A Matlab-Based Tool for Video Quality Evaluation without Reference

This paper deals with the design of a Matlab based tool for measuring video quality with no use of a reference sequence. The main goals are described and the tool and its features are shown. The paper begins with a description of the existing pixel-based no-reference quality metrics. Then, a novel algorithm for simple PSNR estimation of H.264/AVC coded videos is presented as an alternative. The algorithm was designed and tested using publicly available video database of H.264/AVC coded videos. Cross-validation was used to confirm the consistency of results

Decompositions of ideals of minors meeting a submatrix

We compute the primary decomposition of certain ideals generated by subsets of minors in a generic matrix or in a generic symmetric matrix, or subsets of Pfaffians in a generic skew-symmetric matrix. Specifically, the ideals we consider are generated by minors that have at least some given number of rows and columns in certain submatrices.Comment: 10 pages. v2: minor corrections. v3: minor changes, final version to appear in Comm. Al

Reaching out to culturally and linguistically diverse families: strategies and challenges reported by parent training and information center staff

Within special education policy and practice, parents are expected to advocate for their children to receive appropriate special education and related services. However, the majority of parents report feeling disempowered to advocate; families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds may feel especially disempowered. Federally funded Parent Training and Information Centers (PTIs) exist in each state to empower historically underserved (including CLD) parents of children with disabilities. In this study, we examined how PTIs educate and empower CLD families through semi-structured interviews with 13 PTI staff members who work with CLD families across five states. The participants emphasized the importance of strategies such as conducting outreach in local communities and developing parent leaders among the CLD families they support. The findings also indicated that PTIs struggle with addressing external, systemic barriers which influence CLD families. Implications for research, policy, and practice are discussed.Accepted manuscrip

Hilbert's "Verunglueckter Beweis," the first epsilon theorem, and consistency proofs

In the 1920s, Ackermann and von Neumann, in pursuit of Hilbert's Programme, were working on consistency proofs for arithmetical systems. One proposed method of giving such proofs is Hilbert's epsilon-substitution method. There was, however, a second approach which was not reflected in the publications of the Hilbert school in the 1920s, and which is a direct precursor of Hilbert's first epsilon theorem and a certain 'general consistency result' due to Bernays. An analysis of the form of this so-called 'failed proof' sheds further light on an interpretation of Hilbert's Programme as an instrumentalist enterprise with the aim of showing that whenever a `real' proposition can be proved by 'ideal' means, it can also be proved by 'real', finitary means.Comment: 18 pages, final versio

The New Perspective on Paul and the Correlation with the Book of James

The New Perspective on Paul is a new theory of how to interpret the Pauline epistles through the lens of first century Judaism. Three of the leading scholars that hold to the New Perspective are E.P. Sanders, James D.G. Dunn, and N.T. Wright. These men have done their best to defend the New Perspective of Paul, but have not adequately used, or explained the arguments set forth in the book of James, specifically found in James 2:14-26. The New Perspective fails to either give an analysis of James through the proposed lens of the New Perspective, or show how the book of James affects the New Perspective on Paul overall

Quantum and string shape fluctuations in the dual Monopole Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with dual Dirac strings

The magnetic monopole condensate is calculated in the dual Monopole Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with dual Dirac strings suggested in Refs.[1,2] as a functional of the dual Dirac string shape. The calculation is carried out in the tree approximation in the scalar monopole-antimonopole collective excitation field. The integration over quantum fluctuations of the dual-vector monopole-antimonopole collective excitation field around the Abrikosov flux line and string shape fluctuations are performed explicitly. We claim that there are important contributions of quantum and string shape fluctuations to the magnetic monopole condensate.Comment: 19 pages, Latex, 2 figure

Confinement potential in dual Monopole Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with dual Dirac strings

Interquark confinement potential is calculated in the dual Monopole Nambu-Jona-Lasinio model with dual Dirac strings as a functional of a dual Dirac string length. The calculation is carried out by the explicit integration over quantum fluctuations of a dual-vector field (monopole-antimonopole collective excitation) around the Abrikosov flux line and string shape fluctuations. The contribution of the scalar field (monopole-antimonopole collective excitation) exchange is taken into account in the tree approximation due to the London limit regime.Comment: 10 pages, Latex, no figure