The Clear Channel Prior

Capturing imagery from outdoor cameras provides a large amount of information about a scene. The true surface appearances of elements in a scene, however, are often incorrectly represented in images. To get a better representation of the scene it is necessary to separate the effects of the underlying reflectance, illumination, and fog in the image. The goal of the dark channel prior is to eliminate the effects of haze in outdoor images and recover the true surface reflectance image for the scene

An Analytical Study and Performance Practice Guide for Percussion Works Opus 35 and Opus 37 by Nebojša Jovan Živković

This document provides an analysis and performance practice guide for two percussion works by Serbian composer Nebojša Jovan Živković (b. 1962). A renowned figure in the percussion world known for the aggressive style of his compositions, Živković presents recitals across the globe in addition to teaching at the University of Novi Sad and the Music and Art Private University of the City of Vienna. The works selected for study are Opus 35, Sex in the Kitchen, a multi-percussion duet, and Opus 37, Magma, for solo marimba. Each piece is analyzed and specific musical considerations, and exercises to assist in preparation, are offered. An examination of Živković’s idiosyncratic composition methods is also discussed. By studying his pedagogical resources and a selection of his other works, I show how Živković has created his signature style and sound, as well as how he inspires performers of his works to play with a high level of musical expression. His assertive approach to composition is explored in detail in the selected works and will assist percussionists preparing these pieces for performance

Selektivitätsuntersuchungen an Mohnproteinen mit geprägten Quarzsensoren

Chemische Proteinsensoren besitzen großes Potential und werden zunehmend eine heraus¬ragende Rolle im Bereich der bioanalytischen Chemie, Medizin und Lebens¬mittel¬technologie einnehmen. Die rasche Ansprechzeit, benutzerfreundliche Hand¬habung mit wenig Probenvorbereitung, sowie geringe Anschaffungskosten machen diese Sensoren zu wirtschaftlich relevanten Messmethoden. Aufgrund der physi¬ka¬lischen Gesetze, auf denen diese Sensoren basieren, in diesem Fall der Massen¬detektion, sind neben der bioanalytischen Anwendungen auch rein chemische oder umweltanalytische Fragestellungen von Bedeutung. Der hier herangezogene Transducer ist der QCM, die Quarzmikrowaage. Durch An¬legen eines externen Wechselfeldes wird dieser in Resonanz versetzt und deren Eigenschwingungen gemessen. Durch Anlagerung von Analyten verringert sich direkt proportional zur Massenanlagerung (abhängig von der Konzentration der Analytlösung) die Resonanzfrequenz. Kalibrierungen erlauben dann absolute Massenbestimmungen. Temperatur- Druck- und Viskositätseffekte können durch Differenzmessungen eliminiert werden. Es konnte in der vorliegenden Diplomarbeit gezeigt werden, dass mit der hier durchgeführten Stratregie des Prägens von Polymeren und somit der Erzeugung von synthetischen Antikörpern z.B. Mohnproteine bis hinab zu 100 µg/l nachgewiesen werden können. Auch Querempfindlichkeit zu verschiedenen anderen Proteinen, z.B. Mandel und Sesam, wurden optimiert. Eine Vartiation der Polymerschichtdicke bis etwa zu 1 µm vergrößert die Sensorempfindlichkeiten um einen Faktor 10. Es geht also trotz der relativ großen Analytmoleküle die Oberflächenrauhigkeit bzw. das „bulk“ ein. Bei allen Messungen mit „Mohnsensoren“ besitzen Mohnproteinlösungen die größte Sensorantwort. Generell gilt für die Kreuzselektivitäten, dass für das Templat als Analyt der größte Effekt erzielt wird, während die Kreuz¬empfind¬lichkeiten nur ca 50 % betragen.Chemical sensors show a high potential, to play an important role in bioanalytical chemistry, medicine and food-technology. The rapid response time, user- friendly handling and low costs as compared to relevant analytical methods to assess analytes, make chemical sensors a innovative and attractive field of analytical chemistry. Due to the physical laws, on which these mass-sensors used are based, a nearly unlimited progress concerning bioanalytical, chemical and environmental research can be achieved. The sensor itself is the QCM, the quartz crystal microbalance. An alternating current is applied to create resonance of the quartz, that can be measured as “eigen” vibration. The decrease in frequency is directly related to the ab/adsorption of analyte. The frequency shift is directly proportional to the mass, giving the direct information for gauging the concentration of analytes in the sample. Although temperature, pressure and viscosity of the solution affect the frequency shift, they can be compensated for by differential measurements. The diploma thesis presented shows that the strategy chosen, molecular imprinting of polymers via the generation of synthetic antibodies, allows the detection of poppy proteins down to 100 µg/l. The cross sensitivity to other proteins, e.g. sesame and almond, were optimized. An increase of polymer coating up to 1 µm leads to an amplification of sensitivity by a factor of 10. In spite of the relative large protein molecules surface roughness and “bulk” phenomena are important. In all measure¬ments the “poppy sensor” will give the most pronounced resoponse to the poppy protein. Generally, concerning cross-sensitivities the highest effect is observed if the analyte is identicasl to the template, whereas cross-sensitivities are only 50% of these responses.

Expanding the Practice of Newsmaking Criminology to Enlist Criminologists, Criminal Justicians, and Social Workers in Shaping Discussions of School Violence: A Review of School Shootings from 1992-2013

Newsmaking criminology argues that criminologists should interpret, influence, and even shape the direction of newsworthy information about crime and justice to the extent that they aggressively make their presence known by engaging the media. This article calls for an expansion in the practice of newsmaking criminology to also include criminal justicians, as well as social workers when it comes to the issue of school violence. Recently, a number of shootings have occurred on school campuses in rural, urban, and suburban America. When these shootings are reported, they quickly become politicized and generate widespread attention from parents, law enforcement, politicians, community activists, and policy-makers. However, what appears to be missing from the discussion is input from criminologists, criminal justicians, and social workers who could bring a wealth of knowledge and understanding to these atrocities. This study used a random sample of 129 items from over a twenty-one year period in a content analysis to categorize the spokespersons used by the mass media to discuss school violence and school shootings

Juvenile Substance Abuse and Criminal Career Continuity

The issue of juvenile drug abuse and criminal career continuity has become a nationwide concern in the last 3 decades. Social scientists and policymakers alike are concerned with the plausible relationship between juvenile drug abuse and adult crimes of high seriousness. This study represents an effort to examine the connection between juvenile drug abuse and criminal career continuity. This study has been conducted to examine the life course of the individual. The data came from Lyle Shannon's longitudinal study of the relationship between juvenile delinquency and adult crime in three birth cohorts from the city of Racine, Wisconsin The traditional social control approach toward reducing the likelihood of criminal career continuity is deterrence. The deterrence model asserts that people engage in certain kinds of behavior only after rational calculation of the costs versus the benefits. People who obey the law strive for the rewards of conformity and try to avoid the costs of criminal behavior. The threat of punishment increases the potential costs of breaking the law. Punishment is one sanction inducing such compliance. It must be realized, however, that deterrence does not have a linear effect across all types of offenders. The degree of deterrent effect on future criminal activity is often mitigated by the circumstances unique to an individual. The offender who is involved with drug abuse and the lifestyle that surrounds it best exemplifies this situation. This way of life diminishes the effectiveness of official deterrence techniques to an extent, because drug abuse is a biopsychosocial problem. In this study, the researcher pursued a number of concerns dealing with the question of whether juveniles who are delinquents and drug users are more likely to commit crimes as adults. The focus was on the juvenile recidivist and the juvenile drug user. The results indicate that those juveniles having a contact with the police are more likely to have a criminal career than are those who do not. Furthermore, those juveniles having a police contact for drugs are far more likely to commit crimes of high seriousness in adulthood than are those juveniles having police contact for non-drug crimes. In an analysis of sanctions, the results support the hypothesis that those juveniles receiving a sanction are less likely to commit a crime of high seriousness in adulthood than those who received no sanction. In addition, the empirical findings support the hypothesis that those juveniles receiving a sanction for a drug crime are more likely to commit an adult crime of high seriousness than are those juveniles who received a non-drug sanction. This result is likely due to the biopsycosocial nature of drug abuse. The results do not support the hypothesis that juvenile drug distributors are more likely to commit a crime of high seriousness in adulthood than are consumers. Also, the results suggest that there is no support for the hypothesis that juveniles who used hard drugs are more likely to commit adult crimes of high seriousness than are those who used marijuana only. These results suggest that once a juvenile is in the drug web, he/she becomes an active participant in a network of criminal activity

Cytotoxic effects of curcumin on osteosarcoma cell lines

Summary: Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), one of the main components of the Indian spice turmeric, is known to possess potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. In addition, curcumin has also been shown to have in vitro and in vivo efficacy against a variety of malignancies. In the current study we examined the cytotoxic effect of curcumin on seven osteosarcoma (OS) cell lines with varying degrees of in vivo metastatic potential. Curcumin inhibited the growth of all OS cell lines tested with half-maximal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 14.4 to 24.6μM. Growth inhibition was associated with a dose dependent increase in the number of apoptotic cells and accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Curcumin treatment also resulted in cleavage of caspase-3 and poly adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase. Moreover, curcumin treatment was associated with an increase in cellular levels of the apoptotic B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein and a decrease in cellular content of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. In addition, curcumin treatment also inhibited the migration of OS cell lines. These data indicate that the potent cytotoxic activity of curcumin on OS cell lines is mediated by induction of apoptotic processes. Thus, curcumin has potential to be a novel OS chemotherapeutic agen

Theories and techniques in housing market analysis

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1984.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 189-198.by Joseph A Langsam.Ph.D

Cytotoxic effects of curcumin on osteosarcoma cell lines

Summary: Curcumin (diferuloylmethane), one of the main components of the Indian spice turmeric, is known to possess potent anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. In addition, curcumin has also been shown to have in vitro and in vivo efficacy against a variety of malignancies. In the current study we examined the cytotoxic effect of curcumin on seven osteosarcoma (OS) cell lines with varying degrees of in vivo metastatic potential. Curcumin inhibited the growth of all OS cell lines tested with half-maximal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 14.4 to 24.6μM. Growth inhibition was associated with a dose dependent increase in the number of apoptotic cells and accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. Curcumin treatment also resulted in cleavage of caspase-3 and poly adenosine diphosphate-ribose polymerase. Moreover, curcumin treatment was associated with an increase in cellular levels of the apoptotic B-cell leukemia/lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2)-associated X protein and a decrease in cellular content of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2. In addition, curcumin treatment also inhibited the migration of OS cell lines. These data indicate that the potent cytotoxic activity of curcumin on OS cell lines is mediated by induction of apoptotic processes. Thus, curcumin has potential to be a novel OS chemotherapeutic agen

A Tri-state Investigation of Firearms Confiscation on Three Regional University Campuses

While the use of firearms is pronounced throughout the US, there are few studies that address the availability of firearms on university campuses in states that are adjacent to each other. This study uses a five-year longitudinal design to investigate three universities that were randomly selected in the neighboring states of North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina to examine the extent of firearm confiscation by public safety officers. In the final analysis, we conclude that unless viable strategies that target preventing firearms used in domestic violence, alleviating access to guns, and addressing mental health illnesses among college students are created to effectively confiscate firearms on university campuses, deadly violence could become an inevitable occurrence