Digital Commons Network^™

Boundary Fragment Matching And Articulated Pose Under Occlusion, Nicholas Howe

Computer Science: Faculty Publications

Silhouette recognition can reconstruct the three-dimensional pose of a human subject in monocular video so long as the camera’s view remains unoccluded by other objects. This paper develops a shape representation that can describe and compare partial shapes, extending the silhouette recognition technique to apply to video with occlusions. The new method operates without human intervention, and experiments demonstrate that it can reconstruct accurate three-dimensional articulated pose tracks from single-camera walking video despite occlusion of one-third to one-half of the subject.

Neuroscience Workshops For Fifth-Grade School Children By Undergraduate Students: A University–School Partnership, Judith G. Foy, Marissa Feldman, Edward Lin, Margaret Mahoney, Chelsea Sjoblom

Psychological Science Faculty Works

The National Science Education Standards recommend that science be taught using inquiry-based approaches. Inspired by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, we examined whether undergraduate students could learn how to conduct field research by teaching elementary school children basic neuroscience concepts in interactive workshops. In an inquiry-based learning experience of their own, undergraduate psychology students working under the close supervision of their instructor designed and provided free, interactive, hour-long workshops focusing on brain structure and function, brain damage and disorders, perception and illusions, and drugs and hormones to fifth-graders from diverse backgrounds, and we assessed the effectiveness of the workshops …

The Nature Of Genetic Engineering And The Uses And Potential Abuses Of Biotechnology, Seth J. Matton

Honors Scholar Theses

Over the past decade the topic of genetic engineering has been has been readily debated in the media, but often these debates consist of political rhetoric and fail to offer objective information on the methods and the potential benefits to human health and their environment. In truth, humans have been manipulating the genomes of organisms for thousands of years, and it has been an evolution of scientific knowledge that has led to the more precise methods of genetic engineering. This paper discusses how scientists utilize natural processes to alter the genetic constituents of both prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms, benefits to …

Evaluation Of Wildlife Reflectors In Reducing Vehicle-Deer Collisions On Indiana Interstate 80/90, Sedat Gulen, George P. Mccabe, Ira Rosenthal, Samuel E. Wolfe, Virgil L. Anderson

JTRP Technical Reports

The Indiana Department of Transportation is committed to reducing vehicle-deer collision incidents on the Indiana Interstate I-80/90 as well as on the other roads. Very few of the studies to reduce vehicle-deer collisions incorporated any sound and complete statistical design. Some states (California, Colorado, Maine, Ontario-Canada, Washington State and Wyoming) have found that the use of wildlife reflectors did not reduce vehicle-deer collisions. However, some other states (British Columbia-Canada, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington State and Wisconsin) found that the use of wildlife reflectors did reduce vehicle-deer collisions.

The main objective of this experimental study is to evaluate the effectiveness of …

Foreword: Sarbanes-Oxley For Science, David Michaels

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Transparency In Public Science: Purposes, Reasons, Limits, Sheila Jasonoff

Law and Contemporary Problems

No abstract provided.

Transparency And Innuendo: An Alternative To Reactive Over-Disclosure, Scott M. Lassman

Law and Contemporary Problems

Lassman examines the tension between transparency and other public health interests in the context of the FDA's proposed Drug Watch web site. He argues that although the FDA proposal seeks to achieve a laudable goal--the prompt communication of important useful safety information about drug products to physicians and patients-- it fails to properly balance transparency and other legitimate public health interests.

Sometimes The Silence Can Be Like The Thunder: Access To Pharmaceutical Data At The Fda, Peter Lurie, Allison Zieve

Law and Contemporary Problems

Those committed to the free exchange of scientific information have long complained about various restrictions on access to the FDA's pharmaceutical data and the resultant restrictions on open discourse. A review of open-government procedures and litigation at the FDA demonstrates that the need for transparency at the agency extend well beyond the reach of any clinical trial registry.

Open Secrets: The Widespread Availability Of Information About The Health And Environmental Effects Of Chemicals, James W. Conrad Jr.

Law and Contemporary Problems

Conrad discusses the point of view of the chemical industry concerning when and how access to health effects information may be affected by financial interests. He argues that no qualitative distinction can be drawn between the financial and other incentives that might affect disclosure by for-profit entities and the incentives that might affect disclosure by other entities that may conduct, sponsor, or opine on scientific research.

Full Issue 1.1

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Unsimplifying Darfur, René Lemarchand

Genocide Studies and Prevention: An International Journal

Much of the debate about genocide in Darfur appears woefully misinformed about the complex realities of the crisis, in particular its growing imbrication with the conflict in neighboring Chad. The parallel with Rwanda is limited, even though, in both cases, the international community has failed utterly to stop the atrocities committed against innocent civilians. No prevention strategy is likely to succeed unless cross-border raids from Chad into Darfur and vice versa are stopped, and this will not happen as long as the Sudanese and Chadian authorities are playing one faction off against another in what looks increasingly like a proxy …

Cross-Subtype T-Cell Immune Responses Induced By A Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Group M Consensus Env Immunogen†0--, Eric A. Weaver, Zhongjing Lu, Zenaido T. Camacho, Fatiha Moukdar, Hua-Xin Liao, Ben-Jiang Ma, Mark Muldoon, James Theiler, Gary J. Nabel, Norman L. Letvin, Bette T. Korber, Beatrice H. Hahn, Barton F. Haynes, Feng Gao

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The genetic diversity among globally circulating human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) strains is a serious challenge for HIV-1 vaccine design. We have generated a synthetic groupMconsensus env gene (CON6) for induction of cross-subtype immune responses and report here a comparative study of T-cell responses to this and natural strain env immunogens in a murine model. Three different strains of mice were immunized with CON6 as well as subtype A, B, or C env immunogens, using a DNA prime-recombinant vaccinia virus boost strategy. T-cell epitopes were mapped by gamma interferon enzyme-linked immunospot analysis using five overlapping Env peptide sets from …

Effectiveness Of A Motion-Activated Laser Hazing System For Repelling Captive Canada Geese, Scott J. Werner, Larry Clark

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Effective management techniques are needed to disperse Canada geese (Branta canadensis) and reduce the human–wildlife conflicts associated with high population densities. We evaluated the effectiveness of a motion-activated laser hazing system for repelling captive Canada geese. The system decreased occupancy of 8 pairs of geese on the treated subplot by 83% during habituation trials. When an additional pair of geese were added to the experiment, occupancy of the treated subplot decreased .92% during each of the 20 nights of the extended habituation test. Avoidance (conditioned during the test) remained ,80% of pretreatment levels during the 2 days immediately following the …

Visualization Of Intracellular Transport Of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Nucleocapsids In Living Cells, Subash C. Das, Debasis Nayak, You Zhou, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The phosphoprotein (P) of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a subunit of the viral RNA polymerase. In previous studies, we demonstrated that insertion of 19 amino acids in the hinge region of the protein had no significant effect on P protein function. In the present study, we inserted full-length enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) in frame into the hinge region of P and show that the fusion protein (PeGFP) is functional in viral genome transcription and replication, albeit with reduced activity. A recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus encoding PeGFP in place of the P protein (VSV-PeGFP), which possessed reduced growth kinetics …

Development Of An Electro-Mechanical System To Identify & Map Adverse Soil Compaction Using Gis&Gps, Santosh Pitla, L. G. Wells

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Presentations and White Papers

A stand-alone electro-mechanical system with a 32-inch disc coulter was developed and tested to identify soil compaction in a 1-acre field located at the University of Kentucky Animal Research Center (UKARC). The system was evaluated by making four passes in the square grid cell. With the aid of hydraulic actuation, the coulter oscillated between depths of 100mm (4-in) and 330mm (13-in) as it moved forward and recorded the vertical impedance force given by the soil continuously. Forty standard soil cone penetrometer measurements along the diagonals to a depth of 400mm (16-in) were taken and the average cone indices (MPa) at …

Rapid Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay For The Diagnosis Of Human Brucellosis In Surveillance And Clinical Settings In Egypt, Moustafa A. Fadeel, Momtaz O. Wasfy, Guillermo Pimentel, John D. Klena, Francis J. Mahoney, Rana A. Hajjeh

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To optimize and standardize an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for rapid diagnosis of human brucellosis in clinical cases identified during a surveillance study for acute febrile illness (AFI). METHODS: Serum samples from patients presenting with AFI at 13 fever hospitals across Egypt between 1999 and 2003 were kept frozen at NAMRU-3 and used in this study. The assay was evaluated in 5 subject groups: brucellosis cases confirmed by blood culture (group I, n=202) 87% positive by standard tube agglutination test (TA), brucellosis cases exclusively confirmed by TA (group II, n=218), blood cultures from AFI cases positive for bacterial species …

Interspecies Comparison Of Pentosidine Accumulation And Its Correlation With Age In Birds, Jesse A. Fallon, Robert L. Cochrane, Brian Dorr, Hillar Klandorf

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Recent studies suggest that a linear correlation exists between the age of individual birds and accumulation of the advanced glycation endproduct pentosidine (Ps). We compared Ps accumulation in skin tissue of Ruffed Grouse (Bonasa umbellus) and Double-crested Cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus). Skin samples were taken from the breasts of 52 Ruffed Grouse of known ages ranging from a few days to 10 years. Skin was cleaned of feathers and adipose tissue, acid hydrolyzed, and measured for collagen content via hydroxyproline spectrophotometric assay. Pentosidine concentrations were determined using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Fluorescent detection (excitation: 310 nm, emission: …

Research Note: First Record Of Ancylostoma Malayanum (Alessandrini, 1905) From Brown Bears (Ursus Arctos L.), Mitsuhiko Asakawa, Scott Lyell Gardner, Tsutomu Mano

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

This is the first report of Ancylostoma malayanum (Alessandrini, 1905), subgenus Ceylancylostoma (Lichtenfels, 1980) from wild brown bears Ursus arctos L. The bears were collected by shooting in Wassamu-Cho province (44 [degrees] 80 [minutes] 59 [seconds] N, 142 [degrees] 82 [minutes] 99 [seconds] E), Hokkaido, Japan, November, 2003.

Ecological Fitting As A Determinant Of The Community Structure Of Platyhelminth Parasites Of Anurans, Daniel R. Brooks, Virginia León-Règagnon, Deborah A. Mclennan, Derek Zelmer

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Faculty Publications

Host-parasite associations are assumed to be ecologically specialized, tightly coevolved systems driven by mutual modification in which host switching is a rare phenomenon. Ecological fitting, however, increases the probability of host switching, creating incongruences between host and parasite phylogenies, when (1) specialization on a particular host resource is a shared characteristic of distantly related parasites, and (2) the resource being tracked by the parasite is widespread among many host species. We investigated the effect of ecological fitting on structuring the platyhelminth communities of anurans from a temperate forest and grassland in the United States and tropical dry and wet forests …

A Survey Of Music Therapists Regarding The Efficacy Of Music Therapy In The Treatment Of Children And Adolescents With Williams Syndrome, Mayumi Hata

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine music therapist' perception of the efficacy of music therapy interventions for clients with Williams syndrome. By surveying music therapists who have clinical experience with individuals with Williams syndrome, this study attempted to gather following information: (a) music therapists' perception of the efficacy of music therapy (b) predominant technique or approach (c) predominant goals (d) collaboration with other professionals and (e) the referral sources for music therapy. The results indicated that music therapists lack information and experience working with the Williams syndrome population. However, many of the participants who had worked with individuals …

A Matter Of Balance: Conservation And Renewable Energy, Jane M.F. Johnson, Don Reicosky, Ray Allmaras, Dave Archer, Wallace Wilhelm

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

As communities and a country, we have a monumental task to solve the energy and global climate change problems, while maintaining our capacity to produce food, feed, and fiber for an ever increasing world population. The severity of these problems is exacerbated by the universal desire for an increased standard of living, which invariably translates to more energy use, greater demand for products, and higher quality diets (usually in the form of more fresh fruits and vegetables and more animal protein). Agriculture and forestry are in a unique position as we attempt solve these opposing problems in the most beneficial …

4.0 Administrative Policies, Services, Facilities, Saint Mary's College Of California

Faculty Handbook

No abstract provided.

3.0 Academic Policies And Services, Saint Mary's College Of California

Faculty Handbook

No abstract provided.

1.0 Mission Statement, History, General Organization And Governance Of Saint Mary’S College, Saint Mary's College Of California

Faculty Handbook

No abstract provided.

Veterinary Medicine: External Pressures On An Insular Profession And How Those Pressures Threaten To Change Current Malpractice Jurisprudence, Gerald L. Eichinger

Montana Law Review

Veterinary Medicine: External Pressures on an Insular Profession

Outside Talk, Thomas C. Galligan Jr.

Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law

No abstract provided.

Reserve And Habitat Effects On The Distribution, Abundance And Feeding Ecology Of Goosefish, Lophius Americanus (Valenciennes 1837) In The Western Gulf Of Maine, Melissa Dawn Smith

All Theses And Dissertations

Over two-thirds of the world’s harvested fish stocks are considered to be either reduced or threatened because of overexploitation, which suggest that one of the central challenges facing coastal managers is the recovery and sustainable harvesting of these species. One promising fishery management strategy is the use of marine reserves, or conservation areas where fishing is prohibited, to rebuild depleted populations. In the Gulf of Maine (GoM), several closed areas have been established to restrict fishing activities such as gillnetting, scallop dredging, and mid-water and bottom trawling. These closures in the GoM not only protect diminished fish stocks, but also …

Catalog 2006-2007, Saint Mary's College Of California

Undergraduate Academic Catalog

No abstract provided.

“The Way Of An Eagle”: Birds In The Scriptures, Dale Z. Kirby

Religious Educator: Perspectives on the Restored Gospel

No abstract provided.

2006-2007 Lsu Health Sciences Center At New Orleans Catalog/Bulletin, Office Of The Registrar

Catalogs and Bulletins

No abstract provided.