Image processing technologies are broadly applied on modern machine vision and industrial inspection , but there is usually a trade-off between accuracy and speed of inspection . We plan to solve the plight by two steps : 1.We will develop many major image processing methods such as image boundary¡Bto remove the noise¡Bpattern match , and so on . 2.We will focus on sub-pixel algorithm and boundary research to improve the image accuracy and processing time by software under limited hardware . As we know , pixel is the most basic element of an image , but we can divide one pixel into several smaller parts by mathematics ; in the meanwhile , the pixel accuracy can be improved . We will use algorithm to realize the goal in continuous way , and research on the flow of image recognition to find out a best flow for any specific image properties .

Rock climbing participation is growing throughout the United States. Information on the participation patterns and preferences of groups of climbers can be used to help mangers make better informed decisions, allowing them to cater to the specific interests of climbing participants, ensure participant satisfaction and encourage continued patronage. This study explores variation in participant characteristics across segments of the climbing population. Because an individual's level of specialization will align him with other like-minded participants, an understanding of a participant's stages of involvement and level of specialization assists in understanding the social world's views and behaviors toward the resource and toward other participants. Information on participants' level of experience, level of commitment, and demographic dimensions can be used to better understand and manage climbers. This study aimed to identify differences among groups of climbers. The study measured across 484 participants. The participants were described by various dependent variables, which included demographic factors, level of specialization, motivations for climbing, types of conflicts and constraints experiences, and setting preferences. Measuring the climbers' participation patterns identified participant sub-world groups. The four groups of climbing participants, as identified by this study, were: infrequent climbers, frequent outdoor climbers, frequent indoor climbers, and avid climbers. While demographics are not significantly descriptive of climbing sub-world affiliations, this study found that there were differences among sub-world affiliates in terms of specialization level, motives, conflicts, constraints, and setting preferences.

The newly independent states of Africa came into being at a time when the ideology of nationalism was universally dominant. The ruling elites, presiding over long-term economic and political decay and searching for legitimacy to preserve their power, set about nation-building through the development of various discourses, the indoctrination of schoolchildren, anthems and flag waving. The focus of this thesis is on a number of these discourses particular to Equatorial Guinea, the only Spanish-speaking state in sub-Saharan Africa. Four main themes are identified: firstly, the Hispanic inheritance has been important in the building of a national cultural identity; secondly, the likelihood of the various ethnic groups 'bonding in adversity', as a result of living through the tyranny of Macias Nguema, is explored as are the more recent commemorations of his overthrow; thirdly, those 'on the move' such as the large Equatoguinean diaspora and other travelling groups in the colony and independent state are shown to assist the national project and fourthly, a 'myth' of Bantu unity has been proposed which claims that all the ethnic groups of the state have a common origin. A national identity is being assembled, like a collage or assemblage, out of diverse materials. Finally, it is argued that the appearance of banal, everyday nationalism in written texts in Equatorial Guinea indicates that a sense of national identity may have emerged. Although the small size of the country may have assisted here this does indicate that it is possible for the state in Africa to construct a nation starting from a multi-ethnic base. There are considerable disintegrative forces working on the sub-Saharan states but the evidence presented here suggests a more optimistic outlook for the survival of these states in the next century.

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<p> Contrary to the logical conclusion that the more natural resources a country has or controls, the more prosperous, rich and happy will be its people, the evidence from many Sub-Saharan countries is pointing to a different direction with numerous conflicts occurring mostly near mineral deposits or in countries heavily endowed with natural resources of various sorts. This paper seeks to tackle the basic questions of a sub-Saharan African and any person interested in the region; why are there so many conflicts in the region? Why is there absolute poverty despite the presence of enormous natural resources? What are the factors contributing to the present problems facing the region? This paper establishes the relationship between poverty, resource endowments and conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper reviews literature, stressing on the different conditions under which resource abundance can and have been a primary cause of conflicts. It argues that poverty and conflicts have re-enforced each other and that natural resources have played a role. The paper also makes use of conflict, resource and poverty data among other variables to establish the probable cause for the numerous conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper suggests statistically that Political Stability and Absence of violent conflicts can only be altered by the lack of sustainable economic opportunity, failure to control corruption and rising levels of poverty. It is worth noting that the resource variables are not statistically significant. This however, do not dismiss the role of natural resources in the present conflicts of the region because the trend is observable that most conflict ridden countries in the Sub-Saharan African region are resource rich. It rather lays an emphasis on the fact that resource revenues could be used to avert the current situation by provision of basic needs like shelter, potable water, security, accountable institutions, education and the promotion of enterprise that will be a guarantor of sustainable economic opportunities. The paper employs Maslow's Human needs theory for some explanations and also multiple regression, using panel data for statistical analysis. Fixed and random effects estimation techniques are used, and other statistical testing to determine the validity of the different variable coefficients generated. The paper suggests concrete economic and policy recommendations to the problems enumerated that could leapfrog the region out of the current bad situation it has been in for decades.</p>

The north-east Atlantic margin (NEAM) is important for hydrocarbon exploration because of the growing evidence of hydrocarbon reserves in the region. However, seismic exploration of the sub-surface is hampered by large deposits of flood basalts, which cover possible hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs underneath. There are several hypotheses as to why imaging beneath basalt is a problem. These include: the high impedance contrast between the basalt and the layers above; the thin-layering of the basalt due to the many flows which make up a basalt succession; and the rough interfaces on the top-basalt interface caused by weathering and emplacement mechanisms. I perform forward modelling to assess the relative importance of these factors for imaging of sub-basalt reflections. The boundary element method (BEM) is used for the rough-interface modelling. The method was selected because only the interfaces between layers need to be discretized, in contrast to grid methods such as finite difference for which the whole model needs to be discretized, and so should lead to fast generation of shot gathers for models which have only a few homogeneous layers. I have had to develop criteria for accurate modelling with the boundary element method and have considered the following: source near an interface, two interfaces close together, removal of model edge effects and precise modelling of a transparent interface. I have improved efficiency of my code by: resampling the model so that fewer discretization elements are required at low frequencies, and suppressing wrap-around so that the time window length can be reduced. I introduce a new scheme which combines domain decomposition and a far-field approximation to improve the efficiency of the boundary element code further. I compare performance with a standard finite difference code. I show that the BEM is well suited to seismic modelling in an exploration environment when there are only a few layers in the model and when a seismic profile containing many shot gathers for one model is required. For many other cases the finite difference code is still the best option. The input models for the forward modelling are based on real seismic data which were acquired in the Faeroe-Shetland Channel in 2001. The modelling shows that roughness on the surface of the basalt has little effect on the imaging in this particular area of the NEAM. The thin layers in the basalt act as a low-pass filter to the seismic wave. For the real-data acquisition, even the topbasalt reflection is a low frequency event. This is most likely to be due to high attenuation in the layers above the basalt. I show that sea-surface multiple energy is considerable and that it could mask possible sub-basalt events on a seismic shot gather, but any shallow sub-basalt events should still be visible even with the presence of multiple energy. This leaves the possibility that there is only one major stratigraphic unit between the base of the basalt and the crystalline basement. The implication of the forward modelling and real data analysis for acquisition is that the acquisition parameters must emphasize the low frequencies, since the high frequencies are attenuated before they even reach the top-basalt interface. The implication for processing is that multiple removal is of prime importance.

Spectrum sensing is the process of identifying the frequencies of a spectrum in which Signals Of Interest (SOI) are present. In case of continuous time signals present in a wideband spectrum, the information rate is seen to be much less than that suggested by its bandwidth and are therefore known as sparse signals. A review of the literature in [1] and [2] indicates that two of the many techniques used in wideband spectrum sensing of sparse signals are the Wideband Compressive Radio Receiver (WCRR) for multitoned signals and the mixed analog digital system for multiband signals. In both of these techniques even though the signals are sampled at sub-Nyquist rates using Compressive Sampling (CS), the recovery algorithms used by them are different from that of CS. In WCRR, a simple correlation function is used for the detection of carrier frequencies and in a mixed analog digital system, a simple digital algorithm is used for the identification of frequency support. Through a literature survey, we could identify that a VHSIC hardware descriptive ModelSim simulation model for wideband spectrum sensing of multitoned and multiband signals using sub Nyquist sampling does not exist. If a ModelSim simulation model can be developed using VHDL codes, it can be easily adapted for FPGA implementation leading to the development of a realistic hardware prototype for use in Cognitive Radio (CR) communication systems. The research work reported through this dissertation deals with the implementation of simulation models of WCRR and mixed analog digital system in ModelSim by making use of VHDL coding. Algorithms corresponding to different blocks contained in the conceptual design of these models have been formulated prior to the coding phase. After the coding phase, analyses of the models are performed using test parameter choices to ensure that they meet the design requirements. Different parametric choices are then assigned for the parametric study and a sufficient number of iterations of these simulations were carried out to verify and validate these models. / MIng (Computer and Electronic Engineering), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

There is an abundance of biomedical and social science research relating to HIV/AIDS which has focused on understanding the disease from a medical crisis. The research has attended to matters of prevention and clinical treatment. This study is a naturalistic study which explores the socio-economic and political-cultural aspects of the disease in and on the lives of nine women living in one of the world’s mega slums, Kibera in Kenya. The study is based on the assumption that the HIV/AIDS pandemic has brought about social disruption and profound changes to the micro contexts of community and family life. Cultural norms, practices and values that historically sustained the fabric of African life are slowly being stripped away as those infected with HIV and their families cope with the impact of the chronic illness. Living as HIV+ women is yet one more challenge that these women face every day. They struggle to provide self-care and a healthy life for those they are responsible for within an environment that lacks so many social determinants of health. Using a methodological convergence of narrative, feminist and Indigenous methodologies within a post-colonial paradigm, I have explored how nine HIV+ African women story/experience their daily lives and participate in community activities. Consideration of the reality of the day to day experiences of HIV+ women living in an African slum settlement may offer insights for government, policy makers, and community-based and non-government organizations to better support and promote quality of life for those living with HIV/AIDS. / Graduate