Segmentation and tracking of video objects for a content-based video indexing context

This paper examines the problem of segmentation and tracking of video objects for content-based information retrieval. Segmentation and tracking of video objects plays an important role in index creation and user request definition steps. The object is initially selected using a semi-automatic approach. For this purpose, a user-based selection is required to define roughly the object to be tracked. In this paper, we propose two different methods to allow an accurate contour definition from the user selection. The first one is based on an active contour model which progressively refines the selection by fitting the natural edges of the object while the second used a binary partition tree with aPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Relações de gênero em um debate sobre Mecânica Quântica e visões de Ciência entre graduandos de Física

Um dos efeitos das diferenças entre gêneros nas aulas de ciências é o estímulo às lideranças masculinas e a predominância dos pontos de vista dos garotos. A presente pesquisa investigou as relações de gênero entre graduandos em Física quanto ao exercício do papel de parceiro mais capaz em um debate mediado por um questionário sobre conceitos da Mecânica Quântica (MQ) e visões de ciência (VC). Os resultados da análise do discurso dos estudantes sinalizam para a maior propensão de que os garotos assumam a posição de parceiros mais capazes por meio de um discurso de autoridade e que algumas estudantes tenham habilidades alternativas para exercê-la, adotando um discurso jocoso e crítico

Impact of Robotic Dispensing Machines in German Pharmacies on Business Performance Indicators

Aims and objectives: To assess the impact of robotic dispensing machines in community pharmacies on staff efficiency and sales of over-the-counter drugs. Setting: The study was done on 253 community pharmacies in Germany that use a robotic dispensing machine manufactured by ROWA during 2008. Method: Data concerning the financial and economic impact of using a robotic dispensing machine in community pharmacies was gathered using a structured questionnaire and analysed in terms of its financial implications. Key findings: The response rate was 29%. In most pharmacies (79%) the robotic dispensing machine was retrofitted. In 59% of the pharmacies additional space was gained for self-service and behind-the-counter display. As a result of using a robotic dispensing machine, personnel costs were reduced by an average of 4.6% during the first 12 months after start-up. Over-the-counter sales increased in the same period by an average of 6.8%. Despite average initial costs of 118,000 euros, total costs within the first 12 months fell in 50% of cases and at least remained the same in 44%. Conclusions: On average, robotic dispensing machines lead to modest savings in personnel costs and slight increases in sales of over-the-counter drugs. Substantial savings can be achieved only if the staffing level is adapted to the changed personnel requirements

Engagement of patients in religious and spiritual practices: Confirmatory results with the SpREUK-P 1.1 questionnaire as a tool of quality of life research

BACKGROUND: Quality of life is a multidimensional construct composed of functional, physical, emotional, social and spiritual well-being. In order to examine how patients with severe diseases view the impact of spirituality and religiosity on their health and how they cope with illness, we have developed the SpREUK questionnaire. We deliberately avoided the intermingling of attitudes, convictions and practices, and thus addressed the distinct forms and frequencies of spiritual/religious practices in an additional manual, the SpREUK-P questionnaire. METHODS: The SpREUK-P was designed to differentiate spiritual, religious, existentialistic and philosophical practices. It was tested in a sample of 354 German subjects (71% women; 49.0 ± 12.5 years). Half of them were healthy controls, while among the patients cancer was diagnosed in 54%, multiple sclerosis in 22%, and other chronic diseases in 23%. Reliability and factor analysis of the inventory were performed according to the standard procedures. RESULTS: We confirmed the structure and consistency of the previously described 18-item SpREUK-P manual and improved the quality of the current construct by adding several new items. The new 25-item SpREUK-P 1.1 (Cronbach's alpha = 0.8517) has the following scales: (1) conventional religious practice (CRP), (2) existentialistic practice (ExP), (3) unconventional spiritual practice (USP), (4) nature/environment-oriented practice (NoP), and (5) humanistic practice (HuP). Among the tested individuals, the highest engagement scores were found for HuP and NoP, while the lowest were found for the USP. Women had significantly higher scores for ExP than male patients. With respect to age, the engagement in CRP increases with increasing age, while the engagement in a HuP decreased. Individuals with a Christian orientation and with a religious and spiritual attitude had the highest engagement scores for CRP, while the engagement in an USP was high with respect to a spiritual attitude. Variance analyses confirmed that the SpR attitude and religious affiliation are the main relevant covariates for CRP and ExP, while for the USP the SpR attitude and the educational level are of significance, but not religious affiliation. Patients with multiple sclerosis overall had the lowest engagement scores for all five forms of SpR practice, while it is remarkable that cancer patients had lower scores for HuP and USP than healthy subjects. CONCLUSION: The current re-evaluation of the SpREUK-P questionnaire (Version 1.1) indicates that it is a reliable, valid measure of five distinct forms of spiritual, religious and philosophical practice that may be especially useful for assessing the role of spirituality and religiosity in health related research. An advantage of our instruments is the clear-cut differentiation between convictions and attitudes on the one hand, and the expression of these attitudes in a concrete engagement on the other hand

Superglass formation in an atomic BEC with competing long-range interactions

The complex dynamical phases of quantum systems are dictated by atomic interactions that usually evoke an emergent periodic order. Here, we study a quantum many-body system with two competing and substantially different long-range interaction potentials where the dynamical instability towards density order can give way to a superglass phase, i. e., a superfluid disordered amorphous solid, which exhibits local density modulations but no long-range periodic order. We consider a two-dimensional BEC in the Rydberg-dressing regime coupled to an optical standing wave resonator. The dynamic pattern formation in this system is governed by the competition between the two involved interaction potentials: repulsive soft-core interactions arising due to Rydberg dressing and infinite-range sign changing interactions induced by the cavity photons. The superglass phase is found when the two interaction potentials introduce incommensurate length scales. The dynamic formation of this peculiar phase without any externally added disorder is driven by quantum fluctuations and can be attributed to frustration induced by the two competing interaction energies and length scales.Comment: new title, added reference