Classification of non-heat generating outdoor objects in thermal scenes for autonomous robots

We have designed and implemented a physics-based adaptive Bayesian pattern classification model that uses a passive thermal infrared imaging system to automatically characterize non-heat generating objects in unstructured outdoor environments for mobile robots. In the context of this research, non-heat generating objects are defined as objects that are not a source for their own emission of thermal energy, and so exclude people, animals, vehicles, etc. The resulting classification model complements an autonomous bot\u27s situational awareness by providing the ability to classify smaller structures commonly found in the immediate operational environment. Since GPS depends on the availability of satellites and onboard terrain maps which are often unable to include enough detail for smaller structures found in an operational environment, bots will require the ability to make decisions such as go through the hedges or go around the brick wall. A thermal infrared imaging modality mounted on a small mobile bot is a favorable choice for receiving enough detailed information to automatically interpret objects at close ranges while unobtrusively traveling alongside pedestrians. The classification of indoor objects and heat generating objects in thermal scenes is a solved problem. A missing and essential piece in the literature has been research involving the automatic characterization of non-heat generating objects in outdoor environments using a thermal infrared imaging modality for mobile bots. Seeking to classify non-heat generating objects in outdoor environments using a thermal infrared imaging system is a complex problem due to the variation of radiance emitted from the objects as a result of the diurnal cycle of solar energy. The model that we present will allow bots to see beyond vision to autonomously assess the physical nature of the surrounding structures for making decisions without the need for an interpretation by humans.;Our approach is an application of Bayesian statistical pattern classification where learning involves labeled classes of data (supervised classification), assumes no formal structure regarding the density of the data in the classes (nonparametric density estimation), and makes direct use of prior knowledge regarding an object class\u27s existence in a bot\u27s immediate area of operation when making decisions regarding class assignments for unknown objects. We have used a mobile bot to systematically capture thermal infrared imagery for two categories of non-heat generating objects (extended and compact) in several different geographic locations. The extended objects consist of objects that extend beyond the thermal camera\u27s field of view, such as brick walls, hedges, picket fences, and wood walls. The compact objects consist of objects that are within the thermal camera\u27s field of view, such as steel poles and trees. We used these large representative data sets to explore the behavior of thermal-physical features generated from the signals emitted by the classes of objects and design our Adaptive Bayesian Classification Model. We demonstrate that our novel classification model not only displays exceptional performance in characterizing non-heat generating outdoor objects in thermal scenes but it also outperforms the traditional KNN and Parzen classifiers

Gender & Dialogue Differences in American Novels

In your favorite book, do men talk like men and women talk like women? Or is it a mixture of the two? While many readers may not consciously notice the way that characters speak, those same readers might subconsciously pick up on the difference, or lack of differences, in the way those characters speak. In some of the many famous American novels, the characters, regardless of gender, talk like whatever sex the author is, as it is hard to write like a gender that is not your own. When exploring the differences between the genders, perhaps one of the most important differences, and the easiest to spot, is the way that each gender speaks. Luckily, there is a computer program that can look at men vs. women speech patterns and interpret them electronically, giving many categories for comparison between the two. When looking at the differences between three women from two famous works written by male authors, Caddy in William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury and Vivian and Carmen Sternwood in Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep, and two women from two works written by female authors, Edna in Kate Chopin’s The Awakening and Ivy in Lee Smith’s Fair and Tender Ladies, one would expect the difference between the language to be stark. 1 However, one would not expect the results that can be seen. In fact, in most categories, the male writers actually write in a more conventionally female way than the actual females do. That is Caddy, Carmen, and Vivian actually talk in a more feminine way than Edna and Ivy, despite being created by males. While examining these unusual differences between the females and males, an interesting example comes to mind: perhaps the male authors, who were trying to sound female, actually accomplish this because the actual female authors, who were trying to create advanced, “ahead-of-their-time” women, attempted to sound more masculine, as masculinity is seen as more powerful than femininity

World War II Films and Patriotism in America

In American culture, one of the most effective ways to communicate is through the media. The newest films and television shows being released have a large impact on our country’s opinions. Therefore, the quickest way to reaffirm or change the public’s perspective of a particular topic is by making a film about it. There have been many popular films made about almost every important event in history, but perhaps the most prevalent topic in historical films is World War II. It is especially important to study these films because, as film critic Vincent Canby said, “How war movies are accepted by the public reflects the times in which they’re released.”1 Not only is it important to study these for a glimpse into the time they were released but it is also important to see how these films have changed the public’s perception of the event being portrayed. Using these films, the directors have demonstrated their opinion on the selected topic, hoping to change the viewer’s opinion to more closely fit theirs. Such World War II films have been said to “propound a fundamental American decency and dutifulness that is both poignant and indisputable.” 2 It is especially important to study these films in order to see how the films have changed the viewpoint of subsequent generations of viewers, especially those not privy to the war itself. In order to look into this topic, I have chosen three of the most highly regarded and influential World War II films made since the war: To Hell and Back, Saving Private Ryan, and Band of Brothers, which would all be considered “travelogue war movie[s]...which follow a character or group of characters through the historical events of the war.” 3 While studying all aspects of the films are important, there are certain features of the films that are more important to look into. In looking at films made about the United States’ involvement in World War II, it is important to delve deep into the matter of the public memory of patriotism in this war and how these films have affected that memory, both in the time they were released and in the years since. The three films I have chosen tell different stories but all have the same end result: they leave the audience with a sense of pride and nostalgia about the bravery and patriotism of the soldiers that served in WWII. While newer films try to give a deeper look into the misery and sacrifices that were experienced by these men, they are still received by the audience in the same way

Resistance components and velocity distributions of open channel flows over bedforms

1985 Summer.Includes bibliographical references.The components of flow resistance and the velocity distributions of open-channel flows over bedforms were investigated by conducting idealized bedform experiments in a laboratory flume. Experiments involving uniform smooth, uniform rough, and nonuniform smooth bedform elements were performed. Local shear stress and pressure on the bedform surface was measured in order to determine the characteristics of skin and form resistance. Total flow resistance was measured directly and compared to the sum of the resistance components. Using the results of this study and published data, relations were developed to enable the prediction of each resistance component. Boundary layer velocity profiles were measured over the bedform surface in the region of reattached flow. An average velocity distribution was developed based on free stream velocity measurements made over the length of the modeled bedform

Data association and occlusion handling for vision-based people tracking by mobile robots

This paper presents an approach for tracking multiple persons on a mobile robot with a combination of colour and thermal vision sensors, using several new techniques. First, an adaptive colour model is incorporated into the measurement model of the tracker. Second, a new approach for detecting occlusions is introduced, using a machine learning classifier for pairwise comparison of persons (classifying which one is in front of the other). Third, explicit occlusion handling is incorporated into the tracker. The paper presents a comprehensive, quantitative evaluation of the whole system and its different components using several real world data sets

Chronic respiratory alkalosis induces renal PTH-resistance, hyperphosphatemia and hypocalcemia in humans

Chronic respiratory alkalosis induces renal hyperphosphatemia and hypocalcemia in humans. The effects of chronic respiratory alkalosis on divalent ion homeostasis have not been reported in any species. We studied four normal male subjects during a four-day control period (residence at 500 m), during six days of chronic respiratory alkalosis induced by hypobaric hypoxia (residence at 3450 m), followed by a six-day eucapnic recovery period (500 m) under metabolic balance conditions. Chronic respiratory alkalosis (ΔPaCO2, -8.4mm Hg, Δ[H+] -3.2 nmol/liter) resulted in a sustained decrement in plasma ionized calcium concentration (Δ[IoCa++]p, -0.10 mmol/liter, P < 0.05) and a sustained increment in plasma phosphate concentration (Δ[PO4]p, +0.14 mmol/liter, P < 0.005) associated with increased fractional excretion of Ca++ (+0.5%, P < 0.005), decreased phosphate clearance (-6.1 ml/min, P < 0.025) and decreased excretion of nephrogenous cAMP (-1.5 nmol/100 ml GFR, P < 0.0025). Urinary phosphate excretion decreased by 15.4 mmol/24 hr on day 1 of chronic respiratory alkalosis (P < 0.0025), but returned to control values by day 6 despite hyperphosphatemia. Serum intact [PTH] did not change. Sustained hypomagnesuria (-0.8 mmol/24 hr, P < 0.05) occurred during chronic respiratory alkalosis and was accounted for, at least in part, by decreased fractional excretion of Mg++ (-0.7%, P < 0.05) in the absence of change in plasma magnesium concentration. Serum 1,25(OH)2D levels were unchanged by chronic respiratory alkalosis. In conclusion, the decrease in nephrogenous cAMP generation despite unchanged serum intact PTH concentration suggests that chronic respiratory alkalosis results in impaired renal responsiveness to PTH as manifested by alterations in PTH-dependent renal calcium and phosphate transport. Hypomagnesuria in chronic respiratory alkalosis may be due, at least in part, to hypocalcemia-induced enhancement of renal magnesium reabsorption. The failure of [PTH] to increase during hypocalcemia may reflect defective PTH secretion

An Investigation on The History and Current Research of Fragile X Syndrome

The purpose of this research is to synthesize the history of Fragile X Syndrome through literature-based research in order to assess the scope of research, population variation, social impact, and treatment. Fragile X was first documented in 1943 by Dr. Julia Bell and Dr. James Purdon Martin in a report of a family case study in which eleven males across two generations showed symptoms of intellectual disabilities. Fragile X Syndrome is an X-linked disorder caused by mutation in the Fragile X mental retardation 1(FMR1) gene on chromosome Xq27.3. The FMR1 mutations are triplet repeat expansion of the CGG repeat sequences in the 5′ untranslated region of the gene, causing hypermethylation of the repeat sequence and the FMR1 promoter. This leads to inactivation of the promoter and loss of the Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP) expression. Because of its X-linked inheritance pattern, males have a higher chance of acquiring this disease than females, with a 1 in 3600 chance and 1 in 6000 chance, respectively. Recent studies attribute FMRP deficiency to neurogenesis changes, lowered glial cell production, and glutamate signaling alteration. Treatment is limited to focusing on managing associated symptoms. Current research emphasizes developing functional therapeutic approaches for treatment. Psychotherapy and various psychotropic medications are applied to target the psychiatric and cognitive features of the disorder. This timeline highlights the ongoing progression of holistic care for FXS patients, supporting the need for well-rounded intervention, spanning from psychotherapy, drug therapies, and wellness checkups.https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/durep_posters/1001/thumbnail.jp

Hyporheic Source and Sink of Nitrous Oxide

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas with an estimated 10% of anthropogenic N2O coming from the hyporheic zone of streams and rivers. However, difficulty in making accurate fine-scale field measurements has prevented detailed understanding of the processes of N2O production and emission at the bedform and flowline scales. Using large-scale, replicated flume experiments that employed high-density chemical concentration measurements, we have been able to refine the current conceptualization of N2O production, consumption, and emission from the hyporheic zone. We present a predictive model based on a Damköhler-type transformation (τ̃) in which the hyporheic residence times (τ) along the flowlines are multiplied by the dissolved oxygen consumption rate constants for those flowlines. This model can identify which bedforms have the potential to produce and emit N2O, as well as the portion and location from which those emissions may occur. Our results indicate that flowlines with τ̃up (τ̃ as the flowline returns to the surface flow) values between 0.54 and 4.4 are likely to produce and emit N2O. Flowlineswith τ̃up values of less than 0.54 will have the same N2O as the surface water and those with values greater than 4.4 will likely sink N2O (reference conditions: 17C, surface dissolved oxygen 8.5 mg/L). N2O production peaks approximately at τ̃ = 1.8. A cumulative density function of τ̃up values for all flowlines in a bedform (or multiple bedforms) can be used to estimate the portion of flowlines, and in turn the portion of the streambed, with the potential to emit N2O