Morphology-based Noise Reduction: Structural Variation and Thresholding in the Bitonic Filter

The bitonic filter was recently developed to embody the novel concept of signal bitonicity (one local extremum within a set range) to differentiate from noise, by use of data ranking and linear operators. For processing images, the spatial extent was locally constrained to a fixed circular mask. Since structure in natural images varies, a novel structurally varying bitonic filter is presented, which locally adapts the mask, without following patterns in the noise. This new filter includes novel robust structurally varying morphological operations, with efficient implementations, and a novel formulation of non-iterative directional Gaussian filtering. Data thresholds are also integrated with the morphological operations, increasing noise reduction for low noise, and enabling a multi-resolution framework for high noise levels. The structurally varying bitonic filter is presented without presuming prior knowledge of morphological filtering, and compared to high-performance linear noise-reduction filters, to set this novel concept in context. These are tested over a wide range of noise levels, on a fairly broad set of images. The new filter is a considerable improvement on the fixed-mask bitonic, outperforms anisotropic diffusion and image-guided filtering in all but extremely low noise, non-local means at all noise levels, but not the block-matching 3D filter, though results are promising for very high noise. The structurally varying bitonic tends to have less characteristic residual noise in regions of smooth signal, and very good preservation of signal edges, though with some loss of small scale detail when compared to the block-matching 3D filter. The efficient implementation means that processing time, though slower than the fixed-mask bitonic filter, remains competitive

Opinions on Gun Control: Evidence from an Experimental Web Survey

While a sizable literature exists on framing, little research extends this to gun control. In this study I analyze how partisan framing influences support for gun control. Using an experimental web survey, individual level data shows that Democrats in particular respond more favorably when gun control is framed as sponsored by fellow Democrats. In contrast, controlling for partisanship, gun owners more negatively react to gun control framed as Democrat-sponsored. These findings suggest the extent of support for gun control and ways in which parties can frame the issue in their favor

How AI is Socialized to Exhibit Bias

Artificial intelligence is becoming a more prevalent part of our society. This presentation seeks to explore some of the dangers of AI in relation to gender and racial bias from the sociological perspective.https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/gender_studies/1082/thumbnail.jp

The Double-Sided Message of The Lego Movie: The Effects of Popular Entertainment on Children in Consumer Culture

One of the most popular and highest rated films of 2014, The Lego Movie, has entertained billions of viewers in the past year. Although it has already proven itself to be a favorite of adults, The Lego Movie’s targeted audience is children who will identify with the imaginative and fun characters that take the form of their favorite building toys. Such a strong platform that provides excellent age appropriate entertainment to the world’s most impressionable generation gives The Lego Movie a prime opportunity to communicate to children in an unusually powerful way. For decades, researchers have explored the way entertainment media influences children’s view of their world. It will not be too long until concerned moviewatchers and parents begin to wonder exactly what message The Lego Movie communicates to the children it is so intentionally geared towards. The Lego Movie’s script is fairly clear as to its desire to teach children the value of their own individuality and creativity. But the script is not the only factor that contributes to how children are likely to find meaning in entertainment such as The Lego Movie. The text of the film denounces big business that dominates influential industries and exploits consumer culture, but The Lego Movie in itself might be the largest example of product placement advertising in film history. The film’s protagonists urge the audience to be creative, thoughtful individuals who are not fooled by consumerism’s “one size fits all” facade, but the implication of the brand’s usage is that in order to be a creative individual, every child should buy Lego products. In the following pages, I will explore evidence from various sources to discover exactly what message is truly being portrayed from this beloved film and what children really learn through engaging The Lego Movie as a piece of popular entertainment. Taking all things into consideration, I shall argue that context wins over text in children’s entertainment such as The Lego Movie. Although The Lego Movie displays a message of individualism and creativity, when the marketing advantages and subtle ironies found within its script are examined through the ways by which children find meaning in entertainment media, the film is seen to communicate a message that encourages consumer culture more than it does individuality and creativity. The subtle implications of the film can be potentially unhealthy to children’s view of popular entertainment, themselves, and their role in their world. Nevertheless, popular films like The Lego Movie can still be a helpful tool for parents to use in teaching children how to correctly address consumer culture and its influence on their thinking

The Bitonic Filter: Linear Filtering in an Edge-preserving Morphological Framework.

A new filter is presented which has better edge and detail preserving properties than a median, noise reduction capability similar to a Gaussian, and is applicable to many signal and noise types. It is built on a definition of signal as bitonic, i.e. containing only one local maxima or minima within the filter range. This definition is based on data ranking rather than value, hence the bitonic filter comprises a combination of non-linear morphological and linear operators. It has no data-level-sensitive parameters and can locally adapt to the signal and noise levels in an image, precisely preserving both smooth and discontinuous signals of any level when there is no noise, but also reducing noise in other areas without creating additional artefactual noise. Both the basis and the performance of the filter are examined in detail, and it is shown to be a significant improvement on the Gaussian and median. It is also compared over various noisy images to the image-guided filter, anisotropic diffusion, non-local means, the grain filter, and self-dual forms of levelling and rank filters. In terms of signal-to-noise, the bitonic filter outperforms all these except non-local means, and sometimes anisotropic diffusion. However it gives good visual results in all circumstances, with characteristics which make it appropriate particularly for signals or images with varying noise, or features at varying levels. The bitonic has very few parameters, does not require optimisation nor prior knowledge of noise levels, does not have any problems with stability, and is reasonably fast to implement. Despite its non-linearity, it hence represents a very practical operation with general applicability

Inclusive Environments: How Campus Mobility Effects A Sense of Belonging for the Student with a Mobility Impairment

With an increase in students with disabilities entering into a college campus, understanding their unique needs is necessary to ensure they complete their college experience. Their rise in enrollment by students with disabilities is due in part to the increased supports within the K-12 schooling systems. This leaves higher education professionals unprepared to serve college students with disabilities in developing a positive sense of belonging during the transition to postsecondary education. This study explores if and how campus mobility impacts the sense of belonging for a student with a mobility impairment. This student implemented a best practices design and also phenomenological approach to utilizing interviews of students at a large research-based institution located in the Midwest to accurately capture their experience. The results revealed that in order to achieve a positive student sense of belonging, institutions must provide accommodations that go beyond ADA requirements to adequately provide the physical/social inclusion they wanted by students. The student interviews and best practices research indicated beneficial models that other institutions may benefit from after thoughtful consideration, adaptation and implementation of the results

Sweating the Small Stuff: Managing Fisheries and Fostering Marine Ecosystem Resilience in the Face of Climate Change

Since 2013, thousands of emaciated California sea lion pups have washed ashore along the United States West Coast (“U.S. West Coast” or “West Coast”), leading concerned scientists and members of the public to wonder what’s happening off our shores. In March 2016, researchers concluded that California sea lions have been suffering from mass malnutrition because their main food sources, sardine and anchovy, are scarce. Why are these fish so scarce? Scientists say that the combination of unusually warm ocean conditions and fishing for sardine and anchovy has depleted the food supply for these animals. And sea lions are simply the most visible victims. The health of the entire California Current Large Marine Ecosystem (CCE), the productive swath of the Pacific Ocean that runs from southern British Columbia south along the West Coast of the United States to Baja California, Mexico, is at stake. This article explores the fundamental changes in fishery management necessary to build the resilience of forage fish populations and the ecosystem as a whole in the face of climate change. After presenting an overview of the role and vulnerability of forage fish, the article describes the current management framework for forage species in the federal Coastal Pelagic Species fishery, the current status of those species, and management responses. We then present an overview of key MSA provisions and offer recommendations for using these provisions to align forage fishery management with biology and ecology of these species, including specific recommendations for protecting forage fish populations and dependent predators, focusing on anchovy as a current, important example of the changes needed to better ensure the sustainability of the CCE

Psychologists\u27 Use of Dogs in Psychotherapy: A Therapeutic Exploration

The current fund of literature documents the many benefits of using dogs as adjunct healing agents for both physical and psychological ailments. Despite the ever-growing body of research about dogs as adjunct interventions, there is a meager amount of information available about clinician’s experience of bringing their dogs to work with them. This dissertation is an in-depth exploration of six psychologists licensed in the state of Washington who brought their dogs with them to work. Each participant’s interview was analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. From their interviews, nine primary themes were identified: Reason for the Acquisition of Dog, Nature of Dog, The Human-Dog Relationship, Interventions, Value of Dog in Therapy, Impact on Dogs, When a Dog is Not Available, Downside of Having a Dog in the Room, and Grief and Loss When Dog is No Longer Available. Responses included differences from existing literature including the multiple rolls the dogs play during the work day, how dogs are affected by attending therapy, specific ways dogs are utilized as therapeutic interventions, and some challenges of bringing a dog to the office daily. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, http://aura.antioch.edu/ and Ohio Link ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu/etd. Keywords: Therap