The decision I never thought I would have to make

A brief essay on how the COVID pandemic has changed how we think about medicine and our patients

A Survey on Ear Biometrics

Recognizing people by their ear has recently received significant attention in the literature. Several reasons account for this trend: first, ear recognition does not suffer from some problems associated with other non contact biometrics, such as face recognition; second, it is the most promising candidate for combination with the face in the context of multi-pose face recognition; and third, the ear can be used for human recognition in surveillance videos where the face may be occluded completely or in part. Further, the ear appears to degrade little with age. Even though, current ear detection and recognition systems have reached a certain level of maturity, their success is limited to controlled indoor conditions. In addition to variation in illumination, other open research problems include hair occlusion; earprint forensics; ear symmetry; ear classification; and ear individuality. This paper provides a detailed survey of research conducted in ear detection and recognition. It provides an up-to-date review of the existing literature revealing the current state-of-art for not only those who are working in this area but also for those who might exploit this new approach. Furthermore, it offers insights into some unsolved ear recognition problems as well as ear databases available for researchers

Farm and Home Research: 53-2

In this Issue: [Page] 3- Director’s comments [Page] 4- A dab of Dorper [Page] 7- Sun Grant Initiative [Page] 10- Off-farm jobs [Page] 12- Multi-year rotations [Page] 14- Tracking corn borer moth flights [Page] 17- GAP analysis [Page] 20- Marbling [Page] 22- Societal benefits, co-products of agricultur

Research Productivity Of Accounting Faculty: An Exploratory Study

This study surveyed 367 accounting faculty members from AACSB accredited Colleges of Business to examine (1) their research productivity and (2) the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators to conduct research.  Wide differences in research productivity were observed in the faculty associated with doctoral vs. non-doctoral granting programs. There were some common motivators of research for faculty in the two sets of programs; however, some interesting differences were also noted. Of the thirteen rewards studied, receiving or having tenure is the most important reward, while getting a possible administrative position was the least important.  There were significant differences in the importance of these rewards between tenured-untenured and between male-female faculty members.  Faculty perceives a strong link between research productivity and the attainment of the rewards of tenure and of promotion.  However, in the minds of the faculty, the link between publications and salary increases is not strong.&nbsp

Instrument for Measuring Temperature of Water

A pseudo-Brewster-angle infrared radiometer has been proposed for use in noncontact measurement of the surface temperature of a large body of water (e.g., a lake or ocean). This radiometer could be situated on a waterborne, airborne, or spaceborne platform. The design of the pseudo-Brewster-angle radiometer would exploit the spectral-emissivity and polarization characteristics of water to minimize errors attributable to the emissivity of water and to the reflection of downwelling (e.g., Solar and cloud-reflected) infrared radiation. The relevant emissivity and polarization characteristics are the following: . The Brewster angle is the angle at which light polarized parallel to the plane of incidence on a purely dielectric material is not reflected. The pseudo-Brewster angle, defined for a lossy dielectric (somewhat electrically conductive) material, is the angle for which the reflectivity for parallel-polarized light is minimized. For pure water, the reflectivity for parallel-polarized light is only 2.2 x 10(exp -4) at its pseudo- Brewster angle of 51deg. The reflectivity remains near zero, several degrees off from the 51deg optimum, allowing this angle of incidence requirement to be easily achieved. . The wavelength range of interest for measuring water temperatures is 8 to 12 microns. The emissivity of water for parallel- polarized light at the pseudo-Brewster angle is greater than 0.999 in this wavelength range. The radiometer would be sensitive in the wavelength range of 8 to 12 microns, would be equipped with a polarizer to discriminate against infrared light polarized perpendicular to the plane of incidence, and would be aimed toward a body of water at the pseudo- Brewster angle (see figure). Because the infrared radiation entering the radiometer would be polarized parallel to the plane of incidence and because very little downwelling parallel-polarized radiation would be reflected into the radiometer on account of the pseudo-Brewster arrangement, the radiation received by the radiometer would consist almost entirely of thermal emission from the surface of the water. Because the emissivity of the water would be very close to 1, the water could be regarded as a close approximation of a blackbody for the purpose of computing its surface temperature from the radiometer measurements by use of the Planck radiation law

Farm and Home Research: 52-2

In this Issue: [Page] 1- Director’s comments [Page] 4- Issues in carbon sequestration [Page] 8- Biosecurity: better safe than sorry [Page] 10- Planting questions, harvesting answers [Page] 16: Gene for Lean [Page] 18- On the trail of Big Cats [Page] 22- PRRS updat

Farm and Home Research: 52-3

In this Issue: [Page] 3- Director’s comments [Page] 4- What it takes to prosper in the cow-calf business [Page] 9- In nationally recognized South Dakota project: Character Counts! [Page] 13- Grape growers have language of their own: Foxy. Earthy. Valiant [Page] 20-Specialty corn: Growers and swine producers benefi

Open Access Issues and Potential Solutions Workshop

This report provides a summary of the discussion and findings of the Open Access Issues and Potential Solutions workshop held as part of the End-to-End Project. The workshop was highly interactive and feedback received indicated it was extremely valuable, stimulating a useful exchange of ideas