Large scale evaluations of multimedia information retrieval: the TRECVid experience

Information Retrieval is a supporting technique which underpins a broad range of content-based applications including retrieval, filtering, summarisation, browsing, classification, clustering, automatic linking, and others. Multimedia information retrieval (MMIR) represents those applications when applied to multimedia information such as image, video, music, etc. In this presentation and extended abstract we are primarily concerned with MMIR as applied to information in digital video format. We begin with a brief overview of large scale evaluations of IR tasks in areas such as text, image and music, just to illustrate that this phenomenon is not just restricted to MMIR on video. The main contribution, however, is a set of pointers and a summarisation of the work done as part of TRECVid, the annual benchmarking exercise for video retrieval tasks

Performance of an alpha-vane and pitot tube in simulated heavy rain environment

Experimental tests were conducted in the UDRI Environmental Wind/Rain Tunnel to establish the performance of an alpha-vane, that measures angle of attack, in a simulated heavy rain environment. The tests consisted of emersing the alpha-vane in an airstream with a concurrent water spray penetrating vertically through the airstream. The direction of the spray was varied to make an angle of 5.8 to 18 deg with the airstream direction in order to simulate the conditions that occur when an aircraft lands in a heavy rain environment. Rainrates simulated varied from 1000 to 1200 mm/hr which are the most severe ever expected to be encountered by an aircraft over even a 30 second period. Tunnel airspeeds ranged from 85 to 125 miles per hour. The results showed that even the most severe rainrates produced a misalignment in the alpha-vane of only 1 deg away from the airstream direction. Thus for normal rain conditions experienced by landing aircraft no significant deterioration in alpha-vane performance is expected

Cephalopods from the stomachs of sperm whales taken off California

Cephalopod remains (beaks, bodies, and parts of bodies) were collected from the stomachs of 157 sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) taken off central California (lat. 37°-39°N). At least 24 species representing 14 families were identified. Frequencies of occurrence of the six most numerous taxa were Moroteuthis robusta 72.0%, Gonatopsis borealis 66.2%, Histioteuthis dofleini 36.9%, Galiteuthis spp. (including G. phyllura and G. pacifica) 36.3%, Octopoteuthis deletron 35.0%, and Vampyroteuthis infernalis 27.4%. One find of two Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni beaks strongly suggests transequatorial migration by one large male sperm whale. (PDF file contains 18 pages.

Foster parent adoption: Preparing children through the use of Life Books

The trend of foster parent adoption is increasing as more children are placed in foster care requiring a permanent family. This is an exploratory study focusing on foster children who are being adopted by their foster parents and their need for adequate preparation. In this study, a group of four children were prepared for adoption through the utilization of Life Books. Upon completion of the group, all of the subjects improved with respect to: knowledge of genealogical background, understanding reason for placement in foster care and comprehension of adoption. Adoption preparation is a preventative service that has been supported by the research as a method of reducing adoption disruption

Development and Vailidation of Implicit Association Tests for Organizational Citizenship Behavior Motives

Organizations have long held an interest in organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB), as they provide a link between employee satisfaction and productivity. Only recently have researchers begun to investigate the reasons why employees perform OCB. Explicit (self-report) measures of OCB motives are susceptible to contamination from impression management and self-knowledge artifacts, making the results of such measures potentially inaccurate. Four Implicit Association Tests (IATs) were developed to assess the OCB motives that Borman and Penner (2001) describe. Because the IAT procedure uses reaction times on classification tasks, the procedure is resistant to the contamination that impression management and inaccurate self-knowledge can have. Amazon\u27s Mechanical Turk was utilized to collect data from participants who responded to both implicit and explicit measures of the OCB motives. The construct validity of the measures was examined by using confirmatory factor analytic methods to test a sequence of nested models in a multitrait-multimethod design. The results provide some support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the IATs

Listeria monocytogenes

Organisms of the genus Listeria have stimulated a great deal of interest as a result of their pathogenicity and affinity for the central nervous system. The clinical condition produced by this organism is known as listeriosis, or in ruminants as “circling disease”. The organism was described by Murray, Webb and Swann in 1926 as the causative agent of an eqizootic infection in laboratory rabbits and guinea pigs. Their observations showed that the disease produced emaciation, abundant exudate in serous cavities, necrotic foci in and on various organs, and a marked increase in monocytes circulating in the blood stream. The name Bacerium monocytogenes was used to describe the organism. In 1927 Pirie isolated an organism from gerbilles which he called Listerella heptolytica referring to the numerous necrotic foci found on the liver. The comparative studies of Murray and Pirie showed that the organisms which they had worked with were identical, and the name of the genus was changed to Listeria, its present form. The word “Listeria” was actually derived from the name of the famous English surgeon and bacteriologist, Joseph Lister. While it may be rather precarious to attempt prognostication at this time, it is nevertheless a possibility that listeriosis may exhibit a history similar to Malta fever. When Sir David Bruce discovered Micrococcus melitensis as the causative organism of Brucellosis, there was little evidence to support the occurrence of a new disease in humans. Yet, it is a well-recognized fact that one of the public health problems today is undulant fever. There is reason for contemplating that the genus Listeria now occurring in twenty species of animals in nearly all the Northern States and fifteen foreign countries is adapting itself to man. It does not seem too remote that in the future we may witness many human cases of listeriosis rather than isolated cases as now occur. Recently a culture of Listeria monocytogenes was sent to this laboratory for verification from St. John’s Hospital in Rapid City, South Dakota. The culture was taken from the spinal fluid of a fifty-two year old man, a station agent for the Milwaukee Railroad at Faith, South Dakota. Biochemical and serological tests proved that the bacterium was Listeria monocytogenes. It is believed that this is the first diagnosed case of human listeriosis in South Dakota. From the period between 1951 and 1953 thirteen cases occurred in humans in the State of California. Prior to this time one case had been reported. Linsert reports that during the interval between 1953 and 1956 eighteen human cases were bacteriologically confirmed by the Bezirk Hygienic Laboratory of Germany. Whether or not the sudden appearance of many listeriosis cases in man is a matter of better technique in diagnostic procedure is certainly a factor to consider, but seems rather doubtful since it could hardly account for the large percentage of the total number. It is quite possible that there exists an epidemiological connection between man and animal, although this is strictly a matter of conjecture on the part of the investigator. It is hoped that these studies, directly or indirectly, may contribute to solving this problem. From the standpoint of farm economics the two most important animals involved are sheep and cattle. It is not uncommon that listeriosis in sheep reaches epizootic proportions. An outbreak in flocks of 3,000 may cause losses totaling as high as 200 to 500 animals. Fewer than two percent of the animals showing definite clinical symptoms recover. Listeriosis in cattle has been sporadic and usually involves only a small number of animals, although twenty percent of a large beef or dairy herd may be infected. The exact mode of transmission under field conditions is not understood. Bolin and Osebold report that Listeria cells pass into the urine and feces of rodents, therefore raising the question of food and water contamination of domestic animals. On the other hand, clinical listeriosis is often detected when animals are kept in close quarters. Examples of this are in feed-lot cattle and in sheep at lambing time. Osebold further suggests that the opportunity for consumers’ meat to be infected with Listeria could likely exist since many animals that are involved show no apparent infection, therefore not decreasing their commercial value. Since it appears that many of the infected animals show no symptoms of listeriosis, it would seem advantageous to conduct a systematic study to determine the degree of infestation, hence giving information on the pathogenicity of the organism, its prevalence, and the number of potential carriers resulting from previous infections

Horse Rescue Fundraiser

For my capstone project, I worked with a non-profit organization in Mountain Home Idaho named Chasing Chances Rescue. This organization gives a loving home to horses when their prior owners can no longer take care of them. Through a short informal survey, I confirmed what I already suspected, very few people in the community are aware of the nonprofit’s presence in the community. Because of this donations are few and far between. This was a wonderful experience because I was able to help raise some funds for an organization that shares my passion for animal care as well as bring to light their mission in the community