Image processing for the extraction of nutritional information from food labels

Current techniques for tracking nutritional data require undesirable amounts of either time or man-power. People must choose between tediously recording and updating dietary information or depending on unreliable crowd-sourced or costly maintained databases. Our project looks to overcome these pitfalls by providing a programming interface for image analysis that will read and report the information present on a nutrition label directly. Our solution involves a C++ library that combines image pre-processing, optical character recognition, and post-processing techniques to pull the relevant information from an image of a nutrition label. We apply an understanding of a nutrition label\u27s content and data organization to approach the accuracy of traditional data-entry methods. Our system currently provides around 80% accuracy for most label images, and we will continue to work to improve our accuracy

A guide to the ATM and debit card industry - 2006 update

It has been three years since we published A Guide to the ATM and Debit Card Industry. Those three years represent a very dynamic time in the industry with a number of important developments. Some trends and patterns have persisted or accelerated, while others have peaked or reversed. Still others have emerged for the first time. The purpose of this 2006 Update is to document these trends and patterns by updating the data we presented in the original book and to discuss their implications for the current and future state of the industry. ; The most important development is that the two segments of the industry, ATM and debit, are in some sense going in opposite directions. The ATM industry has matured and is relatively stagnant, with major players jockeying for position, searching for and adopting different business strategies, and adjusting to the maturation of the industry. The debit card industry, in contrast, is expanding rapidly, with new players, new partnerships, new products, and new markets. The challenge in the debit card industry is not how to cope with a maturing industry but, rather, how to preserve and enhance position and not be left behind. ; In the first part of this Update, we highlight and discuss some of the most important changes in the ATM and debit card industry. For both the ATM and debit sides of the industry, we recap and analyze changes in activity levels, industry structure, and industry pricing. We then offer some thoughts on what might lie ahead, including a discussion of fraud and data security. In the second part of this Update, we present updated versions of the 23 charts and 11 tables from the original book, adding the three or four years of additional data that have since become available.Automated tellers ; Debit cards ; Point-of-sale-systems ; Payment systems

Embracing Absence: Researching What is Not There

In the absence of light, we find means to push back the darkness; when data is sparse, we find surrogates measures or extrapolate from existing data. Absences play a role in how we respond to the world. Here, we seek to better understand engagement with absences relationally initiating a productive research pathway for engaging with absences in Information Systems (IS) research. We argue the existence of absences can be considered, their implications can be examined, and their unique importance within different contexts can be demonstrated through careful articulation in reflexive research. Through an exploration of absence in selected literature we outline a variety of ways absences are interpreted and shape the world. Further, using examples of the intersection of IS and “care” we demonstrate the impact of absences in context. Doing so we build a path forward for IS scholars to imaginatively engage with absences in the future

Spreading a positive message about work, earnings and benefits through peer networking: Findings from the Peer Employment Benefits Network

Misunderstanding and fears about the impact of earnings on benefits represent a significant barrier in the return-to-work efforts of people with disabilities. This pilot project evaluated an approach to spreading a positive message about work and dispelling myths about the effects of work on Social Security benefits through outreach and networking in the disability community. A peer leadership project was developed by enlisting 33 people with disabilities, mainly through disability advocacy organizations, who had experience with disability benefits. They received several days of basic training about work incentives, networking strategies, and community resources that support employment. These peer leaders then developed and pursued outreach plans in their communities. Peer leaders reported making 1046 contacts through their personal networks. 130 of the people contacted participated in a survey rating the quality of the interaction and their activities involving employment. The majority of respondents reported they had received helpful information from the peer leaders and had less concern about the negative effects of work on benefits; approximately one-quarter took some steps toward going to work. The evidence from this project suggests that a peer to peer approach may be effective in promoting a positive message about and creating interest in employment

Thirty Years Of Wetland Conservation In Montana

In 1985 the Montana Legislature authorized the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to use funds from migratory bird hunting licenses “…for the protection, conservation, and development of wetlands in Montana”, thereby creating the Migratory Bird Wetland Program (a.k.a. State Duck Stamp Program).  Wetlands and their associated uplands provide critical nesting, foraging, brood-rearing, and migration habitat for waterfowl and other wetland-associated wildlife.  Wetlands also provide critical ecosystem functions important for our communities and wildlife, including water purification, flood control, and groundwater recharge.  FWP’s Migratory Bird Wetland Program is dedicated to conserving wetlands and associated uplands to benefit Montana’s wildlife, especially migratory birds, to enhance consumptive and non-consumptive recreational opportunities, and to maintain wetland systems for Montana’s citizens.  Since many of the opportunities were on private land, it was essential for FWP personnel to learn how best to work with farmers and ranchers to benefit their operations as well as wildlife and wetland values.  In addition to the partnership of private landowners, many other agencies and organizations have been partners in habitat projects.  The program has adapted to changing opportunities and conservation needs over time.  We will chronicle the past 30 years of program implementation, showcase successes, and discuss a philosophy for continued wetland conservation into the future

High lift aerodynamics

The current program is aimed at providing a physical picture of the flow physics and quantitative turbulence data of the interaction of a high Reynolds number wake with a flap element. The impact of high lift on aircraft performance is studied for a 150 passenger transport aircraft with the goal of designing optimum high lift systems with minimum complexity

Tightwads and spendthrifts: An interdisciplinary review

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146280/1/cfp21010_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/146280/2/cfp21010.pd

Banner News

https://openspace.dmacc.edu/banner_news/1310/thumbnail.jp

The Thermal Infrared Sensor on the Landsat Data Continuity Mission

The Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), a joint NASA and USGS mission, is scheduled for launch in December, 2012. The LDCM instrument payload will consist of the Operational Land Imager (OLI), provided by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation (BATC} under contract to NASA and the Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS), provided by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). This paper outlines the design of the TIRS instrument and gives an example of its application to monitoring water consumption by measuring evapotranspiration

CD8(+) T-Cell Responses to Trypanosoma cruzi Are Highly Focused on Strain-Variant trans-Sialidase Epitopes

CD8(+) T cells are crucial for control of a number of medically important protozoan parasites, including Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of human Chagas disease. Yet, in contrast to the wealth of information from viral and bacterial infections, little is known about the antigen specificity or the general development of effector and memory T-cell responses in hosts infected with protozoans. In this study we report on a wide-scale screen for the dominant parasite peptides recognized by CD8(+) T cells in T. cruzi–infected mice and humans. This analysis demonstrates that in both hosts the CD8(+) T-cell response is highly focused on epitopes encoded by members of the large trans-sialidase family of genes. Responses to a restricted set of immunodominant peptides were especially pronounced in T. cruzi–infected mice, with more than 30% of the CD8(+) T-cell response at the peak of infection specific for two major groups of trans-sialidase peptides. Experimental models also demonstrated that the dominance patterns vary depending on the infective strain of T. cruzi, suggesting that immune evasion may be occurring at a population rather than single-parasite level