Affine multi-view modelling for close range object measurement

In photogrammetry, sensor modelling with 3D point estimation is a fundamental topic of research. Perspective frame cameras offer the mathematical basis for close range modelling approaches. The norm is to employ robust bundle adjustments for simultaneous parameter estimation and 3D object measurement. In 2D to 3D modelling strategies image resolution, scale, sampling and geometric distortion are prior factors. Non-conventional image geometries that implement uncalibrated cameras are established in computer vision approaches; these aim for fast solutions at the expense of precision. The projective camera is defined in homogeneous terms and linear algorithms are employed. An attractive sensor model disembodied from projective distortions is the affine. Affine modelling has been studied in the contexts of geometry recovery, feature detection and texturing in vision, however multi-view approaches for precise object measurement are not yet widely available. This project investigates affine multi-view modelling from a photogrammetric standpoint. A new affine bundle adjustment system has been developed for point-based data observed in close range image networks. The system allows calibration, orientation and 3D point estimation. It is processed as a least squares solution with high redundancy providing statistical analysis. Starting values are recovered from a combination of implicit perspective and explicit affine approaches. System development focuses on retrieval of orientation parameters, 3D point coordinates and internal calibration with definition of system datum, sensor scale and radial lens distortion. Algorithm development is supported with method description by simulation. Initialization and implementation are evaluated with the statistical indicators, algorithm convergence and correlation of parameters. Object space is assessed with evaluation of the 3D point correlation coefficients and error ellipsoids. Sensor scale is checked with comparison of camera systems utilizing quality and accuracy metrics. For independent method evaluation, testing is implemented over a perspective bundle adjustment tool with similar indicators. Test datasets are initialized from precise reference image networks. Real affine image networks are acquired with an optical system (~1M pixel CCD cameras with 0.16x telecentric lens). Analysis of tests ascertains that the affine method results in an RMS image misclosure at a sub-pixel level and precisions of a few tenths of microns in object space

PERENCANAAN DAN PERANCANGAN KAWASAN WISATA BUDAYA MENTAWAI DI SAKUDDEI KABUPATEN KEPULAUAN MENTAWAI

Mentawai merupakan kepulauan yang memiliki unsur kuat dalam menyatukan kebudayaannya, namun saat ini banyan masyarakat Mentawai yang muli melupakan sejarah dan budayanya sendiri akibat terkontaminasi akan budaya luar. Untuk mengatasi permasalahan ini diberikan suatu kemudahan bagi masyarakat dalam mempelajari dan mengakses tentang budaya dan sejarah dengan menyediakan wadah sebagai pusat pengembangan dan informasi tentang Budaya Mentawai. Oleh karena itu penulis merencanakan perancangan pusat wisata budaya dengan tema Simbolisme Kebudayaan Mentawai. Maka Perencanaan dan Perancangan Kawasan Wisata Budaya Mentawai yang akan dirancang menjadi Kawasan Wisata Budaya Mentawai yang berlokasi di Sakuddei Kabupaten Kepulauan Mentawai. Pada perencanan dan perancangan Kawasan wisata budaya ini juga dapat memberikan informasi tentang sejarah, budaya, tata cara social masyarakat setempat, dan kearifan lokal Mentawai dimana masyakat Mentawai dan pengunjung dapat mempelajari, merasakan dan berbaur langsung dengan kebudayaan dan masyarakat seempat. Sehingga pengunjung maupun masyarakat Mentawai yang berwisata pada Kawasan ini mempunyai pengalaman tersendiri karna selain berwisata, pengunjung pun mendapat ilmu pengetahuan tentang kebudayaan, tata cara kehiduupan masyarakat Mentawai dan kearifan lokal seperti bangunan Uma yang telah menjadi Rumah Tradisional Mentawai

New Data on Different Patterns of Obsidian Procurement in Georgia (Southern Caucasus) during the Chalcolithic, Bronze and Iron Age Periods

The analysis of 107 obsidian samples collected in the course of the archaeological investigations carried out from 2009 to 2019 by the Georgian-Italian expeditions in Eastern Georgia in the provinces of Shida Kartli (Natsargora, Aradetis Orgora and Okherakhevi) and Kakheti (Tsiteli Gorebi 5) allowed us to confirm the existence of two contrasting obsidian procurement patterns in the region. Virtually all the samples (56 out of 57) from the province of Shida Kartli, west of the present capital Tbilisi, regardless of their site of origin and of their date, which varies from the late 4th to the early 1st millennium BC, originate from a single general source (i.e., the outcrops of the Chikiani volcano near lake Paravani in southern Georgia). On the other hand, the samples from the early 5th millennium site of Tsiteli Gorebi 5 in the province of Kakheti, close to the present border of Azerbaijan, originate from seven different volcanoes located in Armenia (Gegham, Syunik, Gutansar and Tsaghkunyats), in southern Georgia (Chikiani), and in eastern Turkey (Sarıkamış region and Yağlıca Dağ). They thus outline for Kakheti a more complex multisource procurement pattern, already familiar from other sites of the same region, as well as of the neighbouring area beyond the Georgian/Azerbaijani and Georgian/Armenian borders, which deserves being further investigated in the future

Blood Signals: On the Symbolism and Ritual Pertinence of Blood

En första version av följande text presenterades vid ett tvärvetenskapligt symposium (“Blood Rituals: Past and Present”) som jag och Per Faxneld organiserade i samarbete med den fransk-kanadensiske semiotikern Paul Bouissac vid Stockholms universitet i maj 2015. När jag inbjöds att medverka i ett specialnummer av DIN till Håkan Rydvings ära, tänkte jag att den ännu opublicerade texten kunde passa bra. Redan under min första tid som doktorand i Uppsala tog jag starkt intryck av Håkans förmåga att förena källkritiskt detaljarbete med teoretiskt utmanande resonemang kring abstrakta storheter som myt och rit – en ofta underskattad simultankapacitet bland religionshistoriker. Följande text är ett försök att i en liknande anda ompröva den symboliska representationen (och rituella användningen) av blod mot bakgrund av några vitt åtskilda religionshistoriska och religionsarkeologiska exempel

Phytochemical Screening Of Two Medicinal Native Plants Of Madagascar: Smilax Anceps, Dianella Ensifolia

Traditional medicine is widely used in several countries. Madagascar has a great advantage due to its rich biodiversity characterized by several endemic species. The local population uses plants to treat many diseases, as infusion or cataplasm obtained from the seeds and the leaves. This study concerns the valorization of two endemic plants known by their analgesic property. Qualitative phytochemical analysis done to these plants confirm the presence of some phytochemicals like polyphenols

Malacological Remains from the 2011-2016 Excavations at Khashuri Natsargora and Aradetis Orgora (Shida Kartli Region, Georgia, Southern Caucasus)

L’articolo discute i resti malacologici rinvenuti a Khashuri Natsargora e Aradetis Orgora, due siti dell’Età del Bronzo/Ferro nel bacino del Kura nella provincia georgiana di Shida Kartli (Caucaso Meridionale). Il corpus consiste in più di 500 esemplari ed include specie sia di terra che d’acqua dolce (queste ultime soprattutto per Aradetis Orgora), mentre le specie marine rappresentano una porzione estremamente marginale del totale. Il record, ottenuto attraverso la raccolta diretta in corso di scavo, include solo le specie con la conchiglia più resistente e di maggiori dimensioni, più riconoscibili ad occhio nudo e quindi rappresenta solo una parte degli inventari malacologici pertinenti alle sequenze stratigrafiche investigate. Nonostante questi limiti obiettivi, si è ritenuto opportuno presentare i dati raccolti e i risultati della loro analisi, che hanno permesso di ottenere informazioni di tipo paleoecologico e paleoeconomico non prive di interesse. L’analisi dei resti disponibili mostra una chiara predominanza di specie connesse con ambienti aperti e xerici, in sostanziale accordo sia con l’ambiente locale attuale che con i pochi dati paleoambientali disponibili. La debole variazione diacronica della composizione degli inventari suggerisce una sostanziale stabilità ecologica per entrambi i biotopi. L’abbondanza di molluschi d’acqua dolce ad Aradetis Orgora può essere spiegata con la prossimità del sito ai fiumi Prone e Kura, biotopi dai quali essi potrebbero essere stati raccolti intenzionalmente a scopi alimentari, come potrebbero suggerire alcuni paralleli da altre società dell’Età del Bronzo.The paper discusses the malacological remains recovered at Khashuri Natsargora and Aradetis Orgora, two Bronze Age/Iron Age sites located in the Kura River basin of the Shida Kartli province of Georgia (Southern Caucasus). The corpus consists of over 500 items, which include both land and (especially for Aradetis Orgora) freshwater species, while marine species represent an extremely marginal portion of the total. In both cases a clear dominance of species connected with open and xeric environments can be observed, in substantial agreement both with the present local environment and with the little available palaeoenvironmental data. The record is characterised by a scarce variety of species and shows very weak diachronic variability, which suggests a substantial ecological stability for both biotopes. The abundance of freshwater molluscs at Aradetis Orgora can be explained by the proximinity of the site to the Prone and Kura rivers

Qualitative Analysis Of Two Medicinal Native Plants Of Madagascar: Smilax Anceps, Dianella Ensifolia

Traditional medicine is widely used in several countries. Madagascar has a great advantage due to its rich biodiversity characterized by several native and endemic species. The local population essentially uses plants to treat many diseases, as infusion or cataplasm from the seeds and the leaves. This study concerns the qualitative analysis of two native plants known by their analgesic property. We chose to study two plants widely used by local population: Dianella ensifolia and Smilax anceps. Dianella ensifolia is used for its property against jaundice and for its property to cure sexual imponent. Smilax anceps is used for its analgesic property. These two plants were collected in the eastern forest of the Island so that we have a representative quality of the local vegetation. The plants were submitted to various physico-chemical processes in order to obtain different extracts by increasing polarity of solvents. Phytochemical analysis done to these plants confirm the presence of some phytochemicals like polyphenols. These results could justify vernacular uses of plants and would be the beginning of further research for the identification of new molecules with healing properties

Analysis and management of multiple ecosystem services within a social-ecological context

The assessment of ecosystem services (ESS) requires approaches that are capable to deal with the complexity of social-ecological systems (SES). A new viewpoint is proposed, in which the social-ecological perspective of Ostrom’s SES framework is used to describe the flow of ESS, through the identification of the social and ecological elements involved. Two types of ESS flow emerge from this analysis, depending on the way in which the elements of ESS supply (resource system and resource units) and demand (actors) interact: (i) a “direct flow type” in which the resource units deliver the ESS through some specific ecological functions (e.g. wetlands providing carbon sequestration), and (ii) a “mediated flow type” in which the resource units become themselves the ESS when “used” by means of human activities (e.g. fish harvested through fishing activities). The identification of activities is crucial to understand the interactions between ESS, because of the feedbacks they produce on the ecosystem functioning and thus on the provision of the same or other ESS. In addition, these feedbacks can depend on temporal aspects of ESS provision. On these regards, a hypothesis is proposed according to which a time lag can exist between the ESS supply-side and flow in human-modified SES. Altogether, this social-ecological analysis of ESS can contribute to focus the management strategies on the control of impacting activities and on the maintenance of those processes which underpin ESS’ provision, thus contributing to the implementation of an ecosystem-based management of SES. These aspects are discussed in the light of the Venice lagoon example.The assessment of ecosystem services (ESS) requires approaches that are capable to deal with the complexity of social-ecological systems (SES). A new viewpoint is proposed, in which the social-ecological perspective of Ostrom's SES framework is used to describe the flow of ESS, through the identification of the social and ecological elements involved. Two types of ESS flow emerge from this analysis, depending on the way in which the elements of ESS supply (resource system and resource units) and demand (actors) interact: (i) a "direct flow type" in which the resource units deliver the ESS through some specific ecological functions (e.g. wetlands providing carbon sequestration), and (ii) a "mediated flow type" in which the resource units become themselves the ESS when "used" by means of human activities (e.g. fish harvested through fishing activities). The identification of activities is crucial to understand the interactions between ESS, because of the feedbacks they produce on the ecosystem functioning and thus on the provision of the same or other ESS. In addition, these feedbacks can depend on temporal aspects of ESS provision. On these regards, a hypothesis is proposed according to which a time lag can exist between the ESS supply-side and flow in human-modified SES. Altogether, this social-ecological analysis of ESS can contribute to focus the management strategies on the control of impacting activities and on the maintenance of those processes which underpin ESS' provision, thus contributing to the implementation of an ecosystem-based management of SES. These aspects are discussed in the light of the Venice lagoon example. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved