An attention model and its application in man-made scene interpretation

The ultimate aim of research into computer vision is designing a system which interprets its surrounding environment in a similar way the human can do effortlessly. However, the state of technology is far from achieving such a goal. In this thesis different components of a computer vision system that are designed for the task of interpreting man-made scenes, in particular images of buildings, are described. The flow of information in the proposed system is bottom-up i.e., the image is first segmented into its meaningful components and subsequently the regions are labelled using a contextual classifier. Starting from simple observations concerning the human vision system and the gestalt laws of human perception, like the law of “good (simple) shape” and “perceptual grouping”, a blob detector is developed, that identifies components in a 2D image. These components are convex regions of interest, with interest being defined as significant gradient magnitude content. An eye tracking experiment is conducted, which shows that the regions identified by the blob detector, correlate significantly with the regions which drive the attention of viewers. Having identified these blobs, it is postulated that a blob represents an object, linguistically identified with its own semantic name. In other words, a blob may contain a window a door or a chimney in a building. These regions are used to identify and segment higher order structures in a building, like facade, window array and also environmental regions like sky and ground. Because of inconsistency in the unary features of buildings, a contextual learning algorithm is used to classify the segmented regions. A model which learns spatial and topological relationships between different objects from a set of hand-labelled data, is used. This model utilises this information in a MRF to achieve consistent labellings of new scenes

HOW HASAN ROOHANI'S DISCOURSE GOT DOMINANT IN THE ELEVENTH ROUND OF PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION OF IRAN: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS

Within the political arena of Iran, parties, media and political activities are passing through initial stages; yet, they get suddenly active during the presidential election campaign. Hence, a proper investigation into the dominant discourses during this time can tell a lot about the politics of the country. The present paper aims at conducting a critical discourse analysis on the antagonistic discourses of Hasan Roohani and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf to demonstrate how the former one’s discourse gets dominant and wins the election. The headlines of two supporting newspapers, Keyhan, supporting the fundamentalists, and Shargh, advocating the reformists, are analyzed as well to see how they try to back their candidates

Bioaccumulation and translocation factors of petroleum hydrocarbons in Aeluropus littoralis

Background: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which consist of fused conjugated aromatic rings, not only are toxic to humans and other living organisms, but will also pollute groundwater. These compounds can be point source or non-point source and are one of the most widespread organic pollutants. Some of them are suspected carcinogens and are linked to other health problems. This study was carried out to assess the petroleum hydrocarbon phytoremediation potential of the Aeluropus littoralis species. Accumulation of PAHs in roots and upper parts of A. littoralis has been determined. Translocation factor (TF) was also calculated. Methods: In this study, soil samples were taken from the vicinity of Isfahan oil refinery, and the PAHs compounds were analyzed with gas chromatography. One-meter soil columns were prepared from the control and contaminated soil. Unplanted A. littoralis treatments were also prepared to eliminate the effects of environmental factors on the reduction of oil-based contaminants. Seventeen weeks after planting, soil columns were sampled at 25, 50, 75, and 100 cm depths, and the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons and number of oil-degrading bacteria were counted. Moreover, the roots and shoots of A. littoralis were separated and weighed. Results: Results indicated that A. littoralis reduced the concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons to a significantly higher extent than the control treatment. Increasing depth was associated with improved petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations and decreased number of oil-degrading bacteria. Mostly, the bioaccumulation factor (BAF) of PAHs was <1, which shows A. littoralis could be an excluder of PAHs. The results also showed that the TF of PAHs was less than one, and hence, A. littoralis could be considered as an accumulator of PAHs. Conclusion: It can be concluded that this species is suitable for use in the phytoremediation of PAHS contamination. For further confirmation, an evaluation under field conditions should be undertaken

Effects of storage duration and conditions on mechanical properties of Viola cucumber fruit under compression loading

In this research, the effects of storage duration and storage conditions on mechanical properties of cucumber fruit (Viola variety) were evaluated at different positions of the fruit length.  The cucumber fruit mechanical properties determined in this study were firmness, apparent modulus of elasticity, failure stress, failure strain and failure energy.  The mechanical properties determined under compression loading using puncture and uni-axial compression tests.  The results showed that the storage duration, storage conditions and fruit test position had significant (P&lt;0.01) effect on the mechanical properties of Viola cucumber fruit.  The samples firmness, modulus of elasticity, failure stress and failure energy reduced about 49%, 39%, 38% and 33%, respectively during shelf life.  The failure strain of samples increased 18% during storage time.  Changing the mechanical properties of the cucumber fruit at room conditions was faster than refrigerator conditions.  The mechanical properties were differed along the length of cucumber fruits so that near the stem region of cucumber fruit had the maximum value of firmness, modulus of elasticity, failure stress and failure energy.  The sample failure strain had the minimum value at near the stem region of cucumber fruit.  Among the mechanical parameters that were evaluated in this research work, the firmness can be considered as the most appropriate parameter to evaluate textural properties of Viola cucumber fruit due to significant effect of independent parameters on it and ease of usage

Determining Asphalt Mixture Properties Using Imaging Techniques

This study introduces imaging technology to determine the bulk specific gravity (Gmb) of compacted asphalt mixture specimens. Using an advanced three-dimensional scanner, a fast, accurate technique for determining compacted asphalt mixture specimen Gmb was developed. The feasibility of this technique was evaluated by testing a collection of asphalt mixtures, including dense-graded and stone mastic asphalt mixtures. The results were compared with those obtained using the currently-specified Gmb measurement methods of AASHTO T166 and CoreLok. The proposed scanning technique was also used for both laboratory-prepared and field-cored specimens to determine its reliability and reproducibility. The study results suggest the proposed imaging technique is effective in decreasing Gmb measurement variation as well as in improving the accuracy and reproducibility. Additionally, the results indicate the proposed technique can be applied to any asphalt specimen, regardless of mixture type, aggregate sizes, or fabrication technique

The Effect of Logic Therapy Combined with Quran Recitation and Prayer on Depression Symptoms in Women with Major Depressive Disorder

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objective: Major Depressive disorders are one of the most common and chronic disorders that require treatment. The present study was an attempt to investigate the effect of Logotherapy with Quran recitation and prayer on severity of depressive symptoms in women with major depressive disorder.Methods: This study used a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest control group design. The statistical population included all women with depressive disorder in Qom in 2017. The sample population consisted of 30 women with major depressive disorder (15 for each group) and the participants were selected on a voluntary basis. They were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The instrument used for gathering data was Beck depression Inventory. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA. In the present study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors reported no conflict of interest.Results: In terms of severity of depressive symptoms, the mean scores for the experimental and control groups at the pretest stage were 35.80 and 33.60, respectively. Meanwhile, the mean scores were 19.86 for the experimental group and 32.46 for the control group. The level of depression remained unchanged in the control group but decreased in the experimental group at the post-test phase following the intervention, which was statistically significant (P&lt;0.001).Conclusion: The findings indicate that Logotherapy along with Quran recitation and prayer is effective in reduction of the symptoms of depression in women with major depression.For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Please cite this article as: Rafiei Mohammadi N, Jahangiri MM. The Effect of Logic Therapy Combined with Quran Recitation and Prayer on Depression Symptoms in Women with Major Depressive Disorder. Pizhūhish dar dīn va salāmat. 2020; 5(4):88-98. https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v5i4.2169

Investigating the Effect of Internal Rate of Return on Cash Re-cycling on the Abnormal Returns of Companies Accepted in Tehran Stock Exchange

Return on investment is a driving force that motivates and is a reward for investors. Investment returns are important for investors, in order for the entire investment game to be realized. Evaluating efficiency is the only logical way (Before risk assessment) that investors can do to compare alternative and different investments. Measuring real returns (relative to the past) is needed to better understand investment performance. Particularly, the study of past returns has a major role in predicting and predicting future returns. Therefore, the present study seeks to "investigate the effect of the internal rate of return on cash recycling on unusual returns as well as the effect of cost leadership strategies variables on the relationship between the internal rate of return on cash recycle and the unusual returns in the period from 2009 to 2013. In this research, the sample consists of 72 companies that have been selected by systematic elimination method, which is a total of 360 years. In this research, linear regression and correlation coefficient were used to investigate the hypotheses of the research. EVIEWS software has been used to analyse the data and test the research hypotheses. According to the regression results, the following results were obtained: 1. An internal rate of return on cash recycling affects unusual returns. 2. The internal rate of return based on the recycling of cash The abnormal returns affect the strategy of cost leadership

The Etiology and Clinical Evaluations of Neonatal Seizures in Kashan, IRAN

How to Cite This Article: Talebian A, Jahangiri M, Rabiee M, Masoudi Alavi N, Akbari H, Sadat Z. The Etiology and Clinical Evaluations ofNeonatal Seizures in Kashan, IRAN. Iran J Child Neurol. Spring 2015;9(2):29-41. AbstractObjectiveDetection of seizure, its etiology, and clinical types is important for guiding therapy. This study was designed to evaluate the etiology and clinical evaluations of neonatal seizures in Kashan, Iran.Materials and MethodsThe data of 100 hospitalized neonates with a complaint of seizures in Kashan City, from January 2006 to January 2011 were evaluated. The pediatric neurologist made the final diagnosis. The gestational age, neonate admission age, type of delivery, and laboratory and radiological investigations were reviewed   from the medical records. The relation of seizure etiology and other variables were compared using the Chi-square test. All the statistical analyses were performed using SPSS (ver 11.5).ResultsA total of 100 neonates were hospitalized with a diagnosis of seizures. The overall incidence rate of seizures was 2.6 per 1,000 live births. A total of 59% of seizures happened in the first three days of life. The etiologies of seizures were hypoxicischemic encephalopathy (HIE) (36%), hyponatremia (12%), hypoglycemia (11%), intracranial hemorrhage (11%), infections (10%), hypocalcemia (8%), metabolic disorders (7%), the structural anomalies (5%), and hypomagnesaemia (4%). In 23% of neonates, no specific etiology was found and 23% had multiple etiologies. In 45% of neonates, the EEG was not recorded. The type of the seizures were focal-clonic (26%), tonic (25%), multifocal clonic (34%), subtle(11%), and myoclonic (4%). The types of the seizure were unrelated to the paraclinical findings.ConclusionNeonatal seizures are common and HIE was the main cause of seizures in this study. The clinical evaluation of neonatal seizures needs improvement

Multi-Criteria Evaluation of the Vulnerability of the Urban Water Supply Network Against Biological Attacks

The water supply network is one of the most critical infrastructures of human societies, which could cause illness or death in many consumers due to its expanding nature. Water pollution is one of the ways of spreading biological pollutants among the population, which is known as bioterrorism today. Biological contamination usually occurs with the use of pathogens and biotoxins. Therefore, recognizing the vulnerable stages of the water supply network against various pollutants is of particular importance. In this research, in the first stage, a selection of five pathogens (Bacillus anthracis, Cryptosporidiosis, Francisella tularensis, Vibrio cholerae, Shigella) that are more likely to pollute water sources have been made. Thus, employing each component of the water supply system (including raw water source (dam)), Raw water storage tank, water treatment plant, treated water transmission line, treated water tanks, and distribution network (30 scenarios) were defined. In the next step, using multi-criteria group decision-making and employing three main criteria (vulnerability of each water supply stage, the amount of contaminant damage power, the amount of contaminant risk in each of the water supply stages) and their sub-criteria, the weight of each criterion was determined from the perspective of decision-makers by utilizing GFDM software. After analyzing the scenarios, the risk level of each scenario was ranked. Scenario 26 created the most risk, which consists of introducing the pathogen Bacillus anthracis into the distribution network. The entry of contamination into the distribution network due to high availability and lack of subsequent treatment steps, as well as the slight chance of preventing the contaminant from reaching consumers, can cause many diseases and deaths. Furthermore, it has a high resistance against chloride and is stable in water, so the entry of this contaminant into the distribution network can be dangerous. Considering the existing conditions, recognizing and calculating the risk of different scenarios can lead to readiness and increase the speed of action in response to possible biological attacks