Part Of Scene Research Articles

Tracking and MAP reconstruction of line scratches in degraded motion pictures

A suitable detection and reconstruction approach is proposed for removing line scratches from degraded motion picture films. The detection procedure consists of two steps. First, a simple 1D-extrema detector provides line scratch candidates. Unlike impulsive distortions, which appear randomly in an image, line artifacts persist across several frames. Furthermore, the detection process is complicated by the fact that lines occur as a natural part in interesting scenes. Therefore, we add a validation step for separating possible line defects from false detections. It consists in tracking the potential line artifacts over the frames using a Kalman filter. A new Bayesian restoration technique, dealing with both low and high frequencies around and inside the detected deteriorations, is investigated to achieve a nearly invisible reconstruction of damaged areas.

Home Health Care for the Kidney and Kidney-Pancreas Transplant Recipient

Kidney transplantation has been a part of the world medical scene for more than 45 years and simultaneous kidney-pancreas transplantation for more than 20 years. Improvements in medical techniques, immunosuppressive therapy, and expansion of patient eligibility have led to a population more in need of home health services than ever before. The home health needs of the population range from typical chronic health care needs to issues specifically associated with immunosuppression.

Ecstasy: America's New “Reefer Madness”

MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) was first used as a legal adjunct to psychotherapy in the 1970s. By the early 1980s, “Ecstasy” had become a tiny part of the recreational American drug scene, and was ultimately criminalized in 1986. For a decade use continued, but remained quiet. By the end of the 1990s, increased supply, demand, seizures of pills, arrests of distributors associated with organized crime, adverse reactions, and government repons of problematic brain changes created an Ecstasy media frenzy. The government's reaction led to a public education campaign and proposals for exponential penalties for production, distribution and use of MDMA. This article looks at the history, epidemiology, and politics of Ecstasy, the media's response, and the ways in which media and government reaction will compromise harm reduction and safety.

BAYESIAN VIDEO MOSAICING WITH MOVING OBJECTS

This paper presents a framework that creates background, foreground and a temporal summarization of the motions in a scene. The method is based on the Dominant Motion Assumption (DMA), where the background has a parametric motion and occupies the main part of the scene. Under this assumption, we present a robust optical flow based method to extract the moving parts of the scene using the clustering capabilities of mixtures of Gaussians. A general mosaicing method to summarize the background, the foreground and the trajectories of objects in the scene is also presented.

Topology-reducing surface simplification using a discrete solid representation

This paper presents a new approach for generating coarse-level approximations of topologically complex models. Dramatic topology reduction is achieved by converting a 3D model to and from a volumetric representation. Our approach produces valid, error-bounded models and supports the creation of approximations that do not interpenetrate the original model, either being completely contained in the input solid or bounding it. Several simple to implement versions of our approach are presented and discussed. We show that these methods perform significantly better than other surface-based approaches when simplifying topologically-rich models such as scene parts and complex mechanical assemblies.

'This is the Digital Underclass': Asian Dub Foundation and Hip-Hop Cosmopolitanism

After being eclipsed for years by binary black-white definitions of racial difference, Asians have become an increasingly visible and self-assertive part of Britain's vibrant cultural scene over the past decade. From television comedy to movies like East is East , cultural production by second-generation Asians has become a central element in definitions of British identity. Nowhere is this more true than in music, where deejays like Talvin Singh have become particularly prominent promoters of the recombinant grooves that characterize contemporary dance music. This paper focuses on the appropriation and adaptation of hip hop's hybrid musical form and subaltern nationalism by Asian Dub Foundation (ADF). Stressing the group's origin in grassroots anti-racist organizing efforts in London's East End, the present paper explores the increasing centrality of struggles over space in contemporary youth subculture. At a moment when some commentators are proclaiming the eclipse of the nation-state, the work of groups like ADF underlines the importance of cultural ascriptions of belonging for ethnic minority communities in Britain. ADF draw on diasporic connections with militant African-American hip-hop artists like Public Enemy as well as on the struggle for independence in India as important precedents for their anti-racist rap. These outernational predecessors are, however, consistently invoked as part of demands for civil rights on a local and national scale. ADF's music is thus a potent example of the multiple spatial scales that characterize the subcultures of diasporic youths in contemporary Britain.

“Dancestasy”: Dance and MDMA Use in Dutch Youth Culture

“House” is the main youth subculture of the 1980s and 1990s in the Netherlands. For the members of this youth culture scene, house is a combination of going to parties and dancing all night while being high on MDMA, a drug better known as XTC/Ecstasy. This article is a review of the history of house and the Dutch house scene. It considers some of the psychological effects of dancing combined with taking Ecstasy: “dancestasy.” MDMA itself can be physically and cognitively harmful, but the dancestasy experience may contribute positively to the development of personal and social identity during adolescence. Results of ethnographic studies suggest that the dancestasy experience can have temporary negative effects on functioning in school or at work. After a few years in the dance scene, leisure time becomes less important, and, as young adults, people who are part of the dance scene take up their social responsibilities.

New Regional Transportation Organizations: Old Problem, New Wrinkle?

As attention turns to the operations and management of the nation’s highway infrastructure, regional operating organizations (ROOs) have increasingly become part of the transportation scene. Many ROOs are housed in new organizations, which are essentially voluntary alliances between state and local operating agencies in a region. The history of regional organizations and the so-called “new regional transportation organizations” that are being created around operations and management tasks is examined. Three questions are asked: ( a) Why are new organizations being created when regional organizations already exist? ( b) How do new organizations differ from those that currently exist? ( c) How will the new organizations operate within the existing metropolitan context as they develop and mature? The conclusion is that the success of these organizations depends on how they navigate the transition from being new organizations whose focus and jurisdiction do not adequately correspond to regionwide operations issues to being full-fledged regional organizations in an environment populated by existing metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) and regional authorities. The particular challenge is how these organizations will be able to grow to meet region-specific needs and challenges while providing sufficient accountability and consistency to facilitate federal participation. The history of MPOs suggests that universal and far-reaching federal mandates may not be the best strategy to achieve these goals.

移動に伴う遮蔽縁からの情景の現れ方が視覚的注意の誘導および景観評価に与える影響

This study examines the influence of the design of exit space on visual attention and evaluation of landscape by a person who is leaving a building. Twelve movies, CG animations of opening overlaid on the images of outdoor scenes, were presented to thirty-six subjects. It was revealed that some of the subject's overall impressions of the landscape were found to vary according to the manner of opening up the scene. The variation of the subjects' overall impression was explained by; 1) the order of appearance of partial scene in the visual field, 2) the trace of eye movement led by the movement of the edges.

Cerebral visual impairment in children

Much of the brain is devoted to vision. Damage causes visual problems ranging from profound impairment, to cognitive visual problems only. A child with cerebral blindness may have intact perception of movement. The principal cognitive visual pathways comprise the dorsal and the ventral streams. The dorsal stream runs between the occipital lobes (which process incoming visual data), the posterior parietal lobes (which process the whole visual scene and give attention to component parts), the motor cortex (which facilitates movement through the visual scene) and the frontal cortex (which directs attention to chosen parts of the visual scene). The ventral stream runs between the occipital lobes and the temporal lobes (which enable recognition of people and objects, facilitate route finding and serve visual memory). Damage to these pathways disrupts these functions in a variety of combinations. This paper reviews cerebral visual impairment in children, the differential diagnosis and the management.

Book Review: The Plato of Praed Street: The Life and Times of Almroth Wright

Book Review: The Plato of Praed Street: The Life and Times of Almroth Wright

Reconstruction of degraded image sequences. Application to film restoration

A suitable detection–reconstruction approach is proposed for removing impulsive distortion and other types of deterioration from degraded image sequences. The main application that has motivated this work is the problem of digital film restoration for the movie industry, which has only very recently been explored. Line artifacts, which are prominent degradations in motion picture films, are also considered here. The detection procedure consists of two steps. First, a morphological filter provides impulsive distortions and line scratch candidates. Unlike impulsive distortions, which appear randomly in an image, line artifacts persist in nearby or the same location across several frames. Furthermore, the detection process is complicated by the fact that lines occur as natural part in interesting scenes. Therefore, we add a validation step for separating possible line defects from false detections. It consists in tracking the potential line artifacts over the frames using a Kalman filter. An interpolation technique, dealing with both low and high frequencies around the detected deteriorations, is investigated to achieve a nearly invisible reconstruction of damaged areas.

A Global Infrared Image Synthesis Model for Large-Scale Complex Urban Scene

Most of infrared scene models deal with backgrounds, they can't simulate infrared urban scene. This paper presents a global infrared image synthesis model for large-scale complex urban scene which can be applied to various weather conditions and suitable for various parts of the urban scene. We first analysis the influence of all kinds of meteorological and environmental factors on the infrared characteristic of urban scene. Then based on principle of energy equilibrium we propose a global infrared image synthesis model for urban scene, discuss the specific forms for various parts of the scene and compute their surface temperature. As the rendering principle for infrared scene differs from that for visible scene, we propose a novel rendering criterion for infrared scene. Finally by the method of Gouraud Shading of Computer Graphics, infrared images of urban scene from different viewpoints at different time are presented. Field measurement further shows that our model is robust and feasible.

Willem de Kooning: reflections in the studio

Contains chronologically arranged stories told by Willem and Elaine de Kooning, which enrich and correct the published biographies of both artists. They were among the most important artistic figures of their generation and an integral part of the New York art scene. Also contains 100 illustrations.

Working for individual choice

Cecil Graham, Chief Executive of Action Mental Health in Northern Ireland, describes one organisation's attempts to bring more lateral thinking into providing work and training programmes for people with mental ill health. Action Mental Health, under its previous name ITO, has long been an established part of the mental health scene in the Province. Over the past few years it has faced up to the challenge of modernising its services to meet user aspirations and, more ambitiously, has tried to change the way mental illness is perceived by the whole community. This is the story so far…

Challenges that face early years

THE baby is rapidly coming of age but is still only one year old. This month, Early Years Educator celebrates its first anniversary and it is interesting for us to cast our minds back on our first year of growing pains and to analyse what has happened in early years education as a whole and what still needs to be achieved. The first thing to say is that it has been a genuine privilege and satisfaction to be a part of the early years scene. Nothing that has happened in the past year has made us doubt for one second our decision to enter the early years arena. Quite the contrary.

Building on the Past, Bridging to the Future: A Research Agenda for the Center for the Improvement of Early Reading Achievement

In late winter 1997, the Office of Educational Research and Improvement of the U.S. Department of Education issued a request for proposals for a new reading center. First at the University of Illinois and then at the Universities of Georgia and Maryland, a federally sponsored reading cen ter had been a part of the American educational research scene since 1976. Unlike earlier federally sponsored read ing centers, the request for proposals in 1997 had a specif ic, rather than general, mission for a new reading center: to address the persistent problems of early reading, defined as the period from preschool through Grade 3, and to find solutions that would enable the country to meet its national goal of every child reading by the end of third grade. In response to that call, we mounted an effort to address per sistent problems that have faced the field in improving early reading theory and practice. We conceptualized these problems and questions as situ ated within a set of interacting planes of inquiry. In the innermost plane were reader and text, the dyad most clear ly implicated in the reading process. In the intermediate plane were home and school, the sites in which children learn to read. The outermost plane consisted of the policy and profession contexts that exert important, if indirect, influences on learning to read by shaping the quality of materials and instruction available to learners through poli cies, funding, and professional development. We wanted to implement a balanced and diverse portfolio of research, ensuring to embrace diversity of three types: (a) in the populations of students involved in our work; (b) in the range of professionals with whom we worked to design materials, instructional interventions, and dissemina tion efforts; and (c) in our methodological tools and per spectives. Our fundamental commitment would be to work with and learn from teachers and administrators who work in

Remembrance of Things Past: "Les Silences du palais" by Moufida Tlatli

head of the Tunisian Office of the Family and Women, explains that women in Tunisia enjoy many rights, including family planning and education. A succession of progressive presidents and governments have put in place policies which have enabled women to have access to professions traditionally reserved for men, such as judge, policeman, or pilot.' Moufida Tlatli is the product of this society. After she graduated in 1968 from the Institut des hautes etudes du cinema (IDHEC, the Paris film school), she became a script supervisor, then film editor, and finally was able to make her own film. This was possible not only because of her training and experience, but also because the Tunisian film industry is very active and successful. Directors such as Ali Alidy, Fdrid Boughedri, and Nouri Nouzid are respected and admired; Moufida Tlatli is part of this dynamic Tunisian cinematic scene.' Les Silences du palais (Silences of the Palace, 1994) was awarded Special Mention by the Jury at the Cannes Festival in 1994. Given Tlatli's identity and gender a number of interconnected questions come to mind. What are the messages that Tlatli, as a post-colonial subject from North Africa, conveys in her film? In what ways does her Arabness have an impact on the film? To whom is she addressing her film? How does she position her spectators? I will argue that in exploring the intersection of class, gender, and history in 1950s and 1960s Tunisia, Tlatli addresses men and women in both the Arab world and the Western world in 1994; and her message is still relevant today. In other words, Tlatli re-presents the past in order to create awareness about the present.

Setting the Agenda: The Success of the 1977 Israel Women's Party

ATHOUGH THE YIzUG SHAVEH [EQUAL REPRESENTATION] women's list eventually dropped out of the Spring 1999 elections to the Knesset, it is clear that separate women's lists represent a potent political option for Israeli feminists. Tizug Shaveh marks the fourth time since statehood that Israeli women have attempted to gain electoral representation in a separate political framework. (Pnina Rosenblum ran a list that was concerned with small business and women's rights, although she did not call it a women's list .) The tradition of separate women's lists dates further back, however, than 1949 and the First Knesset. They have been part of the Israeli political scene since 1918, when the first women's list, the Women's Society, was elected to the first Representative Assembly with the goal of securing the formal recognition of women's suffrage as a fundamental principle of Jewish autonomy in the Yishuv. The Women's List, later called the Union of Hebrew Women for Equal Rights (UER), elected representatives to each of the four Representative Assemblies and, in 1931, sent one of its representatives, Henrietta Szold, to the Va'ad Leumi in order to head the establishment of the Department of Social Welfare. The UER, in conjunction with the Women's International Zionist Organization (WIZO) and the Zionist Women's Organization (HNZ) [the Histadrut Nashim Zionot], elected a representative, Rachel Kagan, to the Knesset in 1949.' Kagan's term was short lived; a WIZO decision that electoral politics was not the appropriate sphere of activity for a non-partisan, voluntary Zionist women's organization meant that it did not field another candidate for Knesset after 1951. Nor was Kagan's term marked by great feminist accomplishments; her attempt to pass a bill for improving women's status was torpedoed by a government bill which was so mild in content that Kagan refused to support it.2 But it is likely that those who established the current women's list (and its 1992 predecessor) did not look toward either the UER or the WIZO list when deciding to run for election. Instead they

The broken tower: a life of Hart Crane

Broken Tower reads with all the drama of a psychological novel and the inexorable force of a Greek tragedy. Hart Crane made a meteoric rise in the late 1920s and then as suddenly burnt out, killing himself at the age of 32, and thus turned his life and poetry into the stuff of myth. A mid-Westerner, Crane came to New York to play a central part in the contemporary avant-garde literary world and also became part of the New York gay scene. This biography of Crane includes major new discoveries about his life. The author probes Crane's inner demons, promiscuous sexual life, alcoholism and self-destructive behaviour to give us a profound portrait of a complex, haunted and brilliant life.