A Benchmark for Image Retrieval using Distributed Systems over the Internet: BIRDS-I

The performance of CBIR algorithms is usually measured on an isolated workstation. In a real-world environment the algorithms would only constitute a minor component among the many interacting components. The Internet dramati-cally changes many of the usual assumptions about measuring CBIR performance. Any CBIR benchmark should be designed from a networked systems standpoint. These benchmarks typically introduce communication overhead because the real systems they model are distributed applications. We present our implementation of a client/server benchmark called BIRDS-I to measure image retrieval performance over the Internet. It has been designed with the trend toward the use of small personalized wireless systems in mind. Web-based CBIR implies the use of heteroge-neous image sets, imposing certain constraints on how the images are organized and the type of performance metrics applicable. BIRDS-I only requires controlled human intervention for the compilation of the image collection and none for the generation of ground truth in the measurement of retrieval accuracy. Benchmark image collections need to be evolved incrementally toward the storage of millions of images and that scaleup can only be achieved through the use of computer-aided compilation. Finally, our scoring metric introduces a tightly optimized image-ranking window.Comment: 24 pages, To appear in the Proc. SPIE Internet Imaging Conference 200

A secondary ejecta explanation of a lunar seismogram

Secondary ejecta explanation to seismograph of Apollo 12 LM impac

Reflections on the Challenging Proliferation of Mental Health Issues in the District Court and the Need for Judicial Education

Maine\u27s courts constantly deal with litigants with mental health issues. Historically, our decisions have relied on expert testimony addressing specific issues of responsibility, risk, and treatment. In recent years, by my observation, court involvement in the treatment process has increased, but the availability of expert evidence has decreased. Thus, we as judges have become the ultimate decision-makers regarding litigants\u27 mental health treatment in both criminal and civil contexts, without supporting expert testimony. In the face of this development, three interconnected issues arise. The first issue is whether judges should even attempt to fill the void caused by lack of expert testimony. I think all judges would prefer to act only on the basis of expert information, but, as a practical matter, we cannot. The experts are not available at the courthouse and we have no choice but to use our own training and experience by default. The second issue, if judicial training is to compensate for an absence of expert evidence, is what type and amount of training and education should be required to achieve competency in this role. Required knowledge should probably include characteristics of mental disorders, the dynamics of substance abuse and domestic violence, an overview of treatment methods, and the applicability of various therapies. This list is not exhaustive. Of course, we also need to identify those areas where an expert remains essential and where we should refuse to act on our own. The education we receive should be common to all members of the judiciary. Moreover, those appearing before the court should be informed both of the extent of our education and how we will use that education in deciding their cases. We must also remain aware that approaches can change. The information judges receive must be updated regularly. The third issue raised by the increased role judges are playing in making mental health decisions is the lack of data measuring the efficacy of judicial intervention, as well as the efficacy of the alternative programs to which defendants are being sentenced. In addition to increased judicial education, courts need to evaluate particular therapeutic programs to determine whether they in fact work. As it currently stands, we make judgments without much feedback. We need reliable data, not anecdotal evidence, when deciding whether to send a defendant to an anger management program, to counseling, or to jail; whether to impose conditions on parent/child contact; or whether to include counseling in a protection from abuse order

TM digital image products for applications

Computer compatible tapes (CCTs) of LANDSAT 4 thematic mapper (TM) digital image products are compared and reviewed. The following tape formats are discussed: (1) raw band-sequential data (CCT-BT); (2) calibrated data (CCT-AT); and (3) geometrically resampled data (CCT-PT). Each format represents different steps in the process of producing fully corrected TM data. The CCT-BT images are uncorrected radiometrically or geometrically, CCT-AT data are radiometrically calibrated, and CCT-PT images are both radiometrically and geometrically corrected

TM digital image products for applications

The image characteristics of digital data generated by LANDSAT 4 thematic mapper (TM) are discussed. Digital data from the TM resides in tape files at various stages of image processing. Within each image data file, the image lines are blocked by a factor of either 5 for a computer compatible tape CCT-BT, or 4 for a CCT-AT and CCT-PT; in each format, the image file has a different format. Nominal geometric corrections which provide proper geodetic relationships between different parts of the image are available only for the CCT-PT. It is concluded that detector 3 of band 5 on the TM does not respond; this channel of data needs replacement. The empty bin phenomenon in CCT-AT images results from integer truncations of mixed-mode arithmetric operations

Circular Dichroism of Optically Active 1,2-Disubstituted 1,2-Diphenyl Ethanes Part II: Compounds without COOR-group at Benzylic C

(R,R)-Hydrobenzoin and homochirally analogous thTeo-compounds of formula Ph-CHX-CHY-Ph (X = Y; X rO Y; Y = H) show anegative O-O - CD-line below 37200 crn? and/er a positive one just above it, which can be explained by conformational equilibria around the Ph-C - bonds. The Cotton effect at 220-210 nm is negative for this same configuration, if X rO Y (also Y = H), in these other cases there no such simple correlation. Cotton effects within the Elg- or the E2g-transitions might be the reason for this, although otherwise no indication of them could be found. The same rules hold if a ring is closed between X and Y, the Cotton effect at 220-210 nm has thus the same sign as the torsional angle (Ph-)C-C(-Ph), and the same is also true of the next Cotton effect at 198-191 nm. The temperature dependence of the CD can be explained only by assuming conformational as well as solvational equilibria. Introduction of asingle p-chloro substituent shifts the borderline between the two O-O - CD-lines of opposite signs to 36200 cm-lo It causes a sign inversion of the CD within the «-band of a »half\u27-molecule« of type CI-C6H4-C(H, Bn)-OZ, not however in the case of CI-C6H4(H, Bn)-CH20Z. Such p-chloro substitution does not influence the Cotton effects below 220 nm. p,p\u27-Disubstitution by the CH3CO- -group shifts the p-band strongly batbochromically, the corresponding intense CD-couplet prooves the preponderance of that conformation deduced already from NMR-spectra, and prooves as well the absolute configuration

A quantum description of bubble growth in a superheated fluid

We discuss a quantum description of bubble growth in a superheated liquid Helium by addressing the problem of operator ordering ambiguities that arise due to the presence of position dependent mass (PDM) in this system. Using a supersymmetric quantum mechanics formalism along with the Weyl quantization rule, we are able to identify specific operator orderings for this problem. This is a general method which should be applicable to other PDM systems.Comment: 1 Figure. To be published in Phys. Lett A. v3: Updated abstract and significant changes from v2, in particular inclusion of a new section on Weyl transfor

First- and second-order transitions of the escape rate in ferrimagnetic or antiferromagnetic particles

Quantum-classical escape-rate transition has been studied for two general forms of magnetic anisotropy in ferrimagnetic or antiferromagnetic particles. It is found that the range of the first-order transition is greatly reduced as the system becomes ferrimagnetic and there is no first-order transition in almost compensated antiferromagnetic particles. These features can be tested experimentally in nanomagnets like molecular magnets.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Europhys. Let