological Top-Hat Transformation for Infrared Small Target Detection

Infrared small target detection is a key technique in an infrared system. In the past decade, many methods have concentrated on traditional top-hat transformation, which relies on the hand-crafted shape and value of structural elements. However, these methods are inevitably challenged by the following two aspects: first, the structural elements cannot suppress heavy clutter because the construction of structural elements is always according to the prior information of the target and unable to consider the feature of clutter. Second, adaptively extracting sufficient local feature information for background suppression is hard for the structural element. In this article, we propose an entropy-driven top-hat transformation with guided filter kernel for considering the features of both the clutters and background. First, we propose an entropy-driven top-hat transformation method with our proposed local mean entropy, which can be used to suppress clutter according to the local complex degree of clutter. Then, an adaptive structural element based on a guided filter kernel is further exploited to capture the local feature information of image for background suppression. Finally, an adaptive threshold is combined with our algorithm to achieve target detection in image sequences. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is not only robust for suppressing different kinds of backgrounds but can also obtain a higher value of the signal-to-clutter ratio gain and detection accuracy compared with some popular traditional baseline methods and related top-hat methods.

Picturing translocal matters in a mobile world: Photography as a method of ethnographic research at a Japanese gathering in Berlin

ABSTRACT Using photo sessions in combination with three in-depth interviews at a Japanese party called Ankokai in Berlin, we explore how the method of photography along with the participant’s choice of personal objects in the photographs positively influences narrative interviews. Literally meaning “red bean paste meeting”, the Ankokai was originally used as a way for the Japanese gay community to meet in Berlin but nowadays attracts people from all kinds of backgrounds. Keeping the ethnographic research method in mind, our underlying research question asks how translocal categories of migration are reflected in the participants’ choices of personal objects in the photographs. Although larger studies are required to verify this claim, we found that photography can be a strong tool for enacting reciprocity and building rapport in ethnographic research. Furthermore, the participants’ choices of personal objects for these pictures support powerful personal narratives as the research participants’ active participation in the photo session enabled them to reflect on their experiences of migration.

Rapid, simultaneous and interference-free determination of three rhodamine dyes illegally added into chilli samples using excitation-emission matrix fluorescence coupled with second-order calibration method

In this study, a smart and green analytical method based on the second-order calibration algorithm coupled with excitation-emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence was developed for the determination of rhodamine dyes illegally added into chilli samples. The proposed method not only has the advantage of high sensitivity over the traditional fluorescence method but also fully displays the “second-order advantage”. Pure signals of analytes were successfully extracted from severely interferential EEMs profiles via using alternating trilinear decomposition (ATLD) algorithm even in the presence of common fluorescence problems such as scattering, peak overlaps and unknown interferences. It is worth noting that the unknown interferents can denote different kinds of backgrounds, not only refer to a constant background. In addition, the method using interpolation method could avoid the information loss of analytes of interest. The use of “mathematical separation” instead of complicated “chemical or physical separation” strategy can be more effective and environmentally friendly. A series of statistical parameters including figures of merit and RSDs of intra- (≤1.9%) and inter-day (≤6.6%) were calculated to validate the accuracy of the proposed method. Furthermore, the authoritative method of HPLC-FLD was adopted to verify the qualitative and quantitative results of the proposed method. Compared with the two methods, it also showed that the ATLD-EEMs method has the advantages of accuracy, rapidness, simplicity and green, which is expected to be developed as an attractive alternative method for simultaneous and interference-free determination of rhodamine dyes illegally added into complex matrices.

Factors Influencing Honour Killings: Need for State Intervention for Reformation

Violence strikes women from all kinds of backgrounds and of all ages. It can happen at work, on the street, or at home. Violence against women is a global phenomenon prevalent in all societies, but differs in its form from one society to another, depending on the level of development and the extent of patriarchal control within the family, as this system prevailed in human societies what is the definition of honour killing and what leads families to commit this heinous crime so that they can protect their family honour? Is this practice prevalent only in India or is it prevalent in other parts of the world also? What are the misconceptions regarding honour killing and what are the solutions to stop this crime from spreading? These are the questions that this article seeks to find an answer to the barbaric practice of honour killing also known as honour murder i.e. the killing of a member of a family or social group by other members, due to the belief of the perpetrators that the victim has brought dishonour upon the family or community which is on rise in recent days.

A background subtraction approach based on complex wavelet transforms in EDXRF

Subtracting the background accurately is one of the most important issues in energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectra processing. This paper presents a novel approach to perform background subtraction based on dual‐tree complex wavelet transform. Compared with real wavelet transform, the proposed method has some attractive properties, including a smooth, nonoscillating, and nearly shift‐invariant magnitude with a simple near‐linear phase encoding of signal shifts. Therefore, it outperforms real wavelet transform to decompose background into low‐frequency components. The effectiveness of the proposed approach is demonstrated via two simulated spectra with different kinds of backgrounds and one measured spectrum from an energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometer. Both simulated and experimental results prove that the proposed approach can subtract background in EDXRF spectra effectively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Consistent compactification of double field theory on non-geometric flux backgrounds

In this paper, we construct non-trivial solutions to the $2D$-dimensional field equations of Double Field Theory (DFT) by using a consistent Scherk-Schwarz ansatz. The ansatz identifies $2(D-d)$ internal directions with a twist $U^M{}_N$ which is directly connected to the covariant fluxes $\mathcal{F}_{ABC}$. It exhibits $2(D-d)$ linear independent generalized Killing vectors $K_I{}^J$ and gives rise to a gauged supergravity in $d$ dimensions. We analyze the covariant fluxes and the corresponding gauged supergravity with a Minkowski vacuum. We calculate fluctuations around such vacua and show how they gives rise to massive scalars field and vectors field with a non-abelian gauge algebra. Because DFT is a background independent theory, these fields should directly correspond the string excitations in the corresponding background. For $(D-d)=3$ we perform a complete scan of all allowed covariant fluxes and find two different kinds of backgrounds: the single and the double elliptic case. The later is not T-dual to a geometric background and cannot be transformed to a geometric setting by a field redefinition either. While this background fulfills the strong constraint, it is still consistent with the Killing vectors depending on the coordinates and the winding coordinates, thereby giving a non-geometric patching. This background can therefore not be described in Supergravity or Generalized Geometry.

KOMIK “KEMBALI KEPADA TUHAN” SEBUAH UPAYA PEMBELAJARAN MORAL SPIRITUAL BAGI REMAJA

Comic is one of the mass communication media that is encased and presented uniquely by combining texts and images. This combination may eventually create a plot which has a very broad effect because of the ability of this media to transform itself into various kinds of forms even for readers from various kinds of backgrounds. The application of the universal language of images makes the value of comics enhance into a kind of means to convey various kinds of messages, both simple and complex. With its flexible visual and verbal language comics can create an aesthetical visualization towards a current issue that is happening in the society. The comic Kembali Kepada Tuhan (Returning to God) is a comic title which is made based upon the social and spiritual conditions that occurs in Indonesia nowadays, about the habits of praying to other entities other than God. This comic is to make the youths nowadays not to follow such wrong example. Furthermore, it is hoped through this comic that the youths today understand the consequences if they follow that incorrect model. The reason of why this creation is targeted for today's youngsters is because of the nature of adolescents where they are vulnerable towards any bad external influences. Therefore, constant positive information and messages that deals with the moral and spiritual conditions during this period is necessary. This story is taken from many true stories that have ever happened in the society with the alteration of plots, settings, and characters; whereas, the idea is a combination from the visual reality and the enigma. The visual realities are to describe the human characters in the story. Meanwhile, the supernatural beings are derived enigmas that are caught from the spiritual realism. This comic gives a clear image for the targeted viewers if such habit is carried out. The comic itself uses the combination between digital coloring using Adobe Photoshop and manual drawing by using poster paint. Whereas, the images utilizes the realist style in order to emphasizes the reality aspect, an aspect that cannot beobtained using the cartoon style.Keyword : comics, adolescent, visualization

Morphological weighted penalized least squares for background correction

Backgrounds existing in the analytical signal always impair the effectiveness of signals and compromise selectivity and sensitivity of analytical methods. In order to perform further qualitative or quantitative analysis, the background should be corrected with a reasonable method. For this purpose, a new automatic method for background correction, which is based on morphological operations and weighted penalized least squares (MPLS), has been developed in this paper. It requires neither prior knowledge about the background nor an iteration procedure or manual selection of a suitable local minimum value. The method has been successfully applied to simulated datasets as well as experimental datasets from different instruments. The results show that the method is quite flexible and could handle different kinds of backgrounds. The proposed MPLS method is implemented and available as an open source package at http://code.google.com/p/mpls.

New ways of scientific publishing and accessing human knowledge inspired by transdisciplinary approaches

Inspired by interdisciplinary work touching biology and microtribology, the authors propose a new, dynamic way of publishing research results, the establishment of a tree of knowledge and the localisation of scientific articles on this tree. The current two-dimensional standard of scientific publications is outdated. Over-information in almost any field is a problem. Therefore, it is suggested that, to succeed and be read, modern publications should be dynamic and use all types of multimedia. Such ways of presenting and managing research results would be accessible by people with different kinds of backgrounds and levels of education, and allow for full use of the ever-increasing number of scientific and technical publications. This approach would dramatically change and revolutionise the way we are doing science, and contribute to overcoming the three gaps between the world of ideas, inventors, innovators and investors as introduced by Gebeshuber, Gruber and Drack in 2009 for accelerated scientific and technological breakthroughs to improve the human condition. Inspiration for the development of above methods was the fact that generally tribologists and biologists do not see many overlaps of their professions. However, both deal with materials, structures and processes. Tribology is omnipresent in biology and many biological systems have impressive tribological properties. Tribologists can therefore get valuable input and inspiration from living systems. The aim of biomimetics is knowledge transfer from biology to technology and successful biomimetics in tribology needs collaboration between biologists and tribologists. Literature search shows that the number of papers regarding biotribology is steadily increasing. However, at the moment, most scientific papers of the other respective field are hard to access and hard to understand, in terms of concepts and specific wording, hindering successful collaboration and resulting in long times that are needed to speak and understand the other's language. For example, there is a plenitude of biology papers that deal with friction, adhesion, wear and lubrication that were written solely for a biology readership and that have high potential to serve as inspiration for tribology if they were available in a language or in an environment accessible for tribologists. The three needs that can be identified regarding successful biomimetics for microtribologists (i.e. joint language, joint way of publishing results, and joint seminars, workshops and conferences) are developed further into a general concept concerning the future of scientific publications and ordering as well as accessing the knowledge of our time.

Poisson mixture model for measurements using counting

Starting with the basic Poisson statistical model of a counting measurement process, 'extraPoisson' variance or 'overdispersion' are included by assuming that the Poisson parameter representing the mean number of counts itself comes from another distribution. The Poisson parameter is assumed to be given by the quantity of interest in the inference process multiplied by a lognormally distributed normalising coefficient plus an additional lognormal background that might be correlated with the normalising coefficient (shared uncertainty). The example of lognormal environmental background in uranium urine data is discussed. An additional uncorrelated background is also included. The uncorrelated background is estimated from a background count measurement using Bayesian arguments. The rather complex formulas are validated using Monte Carlo. An analytical expression is obtained for the probability distribution of gross counts coming from the uncorrelated background, which allows straightforward calculation of a classical decision level in the form of a gross-count alarm point with a desired false-positive rate. The main purpose of this paper is to derive formulas for exact likelihood calculations in the case of various kinds of backgrounds.

Public versus Private Education with Risky Human Capital

This paper studies the long-run macroeconomic, distributional and welfare effects of tuition policy and student loans. We therefore form a rich model of risky human capital investment based on the seminal work of Heckman, Lochner and Taber (1998). We extend their original model by variable labor supply, borrowing constraints, idiosyncratic wage risk, uncertain life-span, and multiple schooling decisions. This allows us to build a direct link between students and their parents and make the initial distribution of people over different socio-economic backgrounds endogenous. Our simulation indicate that privatization of tertiary education comes with a vast reduction in the number of students, an increase in the college wage premium and longrun welfare losses of around 5 percent. Surprisingly, we find that from privatization of tertiary education, students are better off compared to workers from other educational classes, since the college wage premium nearly doubles. In addition, our model predicts that income contingent loans on which students don’t have to pay interest, improve the college enrolment situation for agents from all kinds of backgrounds.

Integrating policy and decision making into undergraduate science education.

Scientists gathered in Mill Valley [CA] Thursday as part of a fact-finding mission to determine what effect the Drakes Bay Oyster Co. has on the ecology of Drakes Estero. The company’s lease allowing it to grow and harvest oysters in Drakes Estero ends in 2012, and the Point Reyes National Seashore wants to turn it into a wilderness area thereafter. But owner Kevin Lunny said the operation causes no harm and may help the ecosystem. He wants to stay. The National Research Council—an arm of the National Academy of Sciences—was tapped by the National Park Service to examine the issue at the request of Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D.-Calif. That process began Thursday as the nine members of the committee—including experts in agriculture, disease, marine sciences and oceanography—heard from a variety of people connected to the issue in what had the feel of a courtroom at the Aqua Hotel . . .

The scientists of today: revisiting Leonardo in a global environment

Historically, scientists have come from all kinds of backgrounds, and beliefs. In all cultures and civilizations, from the early tribal times until today, scientists have occupied prominent or, at the very least, notorious positions within their communities. One could argue that scientists are as diverse as the innumerable “philosopher-scientists” in ancient Greece, to the alchemists from the Medieval ages, to the co-existing collaborating Jewish, Moorish, and Christian scientists from the “Golden Age” in Spain, and the incredibly productive inventors and scientists from the Italian Renaissance. A common thread that unites scientists of all times is their curiosity and quest for knowledge. By and large, this breed of human beings is tenacious, inquisitive, imaginative, and inventive. There is no doubt that scientists have been and are the cornerstones of human progress. Throughout history, scientists have been instrumental in contributing to the advancement of human society by either discovering or understanding basic scientific dogmas, and by inventing new methods or instruments. Certain periods have been more productive than others with respect to the impact of scientific progress. For instance, take the Renaissance, perhaps one of the most productive and amazing periods with regard not only to science but also to the arts, the humanities, and society. Fantastic scientists and engineers roamed the lands and made such key discoveries as Galileo’s concept of inertia, establishment of modern astronomy, and implementing the scientific method. My favorite scientist of the time though has to be the incomparable Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo embodied the spirit of the Renaissance at its fullest; he was the type of man who one day would invent a helicopter and another day would describe a type of surgery, while taking minimal time off from science to paint such icons as the “Last Supper” and “La Gioconda”. Leonardo was a man of broad scientific interests, which he demonstrated continuously by lecturing and writing about his different discoveries. He was a truly multidisciplinary scientist working across disciplines. For example, Leonardo, commissioned by Cesare Borgia, designed the clever and beautiful canal harbor of Cesenatico in the Adriatic Sea in 1502, a feat of engineering problem-solving and aesthetic beauty. Another interesting aspect of Leonardo is that in a sense he kept reinventing himself by periodically focusing his interests on different issues. In doing so, he was able to maintain the admiration of the Florentine society, and more importantly have the Duque di Medici as his benefactor during most of his life. It has taken us three centuries to embrace the concept of diversity in science. The 19th and the early 20th Centuries brought times of high specialization in science, and little diversity. The belief at the time was that unless a scientist was highly specialized he/she would not be able to make progress in a meaningful manner. The consequence is that we had a very split scientific community with chemists, physicists, biologists, engineers, and physicians, for example, working in their own corners and never crossing the street to converse with each other. Even within chemistry, there was sort of a “snobbish” sentiment that would result in little interaction between members of the traditional disciplines, namely, analytical, physical, organic, and inorganic chemistry. Despite this division, we cannot forget that the 20th Century had a myriad of incredible scientists who were able to think beyond a traditional discipline and discovered milestone after milestone. For example, the curiosity of Linus Pauling (Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and Nobel Peace Prize in 1962) allowed him to venture away from his first training in chemical engineering to physical/inorganic Anal Bioanal Chem (2009) 393:1–3 DOI 10.1007/s00216-008-2462-5

Visual Literacy in Message Design

The theme for this 33rd Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association in Eskilstuna, Sweden, is “Visual Literacy in Message Design”. Both visual literacy and message design are broad concepts, each with a long history. Researchers with different kinds of backgrounds have shown an interest in visual literacy. This is also true for message design, which can be divided in several categories. Various areas of design have different objectives and the information materials reach out to different groups of receivers. Visual literacy and the use of images is important in message design. At the same time message design is important in the study of visual literacy. The concepts of visual literacy and message design partly overlap one another.

Background correction for cDNA microarray images using the TV+L1 model

Background correction is an important preprocess in cDNA microarray data analysis. A variety of methods have been used for this purpose. However, many kinds of backgrounds, especially inhomogeneous ones, cannot be estimated correctly using any of the existing methods. In this paper, we propose the use of the TV+L1 model, which minimizes the total variation (TV) of the image subject to an L1-fidelity term, to correct background bias. We demonstrate its advantages over the existing methods by both analytically discussing its properties and numerically comparing it with morphological opening. Experimental results on both synthetic data and real microarray images demonstrate that the TV+L1 model gives the restored intensity that is closer to the true data than morphological opening. As a result, this method can serve an important role in the preprocessing of cDNA microarray data.

La prière pour l’unité de l’Église

Praying for the Unity of the Church. The Schism awakened official piety. Early on, preachers asked and invited the faithful to pray for the return of unity in the Church. In 1392, Clement VII published a votive mass to the same end. The missals which have been preserved to this day show that is was celebrated in circles close to the French monarchy. Most of the time, the prayer for unity in the Church was associated to a prayer for the king’s health. It is however difficult to give an account of private prayer, but people from all kinds of backgrounds did pray a lot for the end of the Schism, as show the processions and pilgrimages. Among the latter, the pilgrimage to Notre-Dame du Puy held an important position. Moreover, the representation of the Virgin established itself even more at the time as the image of the unity of the Church. The development of the devotion to Mary also partook of the desire to see the divided obedience come together. In that respect, the Virgin with the Coat in the Carmes in Le Puy appears as a magnificent ex voto from the end of the Schism.

高等学校地理教員間にみられる指導と評価に関する認識及び実践状況の差異

The New Courses of Study prescribed in 1999 require teachers to develop students' competency in problem-solving, through the appropriate methods of teaching and evaluation. In developing students' problem-solving skills, what are favorable backgrounds of the teachers?In order to investigate the upper secondary school Geography teachers' perception and practice of teaching and evaluation of problem-solving skills, the author and associate professor Hirakawa, Y. conducted a survey with a questionnaire in 2000, March.This paper attempts to identify, on the basis of the analysis of the data of the survey, what kinds of backgrounds are more positive for teachers in students' problem-solving skills development. Data analysis was made in terms of teachers' backgrounds: (1) Alliance of academic society (member of the Association of Japanese Geographers/Japanese Association of Professional Geographers or not), (2) Faculty/course of undergraduate study (faculty/course pertaining to teacher education or not), (3) Major in graduation (majored in Geography or not), and (4) Highest level of educational attainment (graduate or postgraduate).As a result, in general, differences among teachers in terms of their backgrounds are limited. As one channel of in-service teacher education, alliance of academic society is, however, found to be the most influential background with significant differences in 18 items out of 74. Teachers who belong to the academic societies have more positive concern towards teaching and evaluating problem-solving skills than teachers who do not. This can be interpreted that through the research activities of academic societies teachers develop problem-solving skills by themselves, and this may make them conscious and active in teaching and evaluating their students' problem-solving skills.On the other hand, backgrounds pertaining to pre-service teacher education are less influential, especially regarding the type of faculty of undergraduate study. The result supports the principle of open system of pre-service teacher education.

Facility and method for studying two-step γ cascades in thermal neutron capture

Abstract A dedicated facility for γ-γ coincidence studies of (n,γ) reactions at thermal neutron energies is described. The facility and the adopted method of data acquisition make it possible to determine intensities of two-step γ cascades proceeding from the neutron capturing state to a set of selected low-lying levels via resolved and unresolved intermediate levels occurring between the neutron capturing state and a final level of interest. A detailed description of the method for accumulating the γ-ray spectra, characterizing these two-step cascades, is given including procedures for corrections of these spectra for various kinds of backgrounds and distortions.

The Arthurian antecedents of Gene Kemp'sThe Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler

Gene Kemp'sThe Turbulent Term of Tyke Tiler, the focus of this article, won the Carnegie Medal and The Other Award in 1977. Unlike previous medal winners, the book is set in a primary school populated by children from all kinds of backgrounds, getting on with day-to-day life in the classroom. Despite its very local—even very English—setting, the novel has enjoyed enormous success internationally; its sales in Japan, for example, are extensive.

Theoretical estimation of PIXE detection limits

Taking into account the various kinds of backgrounds in PIXE, the detection limit has been theoretically derived. A contour representation of the detection limit for trace-element analyses in biological samples has been calculated, and it is shown that the best detection limit is obtained with about 3 MeV protons.