Image Completion: Comparison of Different Methods and Combination of Techniques

Image completion is the process of filling missing regions of an image based on the known sections of the image. This technique is useful for repairing damaged images or removing unwanted objects from images. Research on this technique is plentiful. This thesis compares three different approaches to image completion. In addition, a new method is proposed which combines features from two of these algorithms to improve efficiency

Modeling assumptions as a source of error in a dynamical 1000-mb prediction method

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Meteorology, 1962.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 46-47).by Merle Owen Bunde and Lynn Lawrence LeBlanc.M.S

TB201: Comparison of the Efficacy of Sodium Acid Sulfate and Citric Acid Treatments in Reducing Acrylamide Formation in French Fries

Two acidulant food additives, sodium acid sulfate (SAS) and citric acid, were investigated for their effectiveness in reducing acrylamide formation in french fries. Acrylamide concentration was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) after cleanup of french fry extracts by passage through a C-18 column and derivitization by bromination. At a frying temperature of 180°C, both acidulants appeared ineffective, possibly due to the rapid rate of acrylamide formation, which surpassed the capacity of the acidulants to protonate acrylamide intermediates. At the lowest frying temperature tested (160°C), 3% SAS and 3% citric acid significantly (P \u3c 0.05) inhibited acrylamide formation as compared to the control. However, 3% SAS appeared to inhibit acrylamide formation more effectively than citric acid at 160°C, as well as at frying temperatures of 170 and 180°C. Our results indicate that acrylamide formation during frying can be reduced by treatment of potatoes with 3% SAS or citric acid, but SAS, a stronger acid with a lower pKa, is the more effective acidulant.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1006/thumbnail.jp

Final Summary Report to the Narragansett Bay Project Office: Assessment of Organic Contaminants in Narragansett Bay Sediments and Hard Shell Clams

As part of a multidisciplinary investigation on the sediments of Narragansett Bay, sediment trap materials, surface sediments, hard shell clams (Mercenaria mercenaria) and sediment cores from throughout the bay were analyzed for organic contaminants including: polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs). polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), substituted benzotriazoles (BZTs), bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and coprostanol (COP). The objectives of this particular study were to provide information on the source, transport and biogeochemical fate of organic contaminants in the bay: while the overall goals of the investigation were to characterize the sediments and sedimentary processes of the Narragansett Bay system based on the results of integrated biological, chemical and geological studies. Sediment Trap Materials The sediment trap samples showed a trend of decreasing concentration for most components from Fox Point to Ohio Ledge, suggesting that the source(s) of these contaminants were pollution discharges (e.g., industrial and municipal effluents, CSOs. spills and runoff,) to the upper Providence River and its tributaries. In general, the agreement between the results from the present sediment trap study and older suspended solids data (1985-86) was quite good. However, the PHC concentrations reponed in 1977 were considerably higher than the more recent values. But it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine if changes have really occurred based on the limited number of samples analyzed and procedural variations in the different studies. In the case of BZT concentrations and their ratios (C10-BZT/Cl-BZT), there was a maximum amount of both BZTs and a minimum ratio in trap material at a Providence River station about 7 km south of Fox Point (i.e., adjacent to the Pawtuxet Cove entrance). This trend with distance is probably due to the source of the BZTs to the Providence River which is the Pawtuxet River via Pawtuxet Cove. The BZT ratio indicates a change in the relative amounts of the two compounds over the distance from the point of entry, i.e., there is a trend of increasing values with distance from Pawtuxet Cove (ratio = 1.5) to Ohio Ledge (ratio = 3.2). The ratio for sediment trap material from the Pawtuxet River was 1.0 - 2.0; since these values are generally lower than any others reported, it suggests that the river is the major source of the material in the Pawtuxet Cove traps. The relationships between contaminant concentrations in sediment trap material and surface sediments were quite good. For Ar 1254, the sediment levels were about twice the trap values. Conversely, the hydrocarbon concentrations in trap material were about 1.5 times as high for PHCs and about equal in pyrene, relative to the surface sediments. (In all cases, the correlations were significant at the 95% confidence level). In general, these data support the concept that the chemical composition of particulate material and surf ace sediments are closely related, and that the former could be a major source of contaminants to the underlying surface sediments. It is also possible that resuspended surface sediments could contribute to the particulate material in the water column depending on a number of factors such as bottom currents and extent of bioturbation. There was a significant relationship between the concentration of Cl-BZT in trap material and surface sediments; however, the relationship for the C10-BZT was not as good. and there is presently no explanation for these differences other than that the production of C-BZT started in 1963 and ceased in 1972, while that of the C10-BZT started in 1970 and continued to 1985. (The log Kow for both BZTs are essentially the same, Pruell & Quinn, 1985.) Perhaps, the former BZTs more uniformally distributed in particulate material and sediments than the more recently discharged C10-BZT. Changes in the BZT ratio (C10/Cl) of trap material may be due to a number of reasons including: the preferential retention of the C10-BZT and/or loss of Cl-BZT due to various biogeochemical reactions, and the resuspension of more recent sediments containing higher concentrations of the C10-BZT. This trend would be in agreement with the low ratio in Pawtuxet River surface sediments relative to sediment from the other locations where the ratios generally increase as found in the trap material. For example, the BZT ratio in surface sediments from Ohio Ledge is 7.2, in the mid-bay it is 8.2 and at the west passage the ratio is 9.5 (significant at the 9S% confidence level). Surface Sediments and Clams In general, the levels of all contaminants were highest in the Providence River sediments and decreased exponentially with distance downbay, with the lowest values usually found at the mouth of the bay. The major exception was a station in Newport Harbor in the lower east passage, where the concentrations of PHCs, PCBs and COP were relatively high and similar to some of the upper bay stations. The sources of the contaminants at this station may be related to sewage effluent, CSO discharges and runnoff to the harbor area. One way of evaluating the distribution of various contaminants in surface sediments is to compare the half distances for these components (defined as the distance in which the highest contaminant concentration decreases by 50%). A comparison of values for the east and west transects obtained in this study showed some small differences. For most components (exceptions are BZTs) the half distances were longer in the cast transect, suggesting additional sources of contaminants to that area. This may be due to several reasons including the influence of Newport effluents etc., different water circulation patterns in the two passages, and possible influences from Mount Hope Bay. Organic carbon had the longest half distance due to a large number of sources throughout the bay, and the BZTs had the lowest values since their only source is the Providence River via the Pawtuxct River. Finally, the PH Cs, P AHs. PCBs (sometimes measured as specific chlorobiphenyl (CB) cogeners) and coprostanol had similar half distances, suggesting major sources in the Providence River as well as smaller additional inputs throughout the bay. Five of the contaminants (CB 101, CB 138, PHCs, C10-BZT) showed significant correlations (95% confidence level or better) between sediment and clam concentrations, and all values decreased with distance from the Providence River. These sediment components are hydrophobic and are strongly partitioned into the clams\u27 lipids. Based on the data from this study, it may be possible to identify areas of the bay from which clams are harvested for commercial use. For example, clams suspected of being taken from areas closed to shellfishing could be analyzed for, these 5 contaminants and the results converted to sediment location using the relationships developed in this investigation. Trends from older investigations were generally similar to those observed in the present study; namely, highest concentrations in Providence River sediments and clams with decreasing amounts downbay. The range of previous values brackets those obtained in this study. Given then variations in station location, collection procedures, processing techniques and analytical methods, it is impossible to determine at the present time, if the concentrations have significantly changed over the past 15-20 years. Sediment Cores Highest levels and deepest penetration of PCBs (measured as CB 138) were in the Fox Point core which had a fairly uniform concentration down to 72 cm, but increased at 110 cm and remained about the same at the bottom of the core (147 cm). The other cores showed less penetration ranging from 42 cm (bottom of core) at Conimicut Point to 13 cm at Fields Point where the CB 138 values reached background (\u3c 0.1 ng/g) concentration. Apparently, the latter core site is a non-depositional area in contrast to Fox Point which has a relatively high sedimentation rate. The distribution of PHCs and pyrene were similar in some respects. In both cases, Fox Point had the highest level and deepest penetration with relatively constant values down to 147 cm. The PHCs never quite reached background levels in these cores (Ohio Ledge and Fields Point were the closest to background), but the pyrene did reach this level in two cores including the Fields Point core which again had the shallowest penetration (18 cm). Similar distributions were shown by COP and DEHP in that the Fox Point core had the highest levels and deepest penetration - a slight increase down to 110 cm followed by a prominent decrease to 147 cm. None of the cores reached background values for DEHP, but Ohio Ledge and Conimicut Point came very close. The COP reached background in only the Fields Point core but it rapidly increased again. It is impossible to adequately explain all of the trends in sediment core distributions with only the organic contaminant results. However, a detailed evaluation of all of the data (i.e., trace metals, organic components, biological species, pollen and geochemical analyses and radiometric dating) is currently being prepared in order to provide information on historical trends as recorded in the bay sediment cores (King et al., 1992). [Text taken from report summary.

Quotas for Men: Reframing Gender Quotas as a Means of Improving Representation for All

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Control abstraction in parallel programming languages

Control abstraction is the process by which programmers define new control constructs by specifying an ordering of statement execution. Using control abstraction, we can create new control constructs for parallel programming, separate the specification of parallelism and synchronization from the rest of the application code, and vary the parallelism exploited during execution by selecting alternative implementations of control constructs. This paper argues for the inclusion of control abstraction in parallel programming languages by demonstrating that the benefits of control abstraction far outweigh the costs. We present a notation for precisely defining the meaning of a parallel control construct; and use that notation in the definition a small set of primitive mechanisms for parallel programming with control abstraction. We show how to define and implement new parallel control constructs using these primitive mechanisms, and provide examples of application-specific control constructs used in real programs . Finally, we describe techniques that can be used to implement a parallel programming language based on control abstraction, and demonstrate the efficiency of those techniques in an implementation on the BBN Butterfly multiprocessor .Keywords: parallel programming languages, control abstraction, architectural adaptability, closures, early reply, Matroshk

Eighteenth Year of the Gulf of Maine Environmental Monitoring Program

This report summarizes the metals and organic contaminant data associated with the collection and analyses of blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) tissue from selected sites along the Gulf of Maine coast during the 2008 sampling season. Contaminant monitoring is conducted by the Gulfwatch Program for the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment (GOMC). A subset of these data is compared with analytical results from earlier Gulfwatch monitoring (2001-2007). Statistical analyses are limited to descriptive measures of replicates from selected sampling sites and include: arithmetic means, and appropriate measures of variance. The primary purpose of this report is to present the current annual results, present graphical representation of spatial and temporal trends and identify potential outliers in order to provide investigators and other interested persons with contemporary information concerning water quality in the Gulf of Maine, as reflected by uptake into resident shellfish (mussels and clams)

The All of Us Research Program: Engaging the Community for the Future of Health

The All of Us Research Program (AoURP), funded by the National Institutes of Health, is an ambitious ten-year effort to enroll over one million participants across the country. The AoURP is a key part of the Precision Medicine Initiative and seeks to build a national cohort collecting self-reported health data, medical record data, biospecimen samples and physical measurements to accelerate precision medicine. Precision Medicine is an emerging approach for healthcare treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person. Researchers at the Meyers Primary Care Institute and the University of Massachusetts Medical School have partnered with Reliant Medical Group to enroll over 10,000 participants in 5 years. The Meyers/Reliant team is actively working to engage the local community, educational institutions, and community organizations to increase awareness of the program and encourage participation. Our efforts have focused specifically on populations previously underrepresented in biomedical research, including older adults, racial and ethnic minority group members, and others. We are hoping to grow new relationships and build strong community partnerships to help us achieve our enrollment goals and communicate the great potential of the AoU Research Program to change the future of medical research with a focus on precision medicine

Évolution des territoires québécois : comparaison entre les milieux urbains et ruraux en matière de développement socio-économique de 1991 à 2006

Cette étude a été réalisée dans le cadre de l’entente entre le ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions (MAMR) (aujourd’hui ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l’Occupation du territoire - MAMROT) et le Centre de recherche sur le développement territorial (CRDT) pour la recherche sur le développement régional, local et rural au Québec. La recherche a porté sur l’évolution des territoires du Québec à partir de bases de données issues des recensements tenus par Statistique Canada et fournies par le MAMROT. Nous avons examiné cette évolution sur une période de quinze ans, de 1991 à 2006.Entente CRDT - MAMR 2008-2010 ; FQRSCAVANT-PROPOS; INTRODUCTION; PARTIE 1 : RECENSION DES ÉCRITS; Introduction; Mise en contexte : population rurale et urbaine; L’évolution du peuplement au Québec; La persistance des disparités au Québec; L’évolution du nombre d’emplois et du taux d’activité; L’évolution du revenu familial moyen et des transferts gouvernementaux; Évolution socio-économique des municipalités dévitalisées; Effort de caractérisation et localisation des territoires les plus défavorisés; Caractérisation, évolution et diagnostic des territoires dévitalisés; Conclusion; PARTIE 2 : RÉSULTATS DE LA RECHERCHE; Méthodologie; Analyse descriptive de l’évolution des territoires, 1991-2006; Territoires ruraux, 1991-2006; Territoires urbains, 1991-2006; Comparaison de l’évolution des territoires ruraux et urbains, 1991-2006; CONCLUSION; BIBLIOGRAPHI

Environmental Toxicology TESTS OF BIOACCUMULATION MODELS FOR POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYL COMPOUNDS: A STUDY OF YOUNG-OF-THE-YEAR BLUEFISH IN THE HUDSON RIVER ESTUARY, USA

Abstract-A field-based study regarding uptake of polychlorinated biphenyl compounds (PCBs) by young-of-the-year (YOY) bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix) was initiated to test a steady-state model of bioaccumulation and trophic transfer in a rapidly growing fish. Determination of prey composition as well as size-dependent growth and specific consumption rates for YOY bluefish from separate field and laboratory studies enabled the input of these species-specific parameters into the model. Furthermore, the time and duration of the exposure of YOY bluefish to dissolved PCBs from a well-characterized system (Hudson River, USA) was well known. Patterns of accumulation of individual PCB congeners differed relative to the accumulation of total PCBs, with the greatest net accumulation occurring for the higher-molecular-weight congeners. Comparison of lipid-normalized bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) with the octanol-water partition coefficients of individual PCB congeners revealed bluefish to be above the BAFs predicted by lipid-based equilibrium partitioning, suggesting that uptake from food is an important source of PCBs in YOY bluefish. Comparison of measured BAFs with values predicted by a steady-state, food-chain model showed good first-order agreement