Using basic image features for texture classification

Representing texture images statistically as histograms over a discrete vocabulary of local features has proven widely effective for texture classification tasks. Images are described locally by vectors of, for example, responses to some filter bank; and a visual vocabulary is defined as a partition of this descriptor-response space, typically based on clustering. In this paper, we investigate the performance of an approach which represents textures as histograms over a visual vocabulary which is defined geometrically, based on the Basic Image Features of Griffin and Lillholm (Proc. SPIE 6492(09):1-11, 2007), rather than by clustering. BIFs provide a natural mathematical quantisation of a filter-response space into qualitatively distinct types of local image structure. We also extend our approach to deal with intra-class variations in scale. Our algorithm is simple: there is no need for a pre-training step to learn a visual dictionary, as in methods based on clustering, and no tuning of parameters is required to deal with different datasets. We have tested our implementation on three popular and challenging texture datasets and find that it produces consistently good classification results on each, including what we believe to be the best reported for the KTH-TIPS and equal best reported for the UIUCTex databases

Metabolic rate measurement system

The Metabolic Rate Measurement System (MRMS) is an uncomplicated and accurate apparatus for measuring oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production of a test subject. From this one can determine the subject's metabolic rate for a variety of conditions, such as resting or light exercise. MRMS utilizes an LSI/11-03 microcomputer to monitor and control the experimental apparatus

How Sugar Affects the Body from Head to Toe

How Sugar Affects the Body from Head to Toe The overall health of Americans has drastically changed over the past two decades. Americans over the past decades have been faced with more healthcare related issues such as heart conditions, obesity, diabetes and dental caries. These conditions are a huge weight on the insurance companies and also the Americans that are affect by the medical conditions. We have now entered into a new era of convenience and instant gratification which has led to a world of health related problems. Sugar and processed foods are among the top leaders of health related problems. Looking at what the average American takes in through the mouth is a good indicator of what one’s health may look like. I have spent twenty plus years in the dental world and I am still in shock at all of the dental caries that Americans still have. Even with all of the educational material that is provided dental caries still remain high and most of that is because of the foods that the patients are eating. Americans are also having more issues with heart disease than we have before. Mostly in part of the processed foods and lack of exercise. The main reason is the fact that everyone’s glued to their cell phone or the television and for the most part lead a sedative lifestyle. Diabetes cases have also grown over the past years. In the United States we have more kids than ever diagnosed with juvenile diabetes. This also goes hand in hand with the lack of exercise and the amount of processed drive thru food that is being digested by the youth of our nation. My overall goal is to show the cost of healthcare when sugar is introduced to the body in several different forms for example sodas and processes foods

Rural, Urban, and Suburban School Communities and Their Impact on School Psychologists

School psychologists play an important role today in the education of students by helping those with and without diagnosed disabilities. Their role as a school psychologist entails assessing students, providing interventions, consulting with teachers and more. This study looks to see if school psychologists have a different role depending on their community location, specifically rural, urban and suburban locations. Past research is outdated and finds varying results with some finding that the role differs depending on the setting, while others find more similarities than differences. This study found both similarities and differences in characteristics of school psychologists, the population of students who they work with and with their overall job satisfaction. However, there were no large differences in their overall role and there were more similarities than differences. These results suggest that location may not affect the role of the school psychologist but it affects other parts of the job. Data were taken from phone interviews of school psychologists in each of the community settings and transcribed to be analyzed. Limitations and future research are discussed

Home Office Deductions: \u3ci\u3eCurphey v. Commissioner\u3c/i\u3e, 73 T.C. 766 (1980)

I. Introduction II. The Office in the Home Deduction … A. Early Distinctions … B. The Fluctuating Controversy: 1960 to 1976 … C. The Tax Reform Act of 1976 III. The Curphey Decision … A. Facts … B. Analysis of the Decision IV. Standards for Determining a Principal Place of Business for One Business V. Conclusio

Total IgE and eotaxin (CCL11) contents in tears of patients suffering from seasonal allergic conjunctivitis.

BACKGROUND: To prospectively investigate patients with seasonal allergic conjunctivitis (SAC) during the pollen season and test associations between tears total IgE, eotaxin concentrations, and SAC severity. METHODS: Enrolled patients presented ocular symptoms and clinical signs of SAC at the time of presentation. Ocular itching, hyperaemia, chemosis, eyelid swelling, and tearing were scored, and the sum of these scores was defined as the clinical score. Conjunctival papillae were separately graded. We measured eotaxin concentration in tears by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and total tear IgE by Lacrytest strip. RESULTS: Among thirty patients (30 eyes), 11 showed neither tear IgE nor tear eotaxin, while 15 out of 19 patients with positive IgE values presented a positive amount of eotaxin in their tears (Fisher's test: p < 0.001). The mean eotaxin concentration was 641 ± 154 (SEM) pg/ml. In patients with no amount of tear IgE, we observed a lower conjunctival papilla grade than in patients whose tears contained some amount of IgE (trend test: p = 0.032). In the 15 patients whose tear eotaxin concentration was null, tear IgE concentration was 5.3 ± 3.5 arbitrary units; in the other 15 patients whose eotaxin was positive, IgE reached 21 ± 4.3 arbitrary U (Mann-Whitney: p < 0.001). We measured 127 ± 47 pg/ml eotaxin in patients with no history of SAC but newly diagnosed as suffering from SAC, and 852 ± 218 pg/ml eotaxin in patients with a known SAC (p = 0.008). In contrast, tear IgE concentrations of both groups did not differ statistically significantly (p = 0.947). CONCLUSIONS: If IgE and eotaxin secreted in tears are major contributors in SAC pathogenesis, they however act at different steps of the process