Integrated Service Digital Network Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 3

Integrated Service Digital Network - Assignment Example Moreover, it revolutionized the use of the internet. Much similar to its precursor, the service of dial-up internet, ISDN uses a phone line. In addition, it put the standard for the telephone data service (Dean, 2010). Â  It enables the hook up of the local cable TV line to a PC and receives data close to 1.5 Mbps. This device is addable to or can be integrated with a set-top box, which provides a TV set with Internet access channels. Commonly, they are provided as part of the service of cable access. Furthermore, they are not bought directly and set up by the subscriber (Sobh, Elleithy, & Mahmood, 2010). Â  As the Sr. System Administrator of Minnesota Consulting Group, I would recommend RFID (radio frequency identification), portable cell phones and handheld inventory scanners to Star Clothing. This is because the company can use RFID in reducing theft. Moreover, the company can also use handheld inventory scanners in the control of inventories. In addition, the portable cell phones are cost-effective ways of communications between different departments.

Double Standards Every Woman Should Know Essay Example for Free

Double Standards Every Woman Should Know Essay For this book analysis I chose to read a book from this list of books that hasn’t been mentioned much in class. We have been talking about God and topics that are more controversial in society. I read the book He’s a Stud, She’s a Slut, and 49 Other Double Standards Every Woman Should Know by Jessica Valenti. This book was easy to read with Valentis short essays and thoughts on modern feminism, stereotypes, and heightening ones awareness to pervasive myths about women. Double standards are nothing new. Women deal with them every day. Take the common truism that women who sleep around are sluts while men are studs. None of the information was really unexpected or suprising to me because it’s all true. Every women is stereotyped by the way she talks, the way she dresses, her personality, etc, while a man isn’t really stereotyped because people think it’s ok for men to do the things they do, that it makes him look like a stud not a player. The examples Valenti uses are familiar and widespread: he’s tough, she’s a tomboy; he’s a bachelor, she’s a spinster; he’s angry, she’s PMSing; he’s successful, she’s a showoff. Perhaps the most widely cited is the â€Å"he’s the boss, she’s a bitch† scenario, which has been the subject of countless editorials in the past decade. Some of the questions I was seeking to answer when reading this book were am I a feminist? What can feminism do for me? This book made me realize I am a feminist. I believe men and women should all have equal rights and opportunities. Some people may not want to admit they are feminist because they think that feminists are mean, angry, man hating, hairy, lesbians, but they really aren’t. In all of reality feminism refers to movements aimed at establishing and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Some questions that have arisen are why is it that men grow distinguished and sexily gray as they age while women just get saggy and haggard? Isn’t it unfair that working moms are labeled bad for focusing on their careers while we shake our heads in disbelief when we hear about the occasional stay at home dad? 3a. â€Å"When I was in high school, I had a reputation—a bad one,† she writes. â€Å"It felt, at the time, like the reputation†¦had materialized out of nowhere. And I was confused.† That experience helped to shape her fascination with how the prevailing culture puts men and women into different categories, even when they act in the exact same way. She was categorized because of her sex which wasn’t fair to her, and it isn’t fair to many other women that are being categorized because of their sex. Men aren’t any better then women. 3b. When Valenti said â€Å"He’s dating a young woman, she’s a cougar?† Really? I thought men were cradle robbers. Men aren’t studs anymore, they’re usually players or, simply, douche bags. I probably agree that some double standards do exist but I tend to think that this whole patriarchal society thing, while it is somewhat valid, is honestly most often perpetuated by women j udging each other.

Causes of the 2008 Sovereign Debt Crisis in Europe

Causes of the 2008 Sovereign Debt Crisis in Europe â€Å"Discuss the causes of the sovereign debt crisis in Europe since 2008 and critically analyse the proposed responses. It is important that you inform your arguments using academic literature.† Introduction The European sovereign debt crisis came to prominence in late 2009, when newly elected Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced that previous governments had been distorting the country’s deficit data (Nelson et al., 2012). A revision of the budget deficit forecast was revealed as 12.7% of GDP – a valuation that was almost double the previous figure of 6.0% (Gibson et al. 2012). The reaction to this was a fall in investor confidence, which caused sovereign bond yields to rise to an all-time high (see Appendix 1). This impacted not only Greece, but also other heavily indebted countries within the Eurozone – identified as peripheral nations (Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain). There is growing concern within the Eurozone that these periphery nations could ultimately default on their sovereign debt. European banks currently hold a large portion of the regions government bonds (see Appendix 2); if one nation was to default on its sovereign debt payments it would cause financial pressure throughout the Eurozone (Constà ¢ncio 2012). This is a known as financial contagion, a term described by Dornbusch (2000) as the spread of market shocks from one country to another. The fear of contagion has forced the European Central Bank (ECB) to bailout a number of the periphery nations; however, this is not viewed as a sustainable practice. The aim of this essay is to identify the causes of the sovereign debt crisis and analyse the proposed responses by the European Union (EU). Causes A complex phenomenon, such as the sovereign debt crisis, is built up of a variety of elements. Most analysts believe that the crisis was caused by structural weaknesses present both at the European and national levels, along with factors specific to (Dombret 2013). The structure of the Eurozone is a key factor contributing to the current crisis. A structural deficit exists within the Eurozone with the fact that there is a single monetary policy and decentralised fiscal policy. This creates an imbalance as the monetary policy is controlled by the ECB, whereas individual member states are trusted to set their own revenues and expenditures (Lapavitsas et al. 2010). Given this imbalance, it has led to ‘fiscal free-riding’ by the peripheral economies. These nations have had an increased incentive to borrow as the cost of debt is spread across the entire currency area. The Stability and Growth Pact was created to regulate fiscal expenditure, with one of its tenants being that annual government expenditure should not exceed 3% of GDP (see Appendix 3); however, due to a lack of automatic sanctions, these rules have been universally broken, thus setting the pathway to the current crisis (Anand et al. 2012). The mispricing of sovereign risk and subsequent misuse of capital is also a significant factor that has led to the sovereign debt crisis. As the periphery prepared to join the Euro, their sovereign bond yields began converging with those of the core nations (see Appendix 4). This allowed the periphery access to substantial amounts of low-cost credit, which traditionally, they had not experienced before. Voltz (2012) suggests that the sovereign risk of the periphery was mispriced by the capital markets, which has led to an â€Å"unsustainable accumulation of private and public debt†. In Greece, the inflow of capital financed excessive government spending, whilst in Ireland and Spain it led to creation of banking and real-estate bubbles. When capital markets tightened during the financial crisis of 2008, the unsustainability of these debts became apparent as the periphery struggled to finance its existing sovereign debt. Moreover, the governments were forced to assume private se ctor debt as national banks declined and speculative bubbles burst necessitating large bailout packages (Nelson et al. 2012). The Eurozone created an illusionary sense of prosperity. Lin (2012) explains that the sense of prosperity was illusionary as there was a progressive loss of competiveness of the periphery in relation to the core. This loss of competitiveness was partly a result of sharp wage rises in the non-core countries, leading to large current account deficits (Lapavitsas 2012). These deficits were funded by sovereign debt, with most of the debt being held by the core’s banks – a key factor in increasing contagion risk. Historically, nations running a current account deficit would devalue their currency in order to improve their position (Simkovic 2011); however, due to the monetary policy inflexibility within the Eurozone this is not possible. A culmination of the factors mentioned above has resulted in a huge fall in investor confidence, marked by a decrease in available credit (see Appendix 5). Due to the high levels of high risk sovereign debt, Standard Poor has downgraded the credit ratings of a number of Eurozone nations. To regain global confidence, the EU must provide a strategy that will tackle the underlying issues present within the Eurozone. Responses The immediate response from the EU has been to create financial firewalls. These have been in the form of rescue mechanisms, such as the EFSF (2010-2013) ESM (2012+), which have the ability to buy sovereign debt, recapitalise banks and provide bailout packages to the Eurozone nations (Thesing 2011). However, this is a short term solution to a long term problem. Regling (2012), CEO of EFSF, has stated that the mechanisms should only be used to â€Å"buy time† while the root causes are eliminated. This calls for responses aimed at reducing government debts and deficits, as well as structural reforms at European and national levels. A favoured approach by national governments to contain their finances has been an implementation of fiscal consolidation. AÄÅ ¸ca (2013) defines fiscal consolidation as policies that â€Å"cut budget deficits and reduce public debt levels†. The ECB and IMF have been aiding nations with the design, implementation and supervision of these policy reforms. Fiscal consolidation has, so far, proven to be a success, with Ireland’s sovereign bond yields falling from 11.8% to 3.5%. Undoubtedly, this route of austerity carries negative implications. As well as the social costs involved, fiscal consolidation is known to stagnate economic growth (Anand 2012). To regain investor confidence, the fiscal policies need to be coupled with national structural reforms aimed at increasing competitiveness (Dombret 2013). Ireland and Spain have both reduced their current account deficits through the use of these reforms (see Appendix 6), highlighting that the periphery must embrace this strategy. As we have discussed, the lack of fiscal control and regulation was a major factor in the birth of the sovereign debt crisis. To rectify this problem there has been major responses a European level. A new reform of the Stability Growth Pact, known as the fiscal compact, was created in 2011 with the aim of providing â€Å"enhanced coordination in fiscal and economic policy† within the Eurozone (Regling 2012). This reform ensures member states adhere to the 3% deficit and 60% debt-to-gdp rules of the Maastricht Treaty, through the creation of an automatic sanction procedure. A yearly review of Member States’ budgetary and structural policies, known as the European Semester, has also been put into effect (Bowler 2013). These structural reforms will help put government finances on track. However, it does not address the underlying issue that member states are trusted to set their own fiscal budgets. To address this issue, analysts have called for the creation of a European fiscal union. Weidmann (2012) believes that a fiscal union provides the â€Å"cornerstone of framework for the monetary union†. To achieve this, it would require deeper political integration within the Eurozone; this would necessitate legislative changes at both the European and national level. Accomplishing the required level of political integration, with the 18 member-states, would be a near-impossible task due to the conflicting agendas and ideals (Feust 2012). Hence, if they structural deficits within the Eurozone are to be fixed, these nations will need to work collectively. A current topic of debate has been to do with the potential introduction of so called â€Å"Eurobonds†, where bonds are issued on a European front and finances distributed accordingly. While the introduction of these bonds would send a statement of commitment to the Euro (Nelson et al. 2012), the incentive to increase debt would rise as the liability would be spread across the member-nations. This would result in a case of the core, again, paying for the actions of the periphery. Conclusion Nevertheless, the European sovereign debt crisis remains a growing problem for the global economy. I feel the elemental decision that needs to be made is whether the euro should be brought closer together, or whether it would be best for the future of the Eurozone to sever ties with the periphery. Although fracturing the euro is a radical response, it may be the only way to curb the threat financial contagion poses. Regardless of the decision made, the European sovereign debt crisis has exposed dangers of fiscal recklessness, and should serve as a lesson to future economists, governments and monetary unions (Sandoval et al. 2011). Reference List AÄÅ ¸ca, S. Deniz, I. (2013),Fiscal Consolidation and the Cost of Credit: Evidence from Syndicated Loans . IMF Working Paper[Online]. Available at:http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2013/wp1336.pdf(Accessed: 2th February 2014). Anand, M. R., Gupta, G. L., Dash, R. (2012),The euro zone crisis Its dimensions and implications. Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Minsitry of Finance, India.[Online]. Available at:http://mof.gov.in/WorkingPaper/euro_zone_crisis.pdf(Accessed: 10th February 2014). Constà ¢ncio, V. (2012), â€Å"Contagion and the European debt crisis†,Financial Stability Review,(No. 16), pp. 110. Dornbusch, R., Park, Y. C. Claessens, S. (2000), â€Å"Contagion: Understanding How It Spreads†,World Bank Res Obs,Vol. 15(No. 2), pp. 177-197. Dombret, A. (2011),Europes sovereign debt crisis causes and possible solutions,Available at:http://www.bis.org/review/r120111b.pdf(Accessed: 4th February 2014). Dombret, A. (2013),The European Sovereign Debt Crisis – Past, Present and Future,Available at:http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Reden/2013/2013_08_26_dombret.html(Accessed: 7th February 2014). Fuest, C. Peichl, A. (2012),European Fiscal Union: What Is It? Does It Work? And Are There Really ‘No Alternatives’?. IZA Policy Paper No. 39[Online]. Available at:http://ftp.iza.org/pp39.pdf(Accessed: 3rd February 2014). Gibson, H. D., Hall, S.G. Tavlas, G. S. (2011),The Greek financial crisis: growing imbalances and sovereign spreads. Working Papers 124[Online]. Available at:http://www.bankofgreece.gr/BogEkdoseis/Paper2011124.pdf(Accessed: 1st February 2014). Lapavitsas, C., Kaltenbrunner, A., Lindo, D., Michell, J., Painceira, J. P., Pires, E., Powell, J., Stenfors, A. Teles, N. (2010), â€Å"Eurozone crisis: beggar thyself and thy neighbour†,Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies,Volume 12(Issue 4), pp. 312-373 [Online]. Available at:http://researchonmoneyandfinance.org/media/reports/eurocrisis/fullreport.pdf(Accessed: 8th February 2014). Lin, J. Y. Treichel, V. (2012),The Crisis in the Eurozone,Available at:http://www.worldfinancialreview.com/?p=2303(Accessed: 6th February 2014). Lapavitsas, C. (2012),Crisis in the Eurozone, New York: Verso Books. Nelson, R. M., Belkin, P., Mix, D. E. Weiss, M. A. (2012),The Eurozone Crisis: Overview and Issues for Congress. US Congressional Research Service Reports[Online]. Available at:http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R42377.pdf(Accessed: 8th February 2014). Regling, K. (2012),Europe’s Response to the European Sovereign Debt Crisis. Anders Chydenius Free Trade Seminar[Online]. Available at:http://www.efsf.europa.eu/attachments/20120608_speech regling_anders_chydenius_seminar_kokkola_en.pdf(Accessed: 2nd February 2014). Sandoval, L., Beltran, E., Ulziikhutag, S. Zorigt, T. (2011),The European Sovereign Debt Crisis: Responses to the Financial Crisis. New Voices In Public Policy Vol. 5[Online]. Available at:www.journals.gmu.edu/index.php/newvoices/article/download/4/4(Accessed: 4th February 2014). Somkovic, M. (2011),Bankruptcy Immunities, Transparency, and Capital Structure,Available at:http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTGILD/Resources/Jan11-FC-Simkovic.pdf(Accessed: 6th February 2014). Thesing, G. (2011),European Rescue Fund May Buy Bonds, Recapitalize Banks, ECBs Stark Says,Available at:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-22/ecb-s-stark-says-rescue-fund-may-buy-bonds-recapitalize-banks.html(Accessed: 9th February 2014). Voltz, U. (2012),Lessons of the European Crisis for Regional Monetary and Financial Integration in East Asia. ADBI Working Paper Series[Online]. Available at:http://www.adbi.org/files/2012.02.21.wp347.lessons.european.crisis.east.asia.pdf(Accessed: 3rd February 2014). Weidmann, J. (2012),Everything flows? The future role of monetary policy,Available at:http://www.bundesbank.de/Redaktion/EN/Reden/2012/2012_06_14_weidmann_everything_flows_the_future_role_of_monetary_policy.html(Accessed: 4th February 2014).

Gaussian Mixture Model

Gaussian Mixture Model Many computer related vision technology, it is critical to identify moving objects from a sequence of videos frames. In order to achieve this, background subtraction is applied which mainly identifies moving objects from each portion of video frames. Background subtraction or segmentation is a widely used technique in video surveillance, target recognitions and banks. By using the Gaussian Mixture Model background model, frame pixels are deleted from the required video to achieve the desired results. The application of background subtraction involves various factors which involve developing an algorithm which is able to detect the required object robustly, it should also be able to react to various changes like illumination, starting and stopping of moving objects. Surveillance is the monitoring of the behaviour, activities or other changing information usually of people and often ina surreptitiousmanner. Video surveillance is commonly used for event detection and human identification. But it is not easy as think to detect the event or tracking the object. There are many techniques and papers introduced by many scientists for the backend process in the video surveillance. Different automated softwares are used for the analysis of the video footage. It tracks large body movements and objects. In this report we discuss the application of mixture of Gaussian (M.O.G) which is used as a background subtraction model in order to achieve object/target recognition; this method involves calculation the mean and standard deviation of each pixel frame which will be discussed more in detailed as the report progresses. 2. Background Subtraction (Literature Review) Figure 1 Background subtraction Flow Diagram [1] According to [1], the above figure shows the basic flow diagram on how background subtraction algorithm is based. The four important steps described by [1] and which play an important role in background subtraction are described below and include: 2.1 Preprocessing Temporal or spatial smoothing is used in the early pre processing stage to eliminate device noise which can be a factor under different light intensity. Smoothing technique also includes removing various other elements like environment such as rain and snow.   In real-time systems, frame size and frame rate are commonly adopted to reduce the data processing rate. Another key factor in preprocessing technique is the data format used by the background subtraction model. Most algorithms can handle luminance intensity which is one scalar value per each pixel.   As shown in the examples below [2]: Figure 2 Image on the left shows snowing and image on the right is a resultant of smoothing effect In the figure 2, shown are two images which shows snow on the left and whereas with the application of spatial and temporal smoothing on right image results in the elimination of snow producing an more clear and effective image for background subtraction. 2.2 Background Modeling This step uses the new video frame in order to calculate and update the background model. The main aim of developing a background model is that it should be robust against environmental changes in the background, but sensitive enough to identify all moving objects of interest. 2.3 Foreground Detection In this step, it identifies the pixels in the frame. Foreground detection compares the video frame with the background model, and identify candidate foreground pixels from the frame. Commonly- used approach for foreground detection is to check whether the pixel is significantly different from the corresponding background estimate as show below: A different foreground detection scheme is normalised threshold based statistics as shown below: Where,  µd and are the mean and standard deviation of the for all spatial locations (x,y). 2.4 Data Validation Finally, this step eliminated any pixels which are not connected to the image. It involves the process of improving the foreground mask based on the information obtained from the outside background model. Most background models lack three main points: 1. Ignoring any correlation between neighbouring pixels 2. The rate of adaption may not match the moving speed of the foreground object. 3. Non-stationary pixels, from moving leavers or shadow cast by moving objects are at times mistaken for true foreground objects. 3. Background Reading There are different types of background modelling which are as follows: 3.1 Simple Frame Difference Frame difference is considered the simplest form of background subtraction. The method involves the subtraction of previous pixel frame with current pixel frame and if the value obtained from this greater than a set threshold then it is considered as the foreground. Advantages: Less complex The method can easily and quickly adapt to changes Able to distinguish the background from foreground much affectively. Disadvantages: Not Robust, object has to continuously move. Only applicable when with fixed camera. Fails to handle illumination changes. 3.2 Moving Average Filtering Referring from [3], Moving Average filtering is a method in which an estimate value of a particular background pixel value is weighted as average of the previous values. Pixels in the far part are weighted at Zero and the weights increase smoothly.  Ã‚   3.3 Online Gaussian Model In this method, we assume the background as a Gaussian distribution rather than a single value. To calculate Gaussian for 1-D is as follows[4]: Where, x is the current pixel value,  µ is the mean of each pixel and sigma is the standard deviation of the pixel. Finally, the following equations are used in online updated of Gaussian mean and variance: In the above equations[4]:  µ(t) is the mean for each pixel where ÃŽÂ ± is the learning rate, t is the time of the previous pixel and x is the current pixel value. à Ã†â€™2(t) is the standard deviation of the each pixels. The foreground decision rule applied here is when the distance between each pixel value and Gaussian model is larger than a certain threshold, it is considered as the Foreground. 3.3 GMM Gaussian Mixture Model In order to use GMM the following equations are considered: In the above equations [4]:  µ(t) is the mean for each pixel where ÃŽÂ ± is the learning rate, t is the time of the previous pixel and x is the current pixel value. à Ã†â€™2(t) is the standard deviation of the each pixels. The description and implementation of GMM model will be discussed more in detail in the later part of the report 3.4 Codebook based Technique It is a method where a quantized and clustering technique is motivated by Kohonen to construct the background model from long observation sequences, without making any parameter assumptions. For each pixels, a codebook contains one or more codewords and mixed backgrounds can be modelled by using multiple codewords. Samples at each pixel are clustered into the set of codewords based on a color distortion metric together with a brightness ratio. [4] 4.0 Gaussian Mixture Model In this report we implement the Gaussian Mixture Model for background subtraction. This background subtraction model is more robust than other models discussed in previous section. Most importantly it can handle multi-modal situations e.g. trees and sky which is more effectively filtered by the GMM model. Each pixel value is modelled by a mixture of Gaussian rather than a particular type of distribution. Based on the variance of each of the Gaussian of the mixture, we determine which Gaussians may correspond to background colors. Pixel values that do not fix the background distributions are considered foreground until there is a Gaussian that includes them with sufficient consistent evidence supporting it [5]. This method is very adaptable with lighting changes, repetitive motions and slow moving objects. This method contains 2 main significant parameters -Alpha, the learning constant and T, the proportion of the data that should be accounted for by the background The Gaussian mixture components for a pixel have normalized weights calculated from the past observations. The likelihood that a pixel has a value of Xt is assumed to be:    [5] The parameters of the mixture components are updates with the new frames. A retrieved pixel value is compared with all the components of the mixture assigned to that pixel to find out if there is a match. A match is said to happen when the retrieved pixel value is within 2.5 times standard deviation of a mixture component. The update procedure is different for the matching component and other components. The mean values and the covariance matrices are updated for only the matching component. The value formulas for the matching components are: And the weights are updated with given formula    [6] In case there is not a match between the current pixel value and the mixture components related to that pixel .the component having the smallest likelihood with respect to the current pixel value is discarded. A new Gaussian component is created in place of the discarded one, having a mean value equal to the current pixel value, and a variance equal to a predetermined constant. To retrieve the foreground the following equation is used. Where, T is the threshold value for the sum of the weights.[6] 5.0 Algorithm In order to give a better understanding of the algorithm used for background subtraction the following steps were adopted to achieve the desired results: Firstly, we compare each input pixels to the mean mu of the associated components. If the value of a pixel is close enough to a chosen components mean, then that component is considered as the matched component. In order to be a matched component, the difference between the pixel and mean must be less than compared to the components standard deviation scaled by factor D in the algorithm. Secondly, update the Gaussian weight, mean and standard deviation (variance) to reflect the new obtained pixel value. In relation to non-matched components the weights w decreases whereas the mean and standard deviation stay the same. It is dependent upon the learning component p in relation to how fast they change. Thirdly, here we identify which components are parts of the background model. To do this a threshold value is applied to the component weights w. Fourthly, in the final step we determine the foreground pixels. Here the pixels that are identified as foreground dont match with any components determined to be the background. 6.0 Experimental Results For better results, median filter was used where the main purpose was to filter out unconnected pixels from the large connected pixels (e.g. people, vehicles) so that it was easy to distinguish between the background and foreground. With median filter the value of the output pixel is determined by the median of the neighboring pixels instead of the mean. Median has a much smaller insensitivity compared with mean to extreme values. The function used was medfilt2(A,[m n]). Figure 3 GMM Background Subtraction with high light intensity In the above image, the picture on the right shows the output of background subtraction using the GMM model. There is still false negative foreground detection which produces the disturbances in the image. Although it still shows the objects moving hence, making it suitable for object tracking. The reason for these disturbances can be narrowed down to illumination changes. Figure 4 GMM Background Subtraction with Low light intensity For the above, a short 30 second video was recorded where light intensity was moderate and the camera was still. It can be observed that the hand is visible and false negative detection is low which suggests that the model works robustly in low light intensities. From the above results, we can say that there are still improvements to be made in the algorithm mostly to work with illumination which increases the false negative background subtraction. 7.0 Further Improvements The GMM model used in this paper could be further tweaked to provide better results in terms of zero disturbances/noises. The use of morphological filters could be implemented into the algorithm to reduce these unconnected pixels which were seen in the figures above and make it more robust in object tracking. The algorithm has the capabilities of further improvements to run large size videos and importantly the ability to process more frames per seconds using larger number of Gaussians in the mixture model. Apart from the above improvements, we further plan to research the model using PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) technique to study the processing rate of frame/second and observe the robustness of the algorithm in terms of disturbances/noise. There are possibilities of false positive results where background could be recognised as foreground. 8.0 Conclusions In this project we implemented a very strong and widely used background subtraction method according to the paper Adaptive background mixture models for real-time tracking. This method is very adaptable for lighting changes and shadow removals. Also it finds the repetitive actions as well with the use of mixture of Gaussians. Alpha and T are the key parameters in this paper. The values of these parameters changes with the different cameras and different environment. So it is very important to get the best values for them to work with for different videos. Also we tried to improve the output quality by using some filtration methods like median filter. The guassain model is not perfect with the result since there are some disturbances after the modelling also. But there are many good post processing techniques are introduced and we referenced two of them. A new region Gaussian background model for video surveillance by Xun Cai and Long Jiang, and Improved Post-Processing for GMM based Adaptive Background Modeling by Deniz Turdu,Hakan Erdogan. But the 1st paper doesnt give any clear information about the techniques failed to explain the equations as well. Second paper introduces a very good technique and we couldnt able to get the result properly. But this assignment was very challenging for us and helped us to get a very good knowledge about different background subtraction methods used in Video surveillance. 9.0 References [1] Robust techniques for background subtraction in urban traffic video Sen-Ching S. Cheung and Chandrika Kamath, 2006/07 [2] Background Subtractions of Moving Objects https://computation.llnl.gov/casc/sapphire/background/background.html [3] Page444, Computer vision A modern approach, David A. Forsyth [4] Dr J. Zhang, CSC7006 Lecture 2 Slides, Queens University Belfast. [5] Adaptive background mixture models for real-time tracking, Chris Stafer, W.E.L Grimson [6] Improved Post processing for GMM based adaptive background modelling by Deniz Turdu, Hakan Erdogan

Macbeth: The True Nature of Man :: essays research papers

In the play Macbeth by William Shakespeare, the author tries to show the true nature of man by using the play’s main character, Macbeth, as an example. He is overly ambitious, courageous, and self-doubting. Throughout the play, Shakespeare displays these characteristics to the audience through Macbeth to show the true nature of man. At the end of the play, these characteristics ultimately lead to Macbeth’s downfall. In the beginning of the play, Macbeth is described as being â€Å"valiant†. He is a skilled warrior, who is loyal to his king and his country. Almost single-handedly, he wins the war for Scotland. He defeats many of the enemy soldiers, including a traitor, all in the name of his king. But, when three witches encounter Macbeth and his friend Banquo, Macbeth’s ambition begins to grow. They tell Macbeth that he will be Thane of Cawdor and King. Soon after, Macbeth meets with King Duncan. He informs Macbeth that he is the new Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth is astonished, and from then on he is obsessed with being king. His ambition begins to become ruthless when Duncan proclaims that his son Malcolm is the Prince of Cumberland, and therefore, the heir to the throne: â€Å"The Prince of Cumberland! That is a step/On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap, /For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;/Let not light see my black and deep desires:/The eye wink at the hand ; yet let that be/Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.† (I,iv,48-53) At this moment, Macbeth, realizing that they stand in the way of the witches’ prophecies, decides that both Duncan and Malcolm need to die for him to be king. As soon as Macbeth kills Duncan, he enters into a world of evil. Later in the play, Macbeth’s ambition becomes increasingly ruthless. He kills his best friend Banquo, and almost kills Banquo’s son, Fleance, because he believes they would stand in the way of his reign. The witches told Banquo â€Å"Thou shall get kings, though thou be none.† (I,iii,67) This means that Banquo himself would not be a king, but that his successors would be. Macbeth tries to prevent this by killing Banquo and his son Fleance. Even though Macbeth can be called a tyrant and a murderer, he is nonetheless, very courageous. In the beginning of the play, he fights very bravely for his king and country.

Fahrenheit 451 as a Criticism of Censorship Essay -- Fahrenheit 451 Es

Fahrenheit 451 as a Criticism of Censorship      Ã‚  Ã‚   Ray Bradbury criticizes the censorship of the early 1950's by displaying these same themes in a futuristic dystopia novel called Fahrenheit 451. In the early 1950's Ray Bradbury writes this novel as an extended version of "The Fireman", a short story which first appears in Galaxy magazine. He tries to show the readers how terrible censorship and mindless conformity is by writing about this in his novel.    In Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury uses "artificial stimulus", such as television and radio, to provide the reader with a feeling of how isolated the public is and how their minds are being controlled by this conformist government in the twenty-first century. He uses technology, like the Mechanical Hound and also drugs, to show the oppressiveness of the government in his novel. Ray Bradbury chooses to write this book after seeing many of his fellow writers and other entertainers being "blacklisted" by Senator Joseph McCarthy in the early 1950's. While he couldn't just openly oppose this behavior, for he would surely be censored, Bradbury writes about an exaggerated version of his own government in which books are burned along with the houses that harbors them. This is to demonstrate to the readers how letting the government censor their art could lead to more drastic measures. Such as editing one line in a book; then a page; then the whole book is condemned and burned along side the many other books and ideas that do not agree with the government. This then leads to the eventual condemnation of all books and forms of entertainment, which is not "politically correct" and/or agreeable to the government's ideas.    Bradbury uses artificial stimulus... ...writers, and other entertainers were blacklisted by McCarthy and some were even brought to trial under suspicion of being Communist.    In conclusion, Bradbury's criticism of the 1950's censorship and conformity opened the eyes of the public to the wrong-doings of the government at the time. Many people began to realize that they were being censored for almost everything and art, for example in the form of writing and film, was being simplified to almost nothing.    Works Cited Eller, Edward E. Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 150-53 Wood, Diane S. Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 153-55 Johnson, Wayne L Essay on: "Fahrenheit 451" Novels for Students. Ed. Diane Telgen. Vol.1. Detroit: Gale1997.pg 156-57   

The Americanization of Puerto Rico :: American History

The Americanization of Puerto Rico When island inhabitants first heard that Americans were planning on invading Puerto Rico and driving out Spain's rulers, Puerto Ricans welcomed the North Americans to their home. (To view an in-progress work dealing with the Spanish-American War from a pro-colonial expansion point of view, visit this site/ For an objective historical account view this site). The Puerto Ricans were tired of not having a voice in politics and government and with the knowledge that America was a democracy, there was hope that this status quo would change. Although Puerto Ricans felt sentiments of fear at the arrival of the Americans, this did not curb their welcoming and enabling the American invasion. Unfortunately, the outcome of the invasion was not as positive as was thought it would be. During early U.S. rule, Puerto Ricans still were not included in the majority of governmental relations, and as with Spaniards, Americans who were sent to rule in Puerto Rico had never been there before and were i gnorant about the history, culture, Spanish language, etc. Basically, Puerto Rico continued being ruled by foreigners who sought to complete their own interests, as opposed to looking to what are the interests of the nation they are invading and ruling. A cogent metaphor in Ferrà ©'s novel for the unrequited hopes that Puerto Rico had when United States invaded is Tony Torres, who is supposedly going to dance in Kerenski's adaptation of Swan Lake and Firebird . The people who lived in Machuelo Abajo reacted to the news of Tony with respect and excitement. In my view, the initial reactions of Machuelo Abajo's young people, were on a smaller scale, comparable to the reaction of Puerto Ricans, especially the elite, to the proposed American invasion. Here is a sample of the reaction to Tony's being selected as Prince in the ballet school's production: "The young people in Machuelo Abajo saw him as a hero; it was the first time anyone from the slums had ever danced at La Perla or taken part in any way in any of its elegant cultural events. When posters advertising the performance, with Tony's picture, appeared all over town-affixed to the telephone poles and to the walls of buildings and to fences-the people of Manchuelo Abajo took them down, framed them, and hung them in their living rooms. (Ferrà ©, p. 170)" The Puerto Ricans, especially upper class, regarded the United States as the most powerful democracy in the world.