Image segmentation is an important task in computer vision and understanding. Graph Cuts have been shown to be useful in image segmentation problems. Using a criterion for segmentation optimality, they can obtain segmentation without relying heavily on a priori information regarding the specific type of object. Discussed here are a few approximations to the Normalized Cut criterion, the solving of which has been shown to be an NP-hard problem. Two Normalized Cut algorithms have been previously proposed, and a third is proposed here which accomplishes approximation by a similar method as one of the previous algorithms. It is also more efficient than either of the previously proposed Normalized Cut approximations.

Effects of pre-slaughter handling on pork quality from a smallholder abattoir By Christian Sabelo Gajana A total of 158 pork samples from Landrace and Large White pigs were collected from Nxuba Municipal abattoir to determine the effects of pre-slaughter handling on pork quality. Technological quality attributes of pork such as pHu, L*, a*, b*, WBSF values, TL%, CL% EL% were determined. Breed differences were observed in ultimate pH (pHu) and redness (a*) with meat from the Large White having higher pHu and lower a* values than meat from the Landrace. Meat from pigs slaughtered in spring season had the highest (P<0.05) shear force values (27.6±1.58) while the lowest shear force values (18.5±1.58) were found in meat from pigs that were slaughtered in the autumn season. The lowest pHu and highest a* values were found in meat from 9 month-old pigs (5.3±0.07). The 6, 9 and 10 months had highest (P<0.05) than 7 and 8 months old pigs. Cooking loss and evaporation loss increased with age groups. Only distance and transportation time had a positive relationship to TL% of pork whilst no significant relationship was reported between all the other pre-slaughter variables and technological quality attributes of pork. Highest risks of PSE occurrences were observed with more space allowance of 0.4 m2 per 100 kg during transportation. Reduced risks of PSE occurrences were observed with space allowance of 0.35 m2 per 100 kg. The pHu were positively correlated to WBSF values (P < 0.001). The L* values were positively correlated to b* (P < 0.001), and negatively correlated to a* while CL and EL were positively correlated to L*. In the current study, a* values were positively correlated to b* (P < 0.001) but negatively correlated to EL (P < 0.01). There were iv positive correlations between CL and EL, Both CL and EL were positively correlated to WBSF values. The first four principal components (PCs) explained about 95% of the total variability for technological quality attributes of pork. It can be concluded that pig breeds vary in pHu and considerations should be made on different seasons of slaughter when assessing pork quality. Precautions should also be made on age categories of animal when improving the quality of pork. Transportation time, distance, stocking density, temperature and lairage time did not show significant relationship with technological quality attributes measured; except for transportation time and distance travelled which had a positive relationship with TL%. The risk of PSE increased with more space availability more than 0.4 m2 per 100 kg pig, but stocking density of 0.35 m2 per 100 kg was an ideal reduce the risk of PSE pork.

This dissertation explores why two countries with vastly different configurations in tax systems, electoral institutions and production regimes, Germany and the US, implemented similar tax reforms since the 1980s. I conducted a historical content analysis of tax debates in the American Congress and the German Bundestag to understand under which conditions the neoliberal paradigm was persuasive to majorities of policy makers in parliamentary bodies. I found that the prime movers, Ronald Reagan and Helmut Kohl, had serious issues implementing their tax plans due to massive protest that sparked among parliamentarians and later in civil society. This protest diminished in time and gave way to tax reforms which considerably shifted the tax burden from higher incomes and corporations to lower incomes and consumption in the early 2000s. I argue on the basis of the theory of discursive institutionalism that coherent narratives of normative and cognitive beliefs can become crucial in convincing parliamentarians of tax cuts for higher incomes and creating coalitions for institutional change. This coordinative discourse was more successful in the 2000s when George W. Bush and Gerhard Schröder were able to justify the tax reforms under consistent discrediting of social justice and a strong normative moralization of the tax reforms under the concepts of market justice. It took twenty years to shift the dominant normative discourse. But eventually a reinterpretation of the credibility of actors to comment on tax policy and a reconceptualization of the concept of tax policy itself as apolitical but moral in the realm of markets made the concept of neoliberal tax policy persuasive and it could transcend the boundaries of different national institutions.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2002. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

We introduce and examine the analytic properties of the three electromagnetic transition form factors of the Sigma*-Lambda hyperon transition. In the first part of the thesis, we discuss the interaction Lagrangian for the hyperons at hand. We calculate the decay rate of the Dalitz decay  Sigma* Lambda -&gt; e+e- in the one-photon approximation in terms of the form factors, as well as the differential cross section of the scattering e+e- -&gt; Sigma*bar Lambda in the one-photon approximation. In the second part of the thesis, we build up the machinery for calculation of the form factors using dispersion relations, performing an analytic continuation from the timelike, q2 &gt; 0, to the spacelike, q2 &lt; 0, region of the virtual photon invariant mass q2. Due to an anomalous cut in the triangle diagram arising from a two-pion saturation of the photon-hyperon vertex, there is an additional term in the dispersive integral. We use the scalar three-point function as a model for the examination of the dispersive approach with the anomalous cut. The one-loop diagram is calculated both directly and using dispersion relations. After comparison of the two methods, they are found to coincide when the anomalous contribution is added to the dispersive integral in the case of the octet Sigma exchange. By examination of the branch points of the logarithm in the discontinuity, we deduce the structure of the Riemann surface of the unitarity cut and present trajectories of the branch points. The result of our analysis of the analytic structure yields a correct dispersive relation for the electromagnetic transition form factors. This opens the way for the calculation of these form factors in the low-energy region for both space- and timelike q2. As an outlook, we present preliminary calculations for the hyperon-pion scattering amplitude using the unitarity and the anomalous contribution in a once-subtracted dispersion relation. Finally we present the corresponding preliminary unsubtracted dispersive calculations for the form factors.

Orientador: Flávio Dutra de Resende / Banca: Izabelle Auxiliadora M. de Almeida Teixeira / Banca: Pedro Veiga Rodrigues Paulino / Resumo: O objetivo do estudo foi avaliar o efeito do método de castração (cirúrgico ou imunológico) sobre a deposição de tecido muscular e adiposo, desempenho, características da carcaça e da carne de machos F1 Aberdeen Angus x Nelore. Foram utilizados 30 animais com peso corporal de 233,0 ± 38,2 kg e 8 meses de idade, divididos em três grupos distintos: animais não castrados (NC), castrados cirurgicamente (CC) e imunocastrados (IC) com Bopriva® (anti-GnRH). Para o estudo da dinâmica de deposição de tecido muscular e adiposo foi feita ultrassonografia no início do experimento e posteriormente a cada 42 dias, juntamente com pesagem e coleta de sangue para determinar a concentração sérica de testosterona. Ao final do período experimental todos os animais foram abatidos e suas carcaças avaliadas. O delineamento experimental utilizado foi o inteiramente casualisado. Houve interação entre tratamento e período de avaliação para ganho médio diário, peso corporal, testosterona, circunferência escrotal, e deposição de musculo e gordura. Em média, as estratégias de castração reduziram o ganho em peso em 12,7 %, conferindo pesos ao abate 7 % superior aos animais não castrados. Não houve diferença significativa para a taxa de deposição de tecido muscular entre os tratamentos, porém o grupo CC teve a maior taxa de deposição de gordura, seguido do IC e NC, resultando em maior espessura de gordura final na carcaça. Os animais NC apresentaram maiores pesos de carcaça quente e fria em relação aos castrados (CC e IC). Os grupos castrados apresentaram as menores perdas por resfriamento em relação aos NC. Em relação aos cortes primários os machos NC tiveram maiores pesos absolutos e rendimentos de dianteiro e menor de ponta de agulha... / Abstract: The objective of the study was to evaluate the effect of castration methods (surgical or immunological) on the deposition of muscular and subcutaneous fat tissues, performance, carcass traits and meat quality traits of beef cattle F1 males Aberdeen Angus x Nellore . Thirty animals were used with body weights of 38.2 kg ± 233.0 and 8 months old. These were divided into three groups: non-castrated animals (NC), castrated (CC) and immunocastrated (IC) with Bopriva ® (anti - GnRH). To study the dynamics of deposition of muscle and adipose tissues was performed ultrasonography at baseline and then every 42 days, along with weighing and blood sampling to determine the serum testosterone concentration. At the end of the experiment all animals were slaughtered and their carcasses evaluated. The experimental design was a completely randomized design. There was an interaction between treatment and evaluation period for average daily gain, body weight, testosterone, CE, and deposition of muscle and fat. On average strategies castration reduced the weight gain of 12.7 %, giving slaughter weights 7 % higher than the uncastrated animals. There was no significant difference in the rate of deposition of muscle tissue between treatments, but the CC group had a higher rate of fat deposition, followed by the IC and NC, resulting in greater fat thickness end of the housing. NC animals showed higher hot and cold carcass than steers (CC and IC). Castrated groups presented lower cooling losses compared to NC. Regarding the primary cuts NC males had higher absolute weights and yields lower front and side cut... / Mestre

This study was conducted to determine threshold levels for Warner-Bratzler shear (WBS) force of the beef value cuts. USDA Choice and USDA Select M. biceps femoris, M. gluteus medius, M. infraspinatus, M. longissimus lumborum, M. rectus femoris, M. triceps brachii, and M. vastus lateralis steaks were evaluated for palatability characteristics and tenderness acceptability by a consumer panel (n = 205). Steaks also were evaluated by WBS analysis. The relationship between consumer tenderness-like ratings and WBS was investigated through regression analysis. Threshold WBS levels could not be determined due to the low correlation between consumer tenderness ratings and WBS. Within a muscle, percent tenderness acceptability was determined for each of the tenderness-like ratings. After analyzing the consumer ratings, tenderness acceptability, and WBS values, it was apparent that there may not be a single WBS threshold value suitable for all muscles. Research indicates that there may be muscle-specific WBS threshold levels; these values were not established from this research.

The efficacy of the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts was a major topic of discussion in the 2010 midterm elections. I investigate the effect of the possible expiration and eventual extension of the dividend tax cut on US stock market performance in 2010 based on the methodology used by Amronin, Harrison and Sharpe (2008). I compare aggregate performance of US common stocks relative to foreign stocks using equity indices, and examine cross-sectional performance amongst US stocks by creating different stock portfolios based on their dividend yield. This comparison is done over two event windows, (1) 20-24 September 2010 and (2) 3-8 December 2010. Consistent with previous studies, I find that the US stock market did respond to negative and positive news on the extension of the Bush-era dividend tax cuts, with stock prices falling and rising, respectively. My findings also suggest that this aggregate effect was probably muted by the redistribution of funds by investors from lower-yield to higher-yield stocks. Unlike in 2003, however, in the post-financial crisis context of 2010, the redistribution seemed to particularly favor stocks with medium-dividend yield, rather than smaller, higher-risk stocks with the highest dividend yield.

A total of 40 beef arm chucks were collected from three cities across the United States to study the proximate composition of their separable lean. Chucks were fabricated 5-7 d postmortem and later cooked and dissected, or dissected raw into four separable components, separable lean, external fat, separable seam (intermuscular) fat, and connective tissue (considered inedible). Proximate analysis was conducted on the separable lean component of each dissected retail cut. Dissection data showed that multiple muscled cuts had a numerically lower percent separable lean when compared to the retail cuts comprised of a single muscle. Proximate analysis showed that as the mean value for moisture decreased in the retail cut, the mean percentage of total fat increased. Least squares means of total fat percentage were reported on the retail cuts stratified by USDA quality grade (upper Choice, lower Choice, and Select). Some of the retail cuts had significantly different total fat percentage of the separable lean when considering the differences in USDA quality grade. Cooking yields for the three methods utilized were numerically different. The cuts that were roasted had the highest cooking yield (80.72 %), followed by cuts that were grilled (76.58%), and finally cuts that were braised (66.13%). Differences in final endpoint temperature for each cut may account for the differences between cooking methods. This study was designed to acquire data to update the National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, as well as to provide nutritional information for cuts that are not presently in the database. This study evaluated thirteen cooked cuts and twelve raw cuts in an effort to increase the number of retail cuts available to search for nutrient information in the National Database.