Object Recognition

Object Recognition

This volume introduces the fundamental concepts and tools involved in the design and implementation of object recognition systems. Divided into three parts, it first introduces the topic and covers the acquisition of images, then details 3-D object reconstruction, modelling and matching, and finally describes typical recognition systems using case studies. Key features include: Extensive literature surveys of state-of-the-art systems Recognition will be essential reading for research scientists, advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students in computer vision, image processing and pattern classification. It will also be of interest to practitioners working in the field of computer vision.

Object Recognition

Air Force Service Procurement

Air Force Service Procurement

To satisfy requirements in the fiscal year 2002 National Defense Authorization Act (U.S. Congress, 2001) to improve the acquisition of services by the Department of Defense, the Air Force established a Program Executive Officer for Combat and Mission Support (AFPEO/CM) who is responsible for management and oversight of a well-defined portfolio of Air Force services acquisition activities. This office is the single point of contact for Air Force services acquisition inquiries and is also responsible for developing long-range plans for cost-effective acquisition of services. To fulfill its responsibilities, the AFPEO/CM needs metrics to help it monitor compliance with statutory requirements, needs to respond to congressional inquiries about specific acquisitions, and needs to effectively manage Air Force services acquisition activities and organizations. RAND Project AIR FORCE was asked to help develop a portfolio of ‘overarching’ measures that will allow the AFPEO/CM to assess the health of Air Force acquisition activities, diagnose problems, and target improvement efforts. This report describes our recommendations. To help develop this portfolio of metrics, we considered the experience of commercial firms, which have long had a ‘strategic’ view of purchasing direct materials (goods) because they are direct inputs to production, but have only recently explored applying such approaches to purchasing services. Through interviews with well-respected chief purchasing officers and other executives involved in service acquisitions, through conference participation, and through a review of the business literature, we found that commercial firms are beginning to manage their service acquisitions in a manner similar to their acquisition of direct materials.

Air Force Service Procurement

Unity and Diversity in Language Use

Unity and Diversity in Language Use

The papers in this collection, drawn from the 34th Annual Conference of the British Association for Applied Linguistics, reflect a number of different perspectives within the field of applied linguistics at the start of the twenty-first century. While addressing the theme of unity and diversity, each paper prompts critical reflection on tensions within the discipline between stability and change, consensus and controversy, similarity and variation. The interpretation of language use is broad and varied, taking both macro- and micro-perspectives. Topics addressed range from issues of global communication in a world of shifting demographies and technological advances to analyses of specific contexts of interaction, both professional and personal. Contexts of language use frequently coincide with settings of language acquisition, both within and beyond the language classroom, and this opens up discussion of the focus, scope and appropriateness of research stances in applied linguistics and practices in language pedagogy. Futhermore, variation is considered from a number of social-cultural, gender-related, linguistic and discourse perspectives, calling into question terminology, definitions and the nature of evidence at the heart of applied linguistic theory and practice.

Unity and Diversity in Language Use

Bilingual Youth

Bilingual Youth

The present volume represents a variety of portraits of what happens when families attempt to raise children in Spanish while living in English-speaking societies. Aided by the foregrounding chapter by Suzanne Romaine about language and identity and the afterword by Carol Klee that ties together many issues brought up throughout the collection, the reader gains a more complete understanding of the variables that contribute to Spanish bilingualism in English-speaking societies, and by extension a more complete understanding of the dynamic nature of bilingualism in general. This volume, the first of its kind, brings together an impressive array of sociolinguistic environments while keeping the two languages constant. We hope that it marks the beginning of comparative analyses of bilingualism, acquisition outcomes, and identity construction across environments that share the same languages, but where important disparities exist in the sociolinguistic landscapes.

Bilingual Youth

Drug Addiction and Related Clinical Problems

Drug Addiction and Related Clinical Problems

The book gives an update on different aspects of drug addiction and AIDS. The first chapters deal with the biological aspects of drug addiction, from cloning of brain opioid receptors to the mechanisms of dependence development. The second part confirms the validity of methadone maintenance treatments in controlling heroin addiction, and shows the spreading of methadone use in different European countries. Methadone maintenance also appears as the most valid strategy in HIV epidemics prevention. The most recent acquisition on AIDS diagnostic criteria and treatment protocols are discussed. The debate on these topics remains unresolved but the authoritative opinions and the significant data reported will help in attenuating emotionality, and will favor a progressively more pragmatic approach.

Drug Addiction and Related Clinical Problems

Real World Instrumentation with Python

Real World Instrumentation with Python

Learn how to develop your own applications to monitor or control instrumentation hardware. Whether you need to acquire data from a device or automate its functions, this practical book shows you how to use Python’s rapid development capabilities to build interfaces that include everything from , to wiring. You get step-by-step instructions, clear examples, and hands-on tips for interfacing a PC to a variety of devices.,

Use the book’s hardware survey to identify the interface type for your particular device, and then follow detailed examples to develop an interface with Python and C. Organized by interface type, data processing activities, and user interface implementations, this book is for anyone who works with instrumentation, robotics, data acquisition, or process control.

Real World Instrumentation with Python