Application of LANDSAT data to agricultural resource problems with emphasis on the North American Great Plains

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Application of digital analysis of MSS data to agro-environmental studies

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Application of digital analysis of MSS data to agro-environmental studies

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Computer vision

The field of computer vision is surveyed and assessed, key research issues are identified, and possibilities for a future vision system are discussed. The problems of descriptions of two and three dimensional worlds are discussed. The representation of such features as texture, edges, curves, and corners are detailed. Recognition methods are described in which cross correlation coefficients are maximized or numerical values for a set of features are measured. Object tracking is discussed in terms of the robust matching algorithms that must be devised. Stereo vision, camera control and calibration, and the hardware and systems architecture are discussed

Thaan Vuzha Nilam Tharisu: the land without a farmer becomes barren

This report forms a part of the international research project on policy and sustainable agriculture, Policies that Work for Sustainable Agriculture and Regenerated Rural Economies. The report details the findings of one of the constituent studies, undertaken by an Indian NGO, the Society for People's Education and Economic Change (SPEECH). The Importance of this project is that it concentrated on rainfed rather than irrigated agriculture - i.e. the sharp end of rural development in India, and that the focus was very much on the micro-level, looking at policy as seen from the ground. One of the recurring themes throughout the research was the importance of appreciating people as individuals, and in this spirit some of the personal qualities of the research team are shared. The research covers events in sites in the Virudhunagar district of Tamilnadu: Tiruchuli Panchayat Union and the Villur chain of tanks. This is an essentially rural area, where the need for sustainable forms of agriculture and rural livelihoods is clear. The political landscape is fractured and complex (§2.3), and the officials with the responsibility of implementing policy face significant obstacles and disincentives in doing so in response to the needs of local communities

I Get by With a Little Help From My Bots: Implications of Machine Agents in the Context of Social Support

In this manuscript we discuss the increasing use of machine agents as potential sources of support for humans. Continued examination of the use of machine agents, particularly chatbots (or “bots”) for support is crucial as more supportive interactions occur with these technologies. Building off extant research on supportive communication, this manuscript reviews research that has implications for bots as support providers. At the culmination of the literature review, several propositions regarding how factors of technological efficacy, problem severity, perceived stigma, and humanness affect the process of support are proposed. By reviewing relevant studies, we integrate research on human-machine and supportive communication to organize, extend, and provide a foundation for the growing body of work on machine agents for support

Rethinking the Concept of Community

Traditionally, historians have preferred to rely on “common sense” approaches to the meaning of community, but such definitions, emphasizing the ideas of a shared place and a static, self-contained entity, are simply inadequate for historical research and writing. Three elements are fundamental to understanding the historical significance of community: community as imagined reality, community as social interaction, and community as a process. An interdisciplinary approach to this question takes into consideration the thinking of social scientists and humanists on the importance of space and networks in social life. The historical study of community, one that embraces both cultural and spatial perspectives, has much to benefit from and much to contribute to this ever-growing and evolving body of work. As they have done with such concepts as “the family” and “the nation”, historians must make “community” a problem to be studied, discussed, and debated.Traditionnellement, les historiens ont préféré définir la notion de communauté par le « bon sens », mais de telles définitions, qui soulignent l’idée d’un lieu partagé et d’une entité statique autonome, sont tout simplement inadéquates pour la recherche et l’écriture historiques. Notre compréhension de l’importance historique de la communauté repose sur trois éléments fondamentaux : la communauté comme une réalité imaginée, la communauté comme une interaction sociale et la communauté comme un processus. Une approche interdisciplinaire de cette question tient compte de la pensée des spécialistes des sciences sociales et humaines quant à l’importance de l’espace et des réseaux dans la vie sociale. L’étude historique de la communauté, qui englobe tant les perspectives culturelles que spatiales, a beaucoup à gagner de ces travaux sans cesse grandissants et toujours en évolution et beaucoup à y apporter. Comme ils l’ont fait pour des concepts tels que « la famille » et « la nation », les historiens doivent faire de « la communauté » un problème à étudier, à discuter et à débattre