1,721,023 research outputs found
Cattle and carnivore coexistence in Alberta: The role of compensation programs
Full text linkIn Alberta, Canada beef producers share the landscape with large carnivores where interactions can lead to negative outcomes. We had 672 Alberta beef producers complete an online survey in spring 2014 to access the occurrence and outcomes of cattle-carnivore interactions.•We found that a majority (64%) reported losses from carnivore depredation. The average rate of calf depredation was reported at 2%, but the rate was highly variable between producers (ranging from 0 to 25% calf loss annually). The direct annual economic loss to depredation for survey respondents was 22 million.• Alberta's Wildlife Predator Compensation Program (WPCP) paid out an average of $220,584 annually from 2011-2013. The WPCP was under-utilized,64% of producers did not report to the program,and did not adequately address financial burden experienced by producers from 2011 2013.•Producers identified a series of challenges with the WPCP including the excessive burden of proof and the effort to value ratio being too low.•We provide recommendations to improve the WPCP based on a literature review and our survey findings
Real-Time Hardware Implementation of Telephone Speech Enhancement Algorithm
Full text linkEngineering: 3rd Place (The Ohio State University Denman Undergraduate Research Forum)Hearing impairment detrimentally affects communication over the telephone. Since phone lines reduce bandwidth and dynamic range, the poor quality speech signal can cause hard of hearing (HoH) listeners to experience extreme frustration and inefficient communication. One possible solution has been developed at the Ohio State University to help combat this problem. The Telephone Speech Enhancement Algorithm (TSEA) has been created to improve telephone signals so that speech is more intelligible for HoH listeners. Tests for TSEA have been run on human subjects and proven the algorithm effective. However, a hardware implementation of TSEA has yet to be designed. In this thesis, the BeagleBoard-xM development board is used to run TSEA. The software for TSEA is modified so that it can be implemented on the BeagleBoard-xM and tested in a real-time environment. This hardware model runs TSEA but introduces noise into the system due to its analog nature. The model accepts analog audio signals, processes them using TSEA, and outputs the processed signal for transmission. A device such as this has the potential to improve communication in scenarios such as telemedicine clinics where a failure to communicate properly with their HoH customers could have potentially devastating consequences. Ideally if a commercial model was developed, TSEA could be implemented everywhere to help improve communications for the HoH community. This project is the next step in making it a reality.Academic Major: Electrical and Computer Engineerin
Recognition of cooking actions in video data
Full text linkThis project focuses on using Machine Learning methods to recognize actions from cooking video sequences. The cooking videos and annotations are from MPII Cooking Activities Dataset, and a subset was constructed by selecting a group of the most frequently appearing actions, and generating matching video clips. Optical flows of those 11 actions’ videos were computed and were passed into a pre-trained Deep Learning Two-Stream Inflated 3D ConvNet to generate features of dimension 1024. Support Vector Machine classifiers and Random Forest classifiers were then applied to recognize and classify these actions using the extracted features. Binary SVM had the worst performance among the three classifiers we tested, whether considering imbalance in data or not. Multi-class SVM classifier and Random Forest classifier had similar results in precision of classification.Bachelor of Scienc
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Automated Validation for Synchronous Reactive Embedded Systems
Full text linkProper functionality is a necessity for systems used in safety-critical applications; consequently, software in these systems is often subject to rigorous validation and formal verification that aims at ensuring expected behavior. To aid in the design of these systems, several synchronous programming languages exist for describing deterministic system models suitable for formal verification and validation. Examples of such synchronous languages include SIGNAL, Lustre, MRICDF, and Esterel. Common application domains for synchronous programs include avionics, automotive control, process control, and defense systems. In many cases, rigorous formal verification of these systems is unfeasible because the methods, such as theorem proving and model checking, are too expensive. A theorem proving approach requires a great deal of user involvement and expertise, and a model checking approach may not be feasible on systems of substantial complexity due to computation constraints. This thesis presents the design, implementation, and evaluation of SAGA, a prototype tool for the automated validation of synchronous reactive embedded systems. SAGA shifts the testing effort associated with critical systems from creating individual test cases manually to reasoning about the safety and environment properties of a system. The approach SAGA takes is to generate relevant inputs to the system-under-test from a user-specified environment description, and to validate the resulting system behavior against user-specified safety properties. This overview of SAGA includes a thorough user's guide and important implementation details. Additionally, the validation process with SAGA is qualitatively assessed. The assessment is done through a case study involving the celebrated steam boiler control specification problem. Results from this case study reveal the utility of SAGA in exposing non-trivial system errors.College of Engineering Undergraduate Research ScholarshipNo embarg
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
LiDAR-Based Assessment of Roadside Slope Hazards: Enhancing Safety on Rural Roads
Full text linkA significant proportion of motor vehicle fatalities occur across the United States, especially among road users in rural areas. This study focuses on identifying potentially hazardous roadside slopes along secondary roads in rural regions, aiming to mitigate risks and enhance transportation infrastructure safety. Utilizing existing topographical survey data from the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT), aerial Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) scans were used to develop a methodology for analyzing roadside slopes. Three-dimensional LiDAR point clouds were rasterized into two-dimensional, top-down images of a roadway scene. The image was processed using variable reconstruction techniques and the roadway was segmented by multiple edge detection methods. Then, slope-fitting was tested for LiDAR points adjacent to road segments, using the R-squared value as a metric, with variable length and width to determine the optimal dimensions. The optimal segment found was 3 edge pixels (2.4 - 3.4 ft) long with lateral measurement areas extending 7 pixels (5.6 ft) from either road edge. We were able to identify roadside slopes adjacent to 92.0588% of roadway edge pixels.Bachelor of Scienc
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Nature Teaches Us to Grieve: The place of parks and nature at end of life
Full text linkMore evidence is becoming known about how natural environments impact both our physical and spiritual well-being. Little is known, however, about the place of parks and nature at end-of-life, or the impact of parks and nature on quality of life during palliative care or bereavement experiences. A 2015 study aimed to develop a better understanding of people's (including those at end-of-life, caregivers and those experiencing grief) beliefs and experiences about the connection of parks and nature at end-of-life. The study combined an initial online survey (n=118) and narrative research process, whereby a subgroup of participants (n=15) were interviewed in an open-ended story-telling approach. Analysis focused on the meaning of people’s stories and narratives using concepts derived from ecopsychology theory concerned with nature connection, individual wellness and social/earth justice.
Over 80% believed that visiting a park or natural place is worth the risk involved and over 90% expressed that they personally would like to have end-of-life experiences in parks and nature. The narrative process uncovered three dominant themes: 1. Death brings people to parks and nature, 2. Nature teaches people to grieve, and 3. Parks and nature reveal death and life. Animal companions, observing the cycles of natural decay and renewal, and observations of nature as something bigger than death were emphasized. These discoveries will help develop the foundations for policy and practice within parks and health sectors that promote access and enjoyment of parks and nature for people during end-of-life experiences.Alberta Park
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