28,294 research outputs found
Multimedia information technology and the annotation of video
The state of the art in multimedia information technology has not progressed to the point where a single solution is available to meet all reasonable needs of documentalists and users of video archives. In general, we do not have an optimistic view of the usability of new technology in this domain, but digitization and digital power can be expected to cause a small revolution in the area of video archiving. The volume of data leads to two views of the future: on the pessimistic side, overload of data will cause lack of annotation capacity, and on the optimistic side, there will be enough data from which to learn selected concepts that can be deployed to support automatic annotation. At the threshold of this interesting era, we make an attempt to describe the state of the art in technology. We sample the progress in text, sound, and image processing, as well as in machine learning
Customer evaluations of after-sales service contact modes: An empirical analysis of national culture�s consequences
customer, service, culture, evaluation
Corporate Governance and Acquisitions: Acquirer Wealth Effects in the Netherlands
We examine 865 acquisitions by Dutch industrial firms over the period 1993ââŹâ2004. Theoretical work based on principalââŹâagent problems predicts that managers of exchange-listed corporations may pursue acquisitions even when these do not add value for the shareholders. Corporate governance structures serve to constrain managers in their acquisition activity. In this chapter we measure the shareholder wealth effects of acquisitions and the factors that determine these wealth effects, including the governance characteristics of corporations. Firms in the Netherlands are interesting from the perspective of corporate governance, because the managerial board has a relatively strong position vis-Ă -vis shareholders. Several takeover defenses commonly used in the Netherlands not only limit shareholder influence during takeover battles, but also in absence of such fights. On the other hand, ownership is relatively concentrated, which may provide shareholders with the incentives and power to monitor the management. The average abnormal stock return following acquisition announcements is 1.1%, which is a significant positive effect. There is only a significant negative impact of the so-called structured regime, a situation where several shareholder rights are delegated to the supervisory board. This result suggests that governance improves acquisition decisions.The Netherlands;Corporate governance;Event study;Mergers & acquisitions
Dark and Baryonic Matter in Bright Spiral Galaxies: I.Near-infrared and Optical Broadband Surface Photometry of 30 Galaxies
We present photometrically calibrated images and surface photometry in the B,
V, R, J, H, and K-bands of 25, and in the g, r, and K-bands of 5 nearby bright
(Bo_T<12.5 mag) spiral galaxies with inclinations between 30-65 degrees
spanning the Hubble Sequence from Sa to Scd. Data are from The Ohio State
University Bright Spiral Galaxy Survey, the Two Micron All Sky Survey, and the
Sloan Digital Sky Survey Second Data Release. Radial surface brightness
profiles are extracted, and integrated magnitudes are measured from the
profiles. Axis ratios, position angles, and scale lengths are measured from the
near-infrared images. A 1-dimensional bulge/disk decomposition is performed on
the near-infrared images of galaxies with a non-negligible bulge component, and
an exponential disk is fit to the radial surface brightness profiles of the
remaining galaxies.Comment: 28 page
Can morphotaxa be assessed with photographs? Estimating the accuracy of two-dimensional cranial geometric morphometrics for the study of threatened populations of African monkeys
The classification of most mammalian orders and families is under debate and the number of species is likely greater than currently recognized. Improving taxonomic knowledge is crucial, as biodiversity is in rapid decline. Morphology is a source of taxonomic knowledge, and geometric morphometrics applied to two dimensional (2D) photographs of anatomical structures is commonly employed for quantifying differences within and among lineages. Photographs are informative, easy to obtain, and low cost. 2D analyses, however, introduce a large source of measurement error when applied to crania and other highly three dimensional (3D) structures. To explore the potential of 2D analyses for assessing taxonomic diversity, we use patas monkeys (Erythrocebus), a genus of large, semi-terrestrial, African guenons, as a case study. By applying a range of tests to compare ventral views of adult crania measured both in 2D and 3D, we show that, despite inaccuracies accounting for up to one-fourth of individual shape differences, results in 2D almost perfectly mirror those in 3D. This apparent paradox might be explained by the small strength of covariation in the component of shape variance related to measurement error. A rigorous standardization of photographic settings and the choice of almost coplanar landmarks are likely to further improve the correspondence of 2D to 3D shapes. 2D geometric morphometrics is, thus, appropriate for taxonomic comparisons of patas ventral crania. Although it is too early to generalize, our results corroborate similar findings from previous research in mammals, and suggest that 2D shape analyses are an effective heuristic tool for morphological investigation of small differences
A new catalog of photometric redshifts in the Hubble Deep Field
Using the newly available infrared images of the Hubble Deep Field in the J,
H, and K bands and an optimal photometric method, we have refined a technique
to estimate the redshifts of 1067 galaxies. A detailed comparison of our
results with the spectroscopic redshifts in those cases where the latter are
available shows that this technique gives very good results for bright enough
objects (AB(8140) < 26.0). From a study of the distribution of residuals
(Dz(rms)/(1+z) ~ 0.1 at all redshifts) we conclude that the observed errors are
mainly due to cosmic variance. This very important result allows for the
assessment of errors in quantities to be directly or indirectly measured from
the catalog. We present some of the statistical properties of the ensemble of
galaxies in the catalog, and finish by presenting a list of bright
high-redshift (z ~ 5) candidates extracted from our catalog, together with
recent spectroscopic redshift determinations confirming that two of them are at
z=5.34 and z=5.60.Comment: 28 pages, 12PS+4JPEG figures, aaspp style. Accepted for publication
in The Astrophysical Journal. The catalog, together with a clickable map of
the HDF, Tables 4 and 5 (HTML, LaTeX or ASCII format), and the figures, are
available at http://bat.phys.unsw.edu.au/~fsoto/hdfcat.htm
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