Deep Segmenter system for recognition of micro cracks in solar cell

Multimedia Tools and Applications - A solar panel is array of Photo-Voltaic modules (PVC) that are mounted together in a mechanical frame and are placed in the open fields so that sunlight impinges...     

Measurements of street-crossing decision-making in pedestrians with low vision

Purpose

Crossing the street is an important but risky activity of daily living. If a pedestrian makes a poor street-crossing decision, the consequence could be serious injury or death. In order to advance our understanding of how visual and auditory information is sampled and processed to make street-crossing decisions, an accurate, reliable, and sensitive psychophysical and/or psychometric method of measurement of the street-crossing decision variable must first be developed and validated. The aim of this paper is to develop and validate a new metric for this variable.

Methods

Using a 5 point rating scale, safety ratings for eight different vehicular gap times of different durations were recorded along an unsignalized, two-lane street of one-way traffic. Safety ratings were collected from 12 normally sighted and 10 visually impaired subjects. Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves were estimated for all possible gap pairs and the discriminability (d′) of the street-crossing decision variable for all gap pairs was estimated from the area under the ROC curve.

Results

We found that our data conform with the assumptions that the underlying distributions of the decision variable are continuous, monotonic and unbounded. Using the dissimilarity matrix of d’ values for each person (which were computed for all pairings of gap times) in a one-dimensional scaling model, we estimated the means of each distribution of the decision variable relative to a center of gravity (COG) for the person. When plotting the means of the distributions against vehicular gap time, the data are best described as a non-linear function symmetric about the COG. We showed that the x-intercept (t_COG) and slope from the non-linear function can be used to assess a person's street-crossing decision-making performance for different amounts of sensory information. Using our newly developed metrics, we found no significant difference in t_COG (p = 0.30) and in the slopes of the model (p = 0.85) between normally sighted and visually impaired subjects. In addition, both subject groups centered their t_COG close to their actual crossing time.

Conclusions

A newly developed model for measuring a street-crossing decision variable functions as a valid metric that can be used to quantify street-crossing decision-making performance in pedestrians. Using this new metric, we observed that visually impaired subjects who travel independently are able to make street-crossing judgments that are comparable to those of normally sighted subjects.     

Early Development of Neurophysiological Processes Involved in Normal Reading and Reading Disability: A Magnetic Source Imaging Study.

This longitudinal study examined the development of the brain mechanism involved in phonological decoding in beginning readers using magnetic source imaging. Kindergarten students were assigned to 2 groups: those who showed mastery of skills that are important predictors of proficient reading (low-risk group) and those who initially did not show mastery but later benefited from systematic reading instruction and developed average-range reading skills at the end of Grade 1 (high-risk responders). Spatiotemporal profiles of brain activity were obtained during performance of letter-sound and pseudoword naming tasks before and after Grade 1 instruction. With few exceptions, low-risk children showed early development of brain activation profiles that are typical of older skilled readers. Provided that temporoparietal and visual association areas were recruited into the brain mechanism that supported reading, the majority of high-risk responder children benefited from systematic reading instruction and developed adequate reading abilities. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Children and prejudice.

Reviews the book, Children and prejudice by Frances Aboud (1988). It is to the credit of the author to bring to our attention the importance of children's cognitive development. The cognitive stages of development according to Piaget, Kohlberg, and so on are shown to restrict or facilitate perception and cognitive interpretations of social events and experiences. The social psychological theories of prejudice are critically discussed. Their major limitations are indicated. On the basis of her research as well as that of several others, the author formulates her theory of social-cognitive development with respect to prejudice. The chapters are carefully and lucidly written. Having noted the above merits of the book I should mention some of the shortcomings of the research cited and the integration made so far. In using the cognitive-developmental approach of Piaget and Kohlberg, the author stops short of delineating the age-related cognitive changes between the ages of 4 years (when prejudice begins) and 7 or 8 years (when cognitive changes enable prejudice to take a new turn). In addition, the cognitive-developmental approach to research on prejudice is promising but, so far, the promise has not fully materialized. A third source of disappointment pertains to the content of research on prejudice. Allowing for the fact that the bulk of research is generally done in the United States, there is so little information regarding prejudice against Canadian ethnic minorities. To new researchers the book provides a critical review of the research literature and of the methods to study prejudice in children. Where the book falls short is in providing advanced sophisticated studies and understanding of developmental changes from childhood to adolescence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)