1722 research outputs found
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Wheat Head Classification in 3D Point Clouds for Fusarium Head blight Detection
Full text linkDeep learning (DL) has become one of the most efficient tools for data processing in computer vision and is a popular technique for tasks such as classification, segmentation, and detection. Although most of these techniques have been applied to data with a structured grid, 3D data such as point clouds have shown proficient results and increased popularity due to the growing availability of acquisition devices. This has led to their application in areas such as robotics, autonomous driving, medicine, agriculture, and more. A point cloud is a set of points defined in a 3D metric space, characterized by its unstructured nature. The unstructuredness of point clouds makes the use of DL for direct processing challenging and 3D object detection has become an active research topic. 3D object detection is an important functional method as it can simultaneously predict surrounding objects' categories, locations, and sizes. In fields like agriculture, this technique offers the potential to analyse various plant attributes, such as plant height, biomass, and the number and size of relevant plant organs.Plant detection and recognition represent a difficult challenge due to the plants' size, posture, shape, illumination, and texture, which vary depending on the varieties and growth stages. One major challenge is presented in wheat plants. As a fundamental source of food, the interest in its analysis has increased. Detection of wheat spikes can help validate spikelet fertility, spike characteristics, and evaluate high-yield wheat cultivars. In this thesis, we created a dataset of 576 point cloud data samples of multiple wheat plants, which we manually labeled for computer vision tasks such as object detection and wheat head classification. Utilizing a 3D neural network model specialized for point clouds, called PointNet, we developed a 3D object detection model to identify and detect wheat heads. This model allowed us to use point clouds directly as input data to preserve the detailed point information. The results demonstrated a test accuracy of 80% in the best model. Finally, a 3D CNN-based classification model was integrated to develop a wheat head classification model for 3D point clouds for Fusarium Head blight (FHB) detection. The classification model was fine-tuned for disease detection to automatically identify wheat infected with FHB from 3D images of wheat heads. The model for FHB detection in wheat spikelets achieved 91% accuracy in a multiple wheat plants test set. Extensive cross-validation experiments were performed to evaluate the performance ability of the model with promising detection results. In addition, the drawbacks of the proposed method were analyzed, and directions for future work are provided.Master of Science in Applied Computer Scienc
Strøby Egede, Vedbæk-Bøgebakken and Relationships among Scandinavian Mesolithic Skeletal Material
Full text linkThis paper derives from new work onMesolithic human skeletal material from Strøby Egede, a near coastal site in eastern Sjælland, with two foci. The first confirms sex identifications from original work carried out in 1986. The second, and central focus, re-examines comments by one of us (CM) based on work in 1992, and a new statistical analysis including data from the two Strøby Egede adults. In 1998 it was suggested that the Strøby Egede sample more closely resembled Skateholm, on the coast of Skåne in southern Sweden, than Vedbæk-Bøgebakken on Sjælland, fitting lithic patterns noted earlier by Vang Petersen. We revisit the 1998 suggestion below, comparing data from Strøby Egede to those available from southern Scandinavia and Germany, and suggest that the 1998 comment was, in all probability, incorrect. The analysis below suggests overall morphological similarity between individuals in eastern Sjælland and Skåne, while noting the existence of apparent outliers.https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-prehistoric-society/article/stroby-egede-vedbaekbogebakken-and-relationships-among-scandinavian-mesolithic-skeletal-material/C9DE161B90C64672BD84E24900686AC
Solving Scalar Fields in AdS Space-Time using Parallel Computing and GPUs
No full textComputers have been around a long time and used for many resources like gaming, emailing and science. Concerning the sciences, computers are excellent at repetitive tasks and crunching numbers without (much) error. In data science there are two methods of programming - serial and parallel. Both have the same goal and endpoint however depending on the problem, one might be more efficient in solving the problem. My thesis is on using parallel computing with GPUs to numerically solve a system of non-linear first order differential equations that describe scalar fields in AdS space-time. Since this has been done by another using CPUs, it will be important to compare that the simple case matches that of the previous paper. However once we have confirmed that our results match the previously found results, we can use graphic processing units to solve the problem to higher order and more accuracy.Master of Science in Applied Computer Scienc
Cleaning Wīkis 2
No full textThis image was utilized for research purposes. The image displays the process of cleaning Wīkis (muskrat root) medicine.The Six Seasons of Asiniskaw Īthiniwak project is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council
Comparing Two Species Distribution Models Using Satellite Only and Ready-Made Environmental Variables for the Dakota Skipper (Hesperia dacotae), Interlake Region of Manitoba, Canada
Full text linkThe Dakota skipper, Hesperia dacotae (Skinner, 1911) [Hesperiidae, Lepidopterida] is a rare prairie obligate butterfly with an affinity for anthropogenically undisturbed, grassland habitat with diverse native flora. Persistent threats include habitat fragmentation, destruction, and degradation. These and other threats have caused precipitous population declines and local extirpation across its range. Consequentially, the Dakota skipper is currently listed as Endangered in Canada and Threatened in the United States, and the province of Manitoba. Species distribution models (SDM) are a well-known technique which attempt to predict a species distribution on a landscape. These predictions can then be used to inform conservation actions such as guiding survey effort, land acquisitions, and reintroductions. The objectives of this project were to: 1) Compare Dakota skipper models using freely available high resolution remotely sensed products to those using more traditional environmental predictors. 2) Field validate both models to identify the most accurate model using efficient and economical methods. 3) Address issues of modelling rare species to produce a robust SDM for the Dakota skipper in Manitoba. I found that SDMs built from environmental variables generated from satellite imagery performed comparably to one produced from readily available geospatial information. I also found that field validation was more accurate for evaluating SDMs than purely statistical methods. I also produced usable SDMs for the Dakota skipper in the Interlake. Implications from this study are that the advantages of satellite imagery can be leveraged to create useable SDMs to guide conservation actions. This study also further supports the need to field validate an SDM over relying on model statistical output which can be misleading.Master of Science in Bioscience, Technology, and Public Polic
Growing a Writing Practice: Non-Extractive Writing
Full text linkEssays for sale, AI, plagiarism, grade seeking: clearly it’s time to revamp research and writing. Students have not learned to write well, they’ve learned to game the system, get the grade, and move on. The dominant colonized system of higher education is seeking to reinvent itself to be more accessible, equitable, and inclusive. Growing a Writing Practice begins with exercises such as writing prompts to create a practice of writing on demand. Then guides the student through a series of exercises that build a toolbox that can be utilized for any research and writing demands. What are those tools? Growing a Writing Practice begins with asking good questions and learning how to draft questions in several ways providing several lenses through which to view the question and possible answers. A culture of extractivist research and writing has emerged. Decolonizing the extractivist approach requires shifting the focus away from bias confirming, data extracting, merely citing toward a process of honouring authors as teachers, published research as teachings, a habit of ethical considerations, and research and writing not as grade seeking but as balanced and purposeful exploration of curiosity and learning. The toolbox includes clarifying search terms, creating a body of work, exploring ethical teachers, assembling envelopes, organizing themes and data, constructing useful outlines, seeking feedback, and producing writing not just for a grade, but to produce mastery. Strongly influenced by Indigenous methodologies, epistemologies, and pedagogy, Growing a Writing Practice provides an opportunity to decolonize writing
"What They Can Teach Us": Curating Archived Oral Histories for Secondary and Postsecondary Education
No full textWe argue that a carefully curated and contextualised collection of oral histories can be an effective learning tool in secondary and post-secondary education. We present ‘What They Can Teach Us’, an online educative resource that re-uses four interviews from 1993 with German women who migrated to Canada in the 1950s. By applying source criticism to extant oral histories, we explore some of the complexities around the interpretation and multi-temporality of the interviews. Using so-called historical thinking concepts in the lesson plans, we show that even short oral history excerpts can allow students to engage deeply with processes of historical thinking. It encourages them to question the veracity of sources and analyse the retrospective and changing nature of memory and narrative."We are grateful to the Waterloo Centre for German Studies and the Research Office at the University of Winnipeg for generously funding the creation and maintenance of ‘What They Can Teach Us’ (www.whattheycanteachus.ca).
We're the problem; mapping our way out of printing purgatory
Full text linkThis is the tale of a behavioural mapping exercise that revealed some uncomfortable truths
about our library’s role in the student experience, and the journey that got us there; how
we followed the data to discover the many ways our service design exacerbated student
printing troubles, and how divergent UX helped us chart a course out of this mess.https://uxlib.org/uxlibs-the-books
Multimedia Forensics: Preserving Video Integrity with Blockchain
Full text linkAccepted version of manuscriptThis paper addresses some of the challenges of video forgery detection in multimedia forensics. It presents a solution that enhances video verification by utilizing the non-alterable features of blockchain technology and video hashing algorithms. The proposed approach is applicable in different application areas and can be used to increase video credibility, identify manipulations, and improve the storage process of tracking changes to video data. The paper describes our experiments and results of the proposed solution for video integrity preservation and verification, providing an alternative way to the quality assurance and security of video content in different industries.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1052729
Dynamic Calculation of Password Salts for Improved Resilience towards Password Cracking Algorithms
Full text linkAccepted version of manuscriptPasswords have been an integral part of our lives from the dawn of the internet and keeping them secure has been of paramount importance. Each attempt to secure our digital lives has been met with increased complexity and scope in attacks to compromise security measures. This paper explores a novel methodology to calculate password salts by using the password itself and multiple texts to generate lookup values into a text corpus that is then used to calculate salt values dynamically and on the fly. The proposed method allows an authentication system to use salts for password storage without storing the salts in a database where they might be compromised.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1052731