Time Discrete Geodesic Paths in the Space of Images

In this paper the space of images is considered as a Riemannian manifold using the metamorphosis approach, where the underlying Riemannian metric simultaneously measures the cost of image transport and intensity variation. A robust and effective variational time discretization of geodesics paths is proposed. This requires to minimize a discrete path energy consisting of a sum of consecutive image matching functionals over a set of image intensity maps and pairwise matching deformations. For square-integrable input images the existence of discrete, connecting geodesic paths defined as minimizers of this variational problem is shown. Furthermore, $\Gamma$-convergence of the underlying discrete path energy to the continuous path energy is proved. This includes a diffeomorphism property for the induced transport and the existence of a square-integrable weak material derivative in space and time. A spatial discretization via finite elements combined with an alternating descent scheme in the set of image intensity maps and the set of matching deformations is presented to approximate discrete geodesic paths numerically. Computational results underline the efficiency of the proposed approach and demonstrate important qualitative properties.Comment: 27 pages, 7 figure

U.S. Farm Policy and Small Farms

We begin with a brief comparison of the size distribution of US and EU-15 farms to provide the European audience a greater context to the US issues. The EU data are from the Farm Structures Survey and the US data are from USDA’s Agriculture Resource Management Survey (ARMS). We next address the reasons for the unexpected increase in the number of small farms in the US and the possible role of government policies. We draw on ARMS to provide the distribution of commodity and conservation payments by farm size. Although limits on payments to large farms have long been addressed by the periodic US Farm Acts, payments continue to be concentrated on large farms largely because of their historical ties to farm production. The most recent 2008 Farm Act included more provisions to target program participants based on the personal characteristics of the operators and to limit payments to individuals likely to be operating large farms.small farms, EU-US farm structure comparison, farm policy, payment distribution, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q12,

A Posteriori Error Control for the Binary Mumford-Shah Model

The binary Mumford-Shah model is a widespread tool for image segmentation and can be considered as a basic model in shape optimization with a broad range of applications in computer vision, ranging from basic segmentation and labeling to object reconstruction. This paper presents robust a posteriori error estimates for a natural error quantity, namely the area of the non properly segmented region. To this end, a suitable strictly convex and non-constrained relaxation of the originally non-convex functional is investigated and Repin's functional approach for a posteriori error estimation is used to control the numerical error for the relaxed problem in the $L^2$-norm. In combination with a suitable cut out argument, a fully practical estimate for the area mismatch is derived. This estimate is incorporated in an adaptive meshing strategy. Two different adaptive primal-dual finite element schemes, and the most frequently used finite difference discretization are investigated and compared. Numerical experiments show qualitative and quantitative properties of the estimates and demonstrate their usefulness in practical applications.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl

An Assessment of the AN/EX Structural Engineering Teaching Laboratory

An innovation in teaching structural analysis, the AN/EX Structural Model Laboratory, has been implemented into the civil engineering curriculum at UMR. The purpose of the AN/EX innovation is to give the students a hands-on lab in structural engineering that will help correct some of the deficiencies currently found in engineering design education. In an effort to determine the effectiveness of the AN/EX Laboratory at correcting some of the education deficiencies, a rigorous, semester long assessment was conducted. This assessment included an attitude assessment and an ability assessment. The methods and results of both assessments are provided in this report

The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy

The structure of farms, farm households, and the rural communities in which they exist has evolved markedly over the last century. Historical data on a range of farm structure variables—including the value of agricultural production, commodity specialization, farming-dependent counties, and off-farm work—offer a perspective on the long-term forces that have helped shape the structure of agriculture and rural life over the past century. These forces include productivity growth, the increasing importance of national and global markets, and the rising influence of consumers on agricultural production. Within this long-term context of structural change, a review of some key developments in farm policy considers the extent to which farm policy design has or has not kept pace with the continuing transformation of American agriculture.farm policy, farm structure, policy adjustment, structural adjustment, mechanization, productivity growth, global markets, consumer stakeholders, price and income support, farm policy history, Agricultural and Food Policy, Farm Management,

Fostering on the Farm: Child Placement in the Rural Midwest

Review of: Fostering on the Farm: Child Placement in the Rural Midwest , by Megan Birk

Genesis of clayey sediments and associated upland soils near the Upper Iowa River, Northeast Iowa

Loess-derived soils along the upland divides in northeastern Allamakee County, Iowa occur with polygenetic soils formed where landscape dissection by fluvial erosion has exposed red (2.5YR hue) and brown (7.5YR, 10YR hues), clayey paleo-argillic horizons along hillslope shoulder and backslope components. This research describes the morphology, composition and soil-stratigraphic relationships of the loess-derived and paleosolic soils along a hillslope traverse near the Irish Hollow Creek. Ten cores (3-10 m depth) and for soil pedons were examined for morphological, chemical and mineralogical characteristics. A gray (10YR 6/1), sandy Sangamon paleosol was merged with the basal loess paleosol. The upper paleosolum was polygenetically welded to a subjacent, red (2.5YR 4/8), clayey paleosol formed in erosional sediments. The red paleosol\u27s lower portion was formed in residuum from interbedded sandstone-shale-dolomitic limestone. Total elemental, and CBD- and oxalate-extractable Si, Al, Fe, and Mn, documented weathering trends. Elemental depth distributions for ground soils and paleosols were related to weathering processes with paleosols displaying more pronounced changes from lithogenic and pedogenic factors;Early Wisconsinan sediments displayed evidence of mixing by either cryo-bioturbation or erosion. A periglacial environment may have induced the formation of an involute-injective disturbance. Identification of glacial till or till-derived erosional sediments supports the hypothesis of Pre-Illinoian glaciation. Paleo-surface depressions of karstic collapse features may have preserved the glacial sediments in the erosionally-modified landscape;Soil-stratigraphic units were the informally-named basal loess paleosol (BLP) and isolated remnants of the Sangamon Soil with well-developed polygenetic paleosols, and Late Sangamon paleosols. Iowan erosion surface complexes occur where loessial soils, with no intervening paleosols, formed above pediments and bedrock surfaces