New Method for Optimization of License Plate Recognition system with Use of Edge Detection and Connected Component

License Plate recognition plays an important role on the traffic monitoring and parking management systems. In this paper, a fast and real time method has been proposed which has an appropriate application to find tilt and poor quality plates. In the proposed method, at the beginning, the image is converted into binary mode using adaptive threshold. Then, by using some edge detection and morphology operations, plate number location has been specified. Finally, if the plat has tilt, its tilt is removed away. This method has been tested on another paper data set that has different images of the background, considering distance, and angel of view so that the correct extraction rate of plate reached at 98.66%.Comment: 3rd IEEE International Conference on Computer and Knowledge Engineering (ICCKE 2013), October 31 & November 1, 2013, Ferdowsi Universit Mashha

Adam Bede Revisited: Social Stigma and the Formation of Deviant Identity

In Adam Bede, George Eliot explores the way a society divides its members into categories and how these categories contribute to the formation of an individual’s identity. In the mid-nineteenth century authors in the naturalist tradition often discussed this dialogical relationship between individual and society, the specific roles for social gaze, the labeling and degrading. Eliot shows an acute of these labels that no one shapes identity without their influence. According to Nancy Anne Marck, Adam Bede introduces the theme of “emerging social consciousness” where the characters gain broader awareness of human interdependence through an experience of suffering (447). This is particularly evident when examining Eliot’s characters of “lesser fortune.” Once we’ve investigated how Eliot portrays these negative social forces throughout the novel, the labeling and the stigmatization, we will return to how Eliot addresses the larger question permeating her novel of education: how one judges another against the backdrop of community values.Nora Bonner: [email protected] Shayegh: [email protected] Bonner is a fiction writer and a writing instructor. She also moonlights as a singer/songwriter. She grew up in Detroit and lived in Bangkok, Thailand, where she worked at a research center and sang in a cover band on Khao San Road. In order to pursue a writing career, Nora went back to the States to get her MA in Creative Writing from Miami University of Ohio. She now has an MFA from Florida State University in Tallahassee.Elham Shayegh is a Ph.D. student in English Language and Literature at Miami University. She is interested in finding the meeting points of literature and psychology and in presenting the possibility of dialogue via literature.Nora Bonner - Miami University of OhioElham Shayegh - Miami University of OhioBeer, Gillian. 1983. “Darwin’s Plots: Evolutionary Narrative in Darwin, George Eliot, and Nineteenth Century Fiction.” London, Boston, Melbourne, and Henley: Routledge & Kégan Paul, Web.Berger, Courtney. 2000. “When Bad Things Happen to Bad People: Liability and Individual Consciousness in Adam Bede and Silas Marner”. NOVEL: A Forum on Fiction 33.3: 307–327. Web.Dillon, Steven. 1992. “George Eliot and the Feminine Gift”. Studies in English Literature, 1500 – 1900 32.4: 707–721. Web.Eliot, George. 1980. Adam Bede. New York: Penguin Classics, Print.Falk, Gerhard. 2001. Stigma: How We Treat Outsiders. Amherst, N.Y: Prometheus Books, Print.Foucault, Michel. 1980. “Prison Talk.” C. Gordon (Ed.), Power/knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977. New York: Pantheon. pp. 37-54.Web.Goffman, Erving. 1986. Stigma Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. New York: Touchstone, Print.Heatherton, Todd F., Robert E. Kleck, Michelle R. Hebl, Jay G. Hull. 2003. The Social Psychology of Stigma. New York: The Guilford P, Print.Kneale, Douglas. “Hetty’s Hanky.” 2015. ESC: English Studies in Canada 1.2: 123-150. Project MUSE. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. Web.Marck, Nancy Anne. 2003 “Narrative Transference and Female Narcissism: The Social Message of Adam Bede”. Studies in the Novel 35.4: 447–470. Web.Marr, Ryan. 2014. “Dinah Morris as Second Eve: The Fall and Redemption in Adam Bede.” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture 17.3: 80-102. Project MUSE. Web.Phelan, J. C. and B. G. Link. 2001. “Conceptualizing Stigma.” Annual Review of Sociology, 27: 363 – 85. Web.Scheyett, Anna. 2007. The Mark of Madness: Stigma, Serious Mental Illnesses, and Social Work. Retrieved: February 2007. Print.4-108 (1/2015)41

Climate change, labour availability and the future of gender inequality in South Africa

Women in developing countries are more exposed to the adverse effects of climate change. We develop a structural model to study the long-term impacts of climate and socioeconomic changes on labour supply and the pay gap between male/female and high-skilled/low-skilled labour. We calibrate our model with empirical evidence on the impacts of increasing temperatures on labour availability in two general economic sectors with high and low exposure to rising temperatures. Using five waves of nationally representative micro-survey data in South Africa from 2008 to 2017, we find that while high-skilled labour availability is insensitive to climate change, higher temperatures have a negative impact on working hours of low-skilled labour specially among women in the high-exposure sector. We incorporate these findings in an overlapping generations (OLG) model to show that climate-induced reduction in labour availability increases the relative wages of low-skilled female labour and reduces the wage gap between male and female labour in the high-exposure sector, and between high-skilled and low-skilled female labour, in general. Considering climate change damages both on sectoral productivity and on labour availability, we project that by the end of the century, the output per adult will drop by about 11 percentage points under a severe climate scenario. This calls for more targeted adaptation policies that build on the potential benefits of climate change in reducing gender inequality and empowering women to take up more active roles in designing and implementing such policies at the local level

Self-esteem, general and sexual self-concepts in blind people

Background: People with visual disability have lower self-esteem and social skills than sighted people. This study was designed to describe self-esteem and general and sexual self-concepts in blind people. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, conducted in the Isfahan University of Medical Sciences in 2013-2014. In this study, 138 visually impaired people participated from Isfahan Province Welfare Organization and were interviewed for measuring of self-esteem and self-concept using Eysenck self-esteem and Rogers’ self-concept questionnaires. The correlation between above two variables was measured using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software by Pearson correlation test. Results: Mean [± standard deviation (SD)] age of patients was 30.9 ± 8 years. The mean (±SD) of general self-concept score was 11 ± 5.83. The mean (±SD) of self-esteem score was 16.62 ± 2.85. Pearson correlation results showed a significant positive correlation between self-esteem and general self-concept (r = 0.19, P = 0.025). The mean of sexual self-concept scores in five subscales (sexual anxiety, sexual self-efficacy, sexual self-esteem, sexual fear, and sexual depression) were correspondingly 11 ± 4.41, 19.53 ± 4.53, 12.96 ± 4.19, 13.48 ± 1.76, and 5.38 ± 2.36. Self-esteem and self-concept had significant positive correlation with sexual anxiety (r = 0.49; P < 0.001) (r =-.23; P < 0.001) and sexual fear (r = 0.25; P = 0.003) (r = 0.18; P = 0.02) and negative correlation with sexual self-efficacy (r =-0.26; P = 0.002) (r =-0.28; P = 0.001) and sexual-esteem (r =-0.34; P < 0.001) (r =-0.34; P < 0.001). Conclusion: Self-esteem and self-concept had significant correlation with sexual anxiety and sexual fear; and negative correlation with sexual self-efficacy and sexual-esteem. © 2015 Journal of Research in Medical Sciences

Concentration of Particulate Matter below 10 and 2.5 Micron in air of Shiraz, Iran

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, particulate matter is the most important air pollutant in large cities around the world, released from many sources into the air. Since one of the main causes of air pollution in Shiraz is also particulate matter, monitoring the particles is necessary to develop control programs; therefore the aim of this study was to measure the concentration of particulate matter less than 10 and 2.5micron in air of Shiraz and compare same with EPA and National Standards. In this study, 45 stations were selected and sampling was performed in mornings and afternoons using Dust trak device. So during three sampling months (June, July and August), 90 samples for PM2.5 (45 in morningd and 45 in afternoons) and 90 samples for PM10 (45 in mornings and 45 in afternoons) and a total of 180 samples were taken. During the sampling for PM10, July with an average of 17.1μg/m3 was the spottiest month and August with an average of 13μg/m3 was the cleanest month. Also for PM2.5, July with an average of 11μg/m3 was the spottiest month and August with an average of 8.67μg/m3 was the cleanest month. Results showed that the concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 was less than standards in most cases.Keywords: Air pollution, Standards, Particulate matte

Students' Point of View about the Effect of University Open Day (UOD) on Selecting Field of Study, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Background & Objective : Since 2003, University Open Day (UOD) is being held in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences to introduce the University’s capacities and help students become familiar and finally select a study field. This study aimed to evaluate students' point of view about the effect of UOD on selecting field of study in Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Methods : In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a self-directed questionnaire was distributed amongst students of all study fields and educational levels including technician’s, bachelor’s, medicine, dentistry and pharmacy in entrance years 2003 to 2007 in their classrooms. Results : Among 940 students of entrance years 2003 to 2007 in all fields and educational levels, only 218 (23%) had visited the UOD. Most of them (60%) declared the reason that they chose their field was their matriculation score, alone or together with other factors. 2.7 percent (the minority) believed that the guidance provided by UOD attending authorities was a contributing factor to select a field. The majority (63.5%) demonstrated that parents contributed to field selection while 0.5% chose the guidance provided by UOD attending authorities as a contributing factor. 36 percent of students declared that they chose the University due to being close to their hometown or family and only 2 (1%) declared that the guidance provided by UOD attending authorities affected their choice. Conclusion : According to the results of this study and costs of holding this program, revisions should be made in following years and UOD should be held in other forms. Keywords: University Open Day (UOD), Insight, Student, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences

Listen to the band! How sound can realize group identity and enact intergroup domination

Recent research suggests that sound appraisal can be moderated by social identity. We validate this finding, and also extend it, by examining the extent to which sound can also be understood as instrumental in intergroup relations. We interviewed nine members of a Catholic enclave in predominantly Protestant East Belfast about their experiences of an outgroup (Orange Order) parade, where intrusive sound was a feature. Participants reported experiencing the sounds as a manifestation of the Orange Order identity and said that it made them feel threatened and anxious because they felt it was targeted at them by the outgroup (e.g., through aggressive volume increases). There was also evidence that the sounds produced community disempowerment, which interviewees explicitly linked to the invasiveness of the music. Some interviewees described organising to collectively ‘drown out’ the bands’ sounds, an activity which appeared to be uplifting. These findings develop the elaborated social identity model of empowerment, by showing that intergroup struggle and collective self-objectification can operate through sound as well as through physical actions

Ensemble-Based Unsupervised Discontinuous Constituency Parsing by Tree Averaging

We address unsupervised discontinuous constituency parsing, where we observe a high variance in the performance of the only previous model. We propose to build an ensemble of different runs of the existing discontinuous parser by averaging the predicted trees, to stabilize and boost performance. To begin with, we provide comprehensive computational complexity analysis (in terms of P and NP-complete) for tree averaging under different setups of binarity and continuity. We then develop an efficient exact algorithm to tackle the task, which runs in a reasonable time for all samples in our experiments. Results on three datasets show our method outperforms all baselines in all metrics; we also provide in-depth analyses of our approach