Scalable Multiresolution Image Segmentation and Its Application in Video Object Extraction Algorithm

This paper presents a novel multiresolution image segmentation method based on the discrete wavelet transform and Markov Random Field (MRF) modelling. A major contribution of this work is to add spatial scalability to the segmentation algorithm producing the same segmentation pattern at different resolutions. This property makes it suitable for the scalable object-based wavelet coding. The correlation between different resolutions of pyramid is considered by a multiresolution analysis which is incorporated into the objective function of the MRF segmentation algorithm. Allowing for smoothness terms in the objective function at different resolutions improves border smoothness and creates visually more pleasing objects/regions, particularly at lower resolutions where downsampling distortions are more visible. Application of the spatial segmentation in video segmentation, compared to traditional image/video object extraction algorithms, produces more visually pleasing shape masks at different resolutions which is applicable for object-based video wavelet coding. Moreover it allows for larger motion, better noise tolerance and less computational complexity. In addition to spatial scalability, the proposed algorithm outperforms the standard image/video segmentation algorithms, in both objective and subjective tests

Exploring job interview skills of future engineers: application of appraisal analysis assessment and verbal impression management

The issue of employability among engineering graduates has been examined, debated and tried to be resolved by various organizations and researchers. The lack of employability skills especially communication skills causes graduates struggling to fulfill current work demands and professional expectations in order to succeed in today’s fast-changing and global working environments. Communication skills are a crucial factor of employability, thus there is a need for quality assessment especially in job interview to enhance communicative competence of undergraduates. This research aims to unfold and assess what and how job candidates perform in a mock job interview and how they are being judged by the interviewers. It also studies the underlying linguistic evidence in job interviews of future engineers under the conditions of English as a Second Language (ESL) by applying Appraisal analysis (Attitude subsystems) of Systemic Functional Linguistics and Verbal Impression Management. The findings revealed that future graduates who possess certain elements of linguistics competencies are better in answering and some are in dire need to be equipped with the skills of job interview in preparing them to be employable. It can be concluded that good communication skills especially the job interview skills as what the industry required and persisted are not only based on the fluency of English but the ability to present ideas explicitly and facts using appropriate words and positiveness. The study also recommends the need to assess the future engineering graduates’ linguistics abilities in preparing them to be employable

How Do We Assess Civic Attitudes Toward Equal Rights? Data and Methodology

This open access thematic report identifies factors and conditions that can help schools and education systems promote tolerance in a globalized world. The IEA’s International Civic and Citizenship Study (ICCS) is a comparative research program designed to investigate the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens, and provides a wealth of data permitting not only comparison between countries but also comparisons between schools within countries, and students within countries. Advanced analytical methods provide insights into relationships between students’ attitudes towards cultural diversity and the characteristics of the students themselves, their families, their teachers and school principals. The rich diversity of educational and cultural contexts in the 38 countries who participated in ICCS 2009 are also acknowledged and addressed. Readers interested in civic education and adolescents’ attitudes towards cultural diversity will find the theoretical perspectives explored engaging. For readers interested in methodology, the advanced analytical methods employed present textbook examples of how to address cross-cultural comparability of measurement instruments and multilevel data structures in international large-scale assessments (ILSA). Meanwhile, those interested in educational policy should find the identification and comparison of malleable factors across education systems that contribute to positive student attitudes towards cultural diversity a useful and thought-provoking resource

A Relational Event Approach to Modeling Behavioral Dynamics

This chapter provides an introduction to the analysis of relational event data (i.e., actions, interactions, or other events involving multiple actors that occur over time) within the R/statnet platform. We begin by reviewing the basics of relational event modeling, with an emphasis on models with piecewise constant hazards. We then discuss estimation for dyadic and more general relational event models using the relevent package, with an emphasis on hands-on applications of the methods and interpretation of results. Statnet is a collection of packages for the R statistical computing system that supports the representation, manipulation, visualization, modeling, simulation, and analysis of relational data. Statnet packages are contributed by a team of volunteer developers, and are made freely available under the GNU Public License. These packages are written for the R statistical computing environment, and can be used with any computing platform that supports R (including Windows, Linux, and Mac).

New material of Laophis crotaloides, an enigmatic giant snake from Greece, with an overview of the largest fossil European vipers

Laophis crotaloides was described by Richard Owen as a new and very large fossil viperid snake species from Greece. The type material is apparently lost and the taxon was mostly neglected for more than a century. We here describe a new partial viperid vertebra, collected from the same locality and of equivalent size to the type material. This vertebra indicates that at least one of the three morphological characters that could be used to diagnose L. crotaloides is probably an artifact of the lithographer who prepared the illustration supporting the original description. A revised diagnosis of L. crotaloides is provided on the basis of the new specimen. Despite the fragmentary nature of the new vertebra, it confirms the validity of L. crotaloides, although its exact relationships within Viperidae remain unknown. The new find supports the presence of a large viperid snake in the early Pliocene of northern Greece, adding further data to the diversity of giant vipers from Europe

Sea surface temperature dictates movement and habitat connectivity of Atlantic cod in a coastal fjord system

While movements of organisms have been studied across a myriad of environments, information is often lacking regarding spatio‐seasonal patterning in complex temperate coastal systems. Highly mobile fish form an integral part of marine food webs providing linkages within and among habitats, between patches of habitats, and at different life stages. We investigated how movement, activity, and connectivity patterns of Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) are influenced by dynamic environmental conditions. Movement patterns of 39 juvenile and subadult Atlantic cod were assessed in two coastal sites in the Swedish Skagerrak for 5 months. We used passive acoustic telemetry and network analysis to assess seasonal and spatial movement patterns of cod and their relationships to different environmental factors, using statistical correlations, analysis of recurrent spatial motifs, and generalized linear mixed models. Temperature, in combination with physical barriers, precludes significant connectivity (complex motifs) within the system. Sea surface temperature had a strong influence on connectivity (node strength, degree, and motif frequency), where changes from warmer summer waters to colder winter waters significantly reduced movement activity of fish. As the seasons changed, movement of fish gradually decreased from large‐scale (km) linkages in the summer to more localized movement patterns in the winter (limited to 100s m). Certain localized areas, however, were identified as important for connectivity throughout the whole study period, likely due to these multiple‐habitat areas fulfilling functions required for foraging and shelter. This study provides new knowledge regarding inshore movement dynamics of juvenile and subadult Atlantic cod that use complex, coastal fjord systems. The findings show that connectivity, seasonal patterns in particular, should be carefully considered when selecting conservation areas to promote marine stewardship

Null Models of Economic Networks: The Case of the World Trade Web

In all empirical-network studies, the observed properties of economic networks are informative only if compared with a well-defined null model that can quantitatively predict the behavior of such properties in constrained graphs. However, predictions of the available null-model methods can be derived analytically only under assumptions (e.g., sparseness of the network) that are unrealistic for most economic networks like the World Trade Web (WTW). In this paper we study the evolution of the WTW using a recently-proposed family of null network models. The method allows to analytically obtain the expected value of any network statistic across the ensemble of networks that preserve on average some local properties, and are otherwise fully random. We compare expected and observed properties of the WTW in the period 1950-2000, when either the expected number of trade partners or total country trade is kept fixed and equal to observed quantities. We show that, in the binary WTW, node-degree sequences are sufficient to explain higher-order network properties such as disassortativity and clustering-degree correlation, especially in the last part of the sample. Conversely, in the weighted WTW, the observed sequence of total country imports and exports are not sufficient to predict higher-order patterns of the WTW. We discuss some important implications of these findings for international-trade models.Comment: 39 pages, 46 figures, 2 table