Handwritten Digit Recognition Using Support Vector Machines

Práce se zabývá možností rozpoznávání ručně psaných číslic a znaků pomoci volně dostupných knihoven. Pro rozpoznávání je použitá jádrová klasifikační metoda support vector machines. Práce také uvažuje různé algoritmy zpracování obrazu a jejich implementace. Dále je zde navrhnuto, jak je možno aplikaci vytvořit co nejefektivněji vzhledem ke znovupoužitelnosti zdrojového kódu.Thesis deals with the options of the hand-written digit and character recognition using open-source libraries. The kernel-based classifiers (support vector machines) are used for the recognition. Various algorithms of image processing and their implementation are shown in this work together with suggestions, how to effectively write reusable source code.

Scientific Rationality: Phlogiston as a Case Study

I argue that it was rational for chemists to eliminate phlogiston, but that it also would have been rational for them to retain it. I do so on the grounds that a number of prominent phlogiston theorists identified phlogiston with hydrogen in the late eighteenth century, and this identification became fairly well-entrenched by the early nineteenth century. In light of this identification, I critically evaluate Hasok Chang's argument that chemists should have retained phlogiston, and that doing so would have benefited science. I argue that these benefits would have been unlikely, and I go on to consider some more likely benefits and harms of retaining phlogiston. I conclude that there is a sense in which scientific rationality concerns what is permissible, as opposed to what is required, so that retention and elimination may, at least sometimes, both be rationally permissible options

My Grandfather Was Alsatian, So I Guess I Am Too? Stories from Strasbourg, France, on Alsatian Identity

While I was on my semester-long GO program, I interviewed individuals in Strasbourg, France, on Alsatian identity, because Alsace is historically the region in which Strasbourg exists. Alsatian culture grew strong regional uniqueness during war, as the region was alternatively French and German four times in just 30 years. They developed their own identity due to the precarious nature of their national identity. Since 1945, however, Alsace has been happily French. Most descendants today do not speak the Alsatian dialect and consider their nationality French. While in Strasbourg, though, I noticed that “Alsatianness” still exists. Looking at opinions of interviewed informants, literature, and observations of tourist activity in Strasbourg, I explore what it means to be Alsatian today with a particular focus on individuals’ heritage as well as tourism

Global Trade Impacts: Addressing the Health, Social and Environmental Consequences of Moving International Freight Through Our Communities

Examines freight transportation industry trends; the impact of global trade on workers, the environment, and health in both exporting and importing countries; and organizing strategies and policy innovations for minimizing the damage and ensuring health