Oil and Fuel Prices Essay Example for Free

Oil and Fuel Prices Essay Since 1980s, the price of fuel and oil has assumed an upward trend. The price of crude oil per barrel was being sold at 40 dollars. In 2007 it was 92 dollars and in February 2008 the price per barrel hit 103 dollars. The rise in oil and fuel prices has led to the rise in the living standards as most commodities are either directly or indirectly affected by it. Many items that are used in our homes are the products of petroleum and those that are not are affected in that the transport cost go high when the price of oil and fuel go up. Though the price of oil has always been on the increase, the recent soaring of these prices had risen to the levels of concern in America as well as to the rest of the world. In June 2008, the price per barrel in USA cost 142$ a figure that has never been witnessed before in the history of oil prices. Why is it that the price for oil and fuel is always increasing, what are the factors that have led to the rise of these prices? This is what this paper will mainly focus on. There are various factors that are attributed to the rise of oil and fuel prices and one of them is the ever growing economies for Asian countries like China and India. As the economies of these nations grow, they demand more energy than before thus causing the demand for oil to go up. Oil demand in China is growing by eight percent annually since 2002 and this is a double to the rate prior to this period. As nations become developed, more industries are built that demand a lot of energy to run them also many people are able to buy vehicles that consume a lot of oil thereby leading to the rise in the price of oil and fuel. (Williams. J. L. 2007) The other cause of the rise of oil and fuel prices is rate at which oil is supplied by those nations that are responsible. If the demand for oil is higher than the rate at which the oil is being supplied, what results is the rise of oil prices. This is what is known as the market forces that control the price of the product or simply the law of the market. Of late, the amount of the oil that is being produced by OPEC has been on the decline and the causes for this problem are many and complex. Some countries have deliberately decided to cut the amount of oil they produce so as to save their oil wells from being depleted. Those countries that are threatened by oil depletion, the cost of production goes up because when the level at which the oil is found deepens it becomes hard to extract it. This has a domino effect as the burden of meeting this cost is placed on the consumers so; if the production cost is high then the price of oil and fuel goes up. (World Bank, 2000) In as far as that some oil producing countries might be experiencing oil shortage, the theory might not be hundred percent true as it is not the sole cause for the rise in oil prices. There are other factors that have contributed to the rise in these prices. Political turbulence in the Middle East has also contributed to the oil shortage in the world. When US attacked Iraq in a bid to terminate the regime of Sadam Hussein, the rate of oil production was affected because the state was subjected to a state of anarchy. This affected the world’s oil prices immediately. The same was witnessed in West Africa and to be particular in Nigeria where the rebels targeted the oil companies and the pipelines. Also in Venezuela strikes, civil unrest and political turbulence hampered the normal production of oil in 2007. All these factors leads to the low supply of oil globally something that causes the rise of oil and fuel prices. This adds weight to the fact that it is the forces of the market that determines the price of the commodity. The price of oil in the United States of America varies from place to place for example in the West Coast, the price of oil is higher than that of the Gulf Coast regions which enjoys much lower prices. It is believe that the difference depends on whether the infrastructure of that region or country are good and more particularly the pipeline network that makes it possible for oil to be transported easily and fast. The other reason that is put forward is the manipulation of prices by the suppliers for example, California has a big population and this means that the rate of energy consumption is very high. The problem that faces California is that there is no competition among the oil companies as far as oil supply is concerned so, what these companies do is that they manipulate the oil prices to suit them. They cause an induced oil shortage leading to increased prices. (World Bank, 2000) Though reasons such as increase in oil demand, environmental issues, weather changes, depletion of oil reserves and poor price control mechanism especially by OPEC has been blamed for the rise in prices. Political turmoil in the Middle East, in West Africa and in Venezuela and the reduction in oil supply could lead to the hiking of prices, there are still other reasons that could lead to the same for example, in 1972, the price per barrel was three dollars but by 1974, the price had already doubled. The reason for this was not necessarily the political disturbance in the Middle East because the United States decided to support Israel but the reason was that the Arab countries whose majority are the main oil producers, got angry by the US move and decided to cut the amount of oil they produce in the normal circumstances. In response, the Arab nations placed an embargo against the United States and its allies infact they decided to cut the amount of oil they produce by five barrels per day. This move has adverse effects on the oil economy as it led to the oil shortage in the world and in turn the rise of oil prices. Associated press, 27th 2008) Whenever oil and fuel prices go up, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is held responsible by politicians and the media. According to Clough, (2006), OPEC is not in anyway responsible for this as its role is to stabilize the price of oil by making sure there is availability of oil in the market by regulating the de mand and supply. The other problem if it not lack of competition among the oil supplying companies, is the merging of companies. In USA companies joining together for better service provision are allowed but the problem is that these companies become a formidable force that exploits the consumers for in US, there are five mergers which are among the biggest in the world and they control 62 percent of oil in the market. These are companies such as Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch-Shell, BP Arco and Chevron Texaco. Because of the part of oil they control in the market, they alter prices the way they want or in other words, they form a cartel that no other person can challenge. This dramatic increase in the control of the top five companies†¦makes it easier for the oil companies to manipulate gasoline supplies and to intentionally withhold supplies in order to drive up prices. †(Clough, RG. 2006, 32) To conclude, the tensions that were experienced in Turkey in 2007 and the destruction of pipelines by the leftists could also be contributory factors to the rise in fuel and oil prices but the cur rent rise in oil and fuel prices is not necessarily as a result of political instability but it is also believed that the growth in Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of many nations leads to high oil demands. This is because, as the economy of a country improves, people are able to buy cars and therefore the demand for oil due to increased transport. The prices of fuel and oil are projected to rise to greater heights if the demand for oil by the developing nations continues in the same trend. Political instability in the Middle East is also leading to this problem and if peace would prevail, then the prices would tremendously come down.

Rules And Behavior In Class And Halls English Language Essay

Rules And Behavior In Class And Halls English Language Essay Rationale: I chose this theme because it is an essential part of the school year. How you teach students to act in the beginning of the year will carry out throughout the rest of the school year. I have never had the opportunity to be in a classroom for the first couple weeks of school, so I would like to create a literature unit that focuses on this valuable unit that students need to learn. Summary: In this unit, I go through procedures that the students should know how to go through with ease. The classroom and school rules start off the unit, so that all students know what to do in the class in order to be respectful to the teacher and others. I then move into common procedures such as going to the bathroom, getting on a school bus, doing fire drills and intruder drills. I thought all of these procedures are very important to go over in the first few weeks of school. Often these drills are done during these weeks as a test to make sure the students will be safe in case of an emergency. Materials: Parish, Herman, Amelia Bedilias First Day of School, Greenwillow Books Carlstrom, Nancy, Its Your First Day of School, Annie Claire, Abrams Books for Young Readers Bloch, Serge, Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards, Sterling Thomas, Pat, Do I have to go to School, Barrons Educational Series Meiners, Cheri, Know and Follow the Rules, Free Spirit Publishing Shannon, David, David Goes to School, Blue Sky Press Kraus, Arthur, Leo the Late Bloomer, HarperCollins Modesitt, Jeanne, Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse, Scholastic Inc. Jacobs, Paul, Fire Drill, Henry Holt and Co. Feldman, Heather, My School Bus: A Book About School Bus Safety, PowerKids Press I will also need the use of a bus for a day. Goals/Objectives/Assessments of the Unit: Goal: I want the students to be able to recite the rules of the school. Objective: Students will recite the rules of the school. Assessment: I will listen and observe students as the recite the school rules before the pledge everyday. Goal: I want the students to respect other classes when walking through the halls of the school. Objective: Students will quietly walk through the halls in a single file line with their hands at their sides and facing forward. Assessment: I will observe students as they walk in the hall. Goal: I want the students to follow the classroom rules. Objective: Students will create and follow the classroom rules. Students will then sign our contract when they fully understand the rules and consequences to the rules if they are not followed. Assessment: I will observe students on a daily basis to make sure the rules that they created are being followed not in the classroom, but school wide. Goal: I want the students to be able know the proper route to get out of the building in case of a fire drill. Objective: Students will recite and quickly escape the building according to the proper route designed by the school. Assessment: I will monitor and practice with the students to make sure they are using the right procedures. Goal: I want the students to know the proper behaviors to use on a bus. Objective: Students will perform the correct rules as said by the bus driver. Assessment: While the teacher is going over the rules I will go through and monitor to make sure students are listening and practicing the rules. Goal: I want the students to know what to do in case an intruder is in the building. Objective: Students will perform the procedures in case an intruder is in the room. Assessment: I will monitor students to make sure they are following the rules during this time. Essential Knowledge/Skills/Dispositions Outcomes: Upon completion of this unit, students will be able to recite the school rules, recite the classroom rules, and respects others while they are in the hall. This will allow for a well behaved class when the teacher is there or in case the teacher will not be able to be there for a day. Relationship to Standards: Students will meet the first and fourth standard of the NYS ELA standards. Standard 1.1 they will read, write, listen, and speak for information and understanding. They will meet this standard by writing the classroom rules and reciting these rules every morning. They will also recite the school rules every morning before the pledge. Standard 4.1 they will also read, write, listen, and speak for social interaction. Students will meet this standard by cooperating with their peers to create a set of rules for the classroom. They will have to listen to their peers for ideas. They will then write these rules with the help of the teacher. They will then all read the rules on a daily basis. Lesson Plans Lesson Plan 1 Date/Times: September 1st; 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st grade Theme: First day of school rules; Standard 1.1,4.1 Title for the Days Lesson: First day of school Goals/Objectives: Goal: I want the students to follow the classroom rules. I want students to make connections between their first day of school and Amelia Bedilias first day of school. Objective: Students will create and follow the classroom rules. Students will then sign our contract when they fully understand the rules and consequences to the rules if they are not followed. Students will list how their day and Amelias day were similar and different. Materials: Amelia Bedelias First Day of School, clay Introduction to the Lesson: Today in class, we are going to be reading a book about Amelia Bedilias first day of school. Then we are going to create our own set of classroom rules. Language Arts Activities: I will read the book Amelia Bedilias First Day of School by Herman Parish. I will have the students reflect on items going on in the story as I read it. Amelia gets lost and confused in this story a lot. Did you get lost or confused this morning? I will write down the similarities and differences about Amelias and the classs experiences with the first day of school. After doing this we will follow up the book by using clay just like in the story to create images of the students favorite animals. We will then display these so that parents will be able to see these after school. Now we will move back to the reading rug and create a list of classroom rules. The students will be the creators of these rules, I will be there as a guide to help students write down the rules. After forming the rules, I will ask students to recite the rules together. Students will be asked to review the rules and will be asked to sign the document, only when they are ready to, to make sure they have full understanding of the rules. Review and Summary: Just like in real life we may get lost in the school, but there is always an adult willing to help you. You just need to ask them for help. We also created a list of rules. In our daily lives we have rules to follow. Can you tell me some of the rules that you have to follow at home? Assessment: I will turn the rules paper over. I will ask students to raise their hands and tell me the rules we had just created. Lesson Plan 2 Date: September 2nd Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 1.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Review of Classroom Rules and Introduction of School Rules Goal: I want the students to be able to recite the rules of the school. Objective: Students will recite the rules of the school. Students will problem-solve to create rules for making students feel comfortable. Materials: Its your first day of school, Annie Claire and Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse Introduction: Today we are going to learn the school rules. We will also read a story about a little girl who was nervous to come to school because she didnt know what to expect. We will learn how our school rules will help the girl to realize she will be okay in school. Language Art Activities: I will begin by bringing out a poster of the school rules. These may include rules about respecting others. Once I have read over the rules I will have the students read the rules along with me twice. I will then read the book Its your first day of school, Annie Claire by Margaret Wise Brown. As I read through this story, I will ask students to predict what she will worry about next. After reading the story we will go over the book and relate it to the school rules. So what happens if Anne Claire colors worse than you, what would you do? What if Anne Claire snores during nap time? Would you say anything? Do you see why it is good to have rules to follow? Why is it good to have these rules? We will then create another chart that represents what our class worries were about school. Think back to when you were going into pre-k or kindergarten. What were you worried about? After the first couple of days were you worried anymore? We will put the school rules in a spot where everyone can see them. The location will be decided by the students. Lets practice one more time. I will then end the class with Sometimes I Feel Like a Mouse. Review and Summary: How was what we learned today important for us in life at home? Could you use these school rules at home as well? How would you make sure that others feel welcome in the school? Assessment: I will observe the students while reciting the school rules to make sure they are participating in this daily reading. Lesson Plan 3 Date: September 3rd Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 1.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Bathroom Procedures Goal: I want the students to follow the classroom rules. Objective: Students will act out using bathroom manners after using the bathroom. Materials: Leo the Late Bloomer Introduction: Today we are going to go over the proper bathroom procedures. Language Arts Activities: Using the bathroom is something everyone will have to do during school. If you have to go to the bathroom you do not need to raise your hand, you may just go to the bathroom in the classroom. There is an occupied and unoccupied sign on the door. Can anyone tell me what these words mean? So if the bathroom is occupied should we get up and leave a lesson to wait in line or just wait until the person ahead of us is done? What should you do directly after using the bathroom? Thats right! Wash your hands. How long do you wash your hands for? You should put soap on one hand and turn on the faucet with the other hand, and then you should count to ten in your head. Make sure to wash the fronts and backs of your hands. Then you need to dry your hands off. I will visually show students with picture cards at this time. Now we will all practice washing our hands in groups of five. The classroom aid will assist with washing the students hands, while I read the book Leo the Late Bloomer by Arthur Kraus. This story emphasizes how being different is not weird its just different. I think this will be a good eye opener for students and this will help to make sure our classroom is a respectful one. Review: Do you wash your hands at home after you go to the bathroom? You should do this at home as well to make sure that germs are not spread around the house. Assessment: I will have the classroom aide monitor the students during this lesson to make sure they are being thorough and washing their hands properly. Lesson Plan 4 Date: September 4th Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 1.1, 4.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Rules in the Hallway Goal: I want the students to respect other classes when walking through the halls of the school. I want students to recite the meaning of common phrases. Objective: Students will quietly walk through the halls in a single file line with their hands at their sides and facing forward. Students will recite the common meanings of many common used phrases. Materials: Butterflies in my stomach and other school hazards Introduction: Today is our first day of specials. Today we will learn how to walk in the hallways so that we are respecting other classes while they are learning. Language Arts Activities: I will read Butterflies in my stomach and other school hazards by Serge Bloch. This is a short book that reviews the feelings of the first day of school. We will review page by page the sayings that were recited and I will make sure students understand each of these phrases. Do you know what this really means? If the students do not respond I will explain the sayings to the like put your best foot forward. After reviewing this, we will talk about the rules in the hallway. Can you give some ways to be respectful in the hallway? I will write these ideas on the board. Then we will practice these in the classroom. I will ask students to line up, now how did we say we should line up? Single file thats right. We will go through each rule before moving. I will then have students walk around the room the way that they had decided. Is there anything we forgot to put on here? If there is I will add this step to the board and we will practice again. Directly after reading, we will leave to go to a gym. Review: Do you think you will hear confusing sayings like this outside of the school? Why do you think that? Can you use any of the sayings we learned to talk to your parents at certain times? Give me an example. I will also review the hallway rules by having students list what they should do in the hallways. Assessment: I will monitor students on a daily basis to make sure that they are following our hallway rules. Lesson Plan 5 Date: September 5th Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 4.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Review of Classroom Rules and Making Consequences to broken rules Goal: I want the students to follow the classroom rules and make consequences for actions if they rules are broken. Objective: Students will create and follow the classroom rules. Students will create a list of consequences for not following the classroom rules. Materials: Know and Follow Rules Cheri J. Meiners Introduction: Today we are going to review the school rules. Then we go over some consequences that can be made in case someone breaks a rule. Language Arts Activities: I will call on students to read the rules individually. I will do this until everyone has had a chance to read at least one rule. We will then think of some consequences to rules ranging from low to high. I will have some in mind so that this does not get out of control too much. Some consequences I have thought of are losing free time and getting warnings. If you get three warnings a letter will sent home to your parents. Are there any other consequences that you think should be added? I will then read the book Know and Follow Rules Cheri J. Meiners. This book lists four general rules. During and after reading the book I will ask students why we have rules, these are listed in the book so things are fair, we are safe, so we can learn, and get along. I will then ask students if the four rules provided in the book are in our general classroom rules. If one is missing we will add it to our list. Review: Why do we have rules? Can these same reasons be used at home as well? How were our rules similar to the rules in the story? Assessment: I will observe students behaviors in class to make sure they are following the classroom rules. Lesson Plan 6 Date: September 8th Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom, School and Hallway Rules; Standard 1.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Review of All Rules Goal: I want the students to be able to recite the rules of the school. I want the students to respect other classes when walking through the halls of the school. I want the students to follow the classroom rules. Objective: Students will recite the rules of the school. Students will quietly walk through the halls in a single file line with their hands at their sides and facing forward. Students will create and follow the classroom rules. Materials: David Goes to School by David Shannon Introduction: Today we are going to read a story that reviews all the rules we have learned this week. Language Arts Activities: Read the story David Goes to School by David Shannon. As I go through the book students will raise their hands and tell me what rules are being broken by David. What consequences would David have in our classroom? What consequence did David face in his classroom? Do you think that consequence fit? Do you think David learned his lesson? Review: I will ask students to list the rules without looking at them. How can you use these rules at home? Assessment: I will monitor the students during the school year to make sure students are following along with the rules. Lesson Plan 7 Date: September 9th Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 1.1, 4.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Fire Drill Procedures Goal: I want the students to be able know the proper route to get out of the building in case of a fire drill. Objective: Students will recite and quickly escape the building according to the proper route designed by the school. Materials: Fire Drill by Paul DuBois Jacobs, bell Introduction: Today we will be reviewing the procedure for fire drills in school. Language Arts Activities: I will read the text Fire Drill to the class. What are some important rules you learned? Students: Stop what you are doing, Out the Door, Stay in Line, Stay in pairs, Stay quiet. Why is it important to immediately stop what you are doing? Why is important to go out the door, stay in line, stay in pairs, stay quiet? Once you are outside how should you act? Students: Stay in pairs, Dont Talk, Dont run, Stay with your class. We are going to practice this drill. First we need to look at our escape route. This is posted right next to the door. Where do we go first according to this chart? Where do we end up? Close to the school or far away? Lets bring our book with us to make sure we are doing this right. I will bring a bell with me to act as a fire bell. I will flip through the pages as students perform the drill. After coming back to the class I will have the students do an activity on safe fire procedures. They will then plan their own escape route for their house. We will repeat this during the day to make sure the students understand what is going on and how to get out of the building safely. Review: Which door do we use to get out of? If that door is blocked what do we do? What could you do at home with your family to make sure you all end up in the same place safely? Assessment: I will monitor the students during the practice runs to make sure they are following the rules and procedures. Lesson Plan 8 Date: September 10th Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 1.1, 4.1 Title for Todays Lesson: School Bus Rules Goal: I want the students to know the proper behaviors to use on a bus. Objective: Students will perform the correct rules as said by the bus driver. Materials: My School Bus: A Book About School Bus Safety by Heather Feldman, bus Introduction: Today we are going to learn about school bus safety when we go on field trips and ride them to school. Language Arts Activities: I will first read My School Bus: A Book about School Bus Safety. As I read the story, I will ask questions about the children in the book and what they are doing right. We will then go outside to get into the bus and practice rules. We will review the rules as we go along. For example, how to you get on the bus? How many people should be in a seat? We will then go back to the classroom and complete a worksheet where you have to circle hazards on the bus. Review: What are some of the rules used while we are on a bus? Assessment: I will assess students by observing them on the bus. Lesson Plan 9 Date: September 11th Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 1.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Rules in case of an intruder Goal: I want the students to know what to do in case an intruder is in the building. Objective: Students will perform the procedures in case an intruder is in the room. Materials: David Goes to School Introduction: Today we are going to learn what to do in case there is an intruder in the building. Language Arts Activities: First we will go over the word intruder. What do you think this means? I will make a semantic web up on the board in order to include all possible definitions. Next, I will tell the students what code name is announced when an intruder is in the building; his name will be Mr. Purple. I will then show students what to do when an intruder announcement is called. We will line up sitting on the floor in front of the cubbies. This way no one can see us. I will lock the door and shut the door and the lights off. It is very important to stay seated and quiet in the room. Okay lets practice, I will start to re-read David Goes to School and a classroom aid will say Dr. Purple is in the building. Students will then move to the designated area and I will lock and shut the door and turn off the lights. After performing the drill and we have waited five minutes I will call the drill off. Students will then be asked to move back to the reading rug. I will ask them what went well. What could we do next time to make sure this happened quicker and quieter? Review: What does the word intruder mean? Can an intruder come in to your house? What do we do when Dr. Purple is in the building is announced over the speaker system.? Assessment: I will monitor students to make sure they are following the rules during this time. Lesson Plan 10 Date: September 12th Time: 8:45-9:45 Grade Level: 1st Theme: Classroom and School Rules; Standard 1.1, 4.1 Title for Todays Lesson: Review of Rules and Procedures Goal: I want the students to be able to recite the rules as best as they can. Objective: Students will recite the bus, intruder and fire drill rules. Materials: Do I have to go to school? Introduction: Today we are going to review the bus, intruder and fire drill rules. Language Arts Activities: I will have drawn a bus, person and fire on the board and I will list the rules inside each of these forms. We have learned about some pretty important rules in the last couple of days. Who can tell me some bus rules? I will list these in the bus. Are we missing any? Now what are our intruder rules? Now what are our fire drill rules? I will then ask students if any of the rules in each of these categories is the same. I will circle similar rules in each form with a different colored marker. How does this help us to have similar rules in each set of rules? I will then read, Do I have to go to school? by Pat Thomas. This will review the reasons of coming to school and give the students a feeling of wanting to be at school. Review: I will cover up the board. Who remembers one rule that is similar in all three procedures? How can we use these same rules in our own life at home? Assessment: I will observe the students work on the board to make sure they encompassed all of the rules on the board.

Feature extraction using crossing number (cn) and ridge tracking technique

Feature extraction using crossing number (cn) and ridge tracking technique PROPOSED ALGORITHM: FEATURE EXTRACTION USING CROSSING NUMBER (CN) AND RIDGE TRACKING TECHNIQUE The various steps involved in feature extraction are as given below: 3.2.1 ADAPTIVE BINARIZATION The enhanced greyscale image is converted to a binary image using adaptive binarization [1]. Global thresholding is not used for binarization because of possibilities of non-uniform illumination on the surface of scanner. Thus using adaptive binarization with a window size of 91 x 91 (This size was finalised after a number of trial and errors). The algorithm can be outlined as follows: Algorithm: Adaptive binarization Input: Enhanced greyscale image e(x,y). Output: Binarized image bin(x,y). For each pixel (i) of e(x,y) Compute local mean (ml) in the 91 x 91 neighborhood of the pixel. If ml > e(xi,yi) then, bin(xi,yi) = white. Else bin(xi,yi)= black. End For. - 3.2.2. THINNING The binarised image is skeletonised using medial axis transformation (MAT)[1] to obtain a single pixel thin ridge structure. The thinning algorithm can be outlined as follows: Assumptions: Region points are assumed to have value 1(white) and background points to have value 0(black). Notations: 1. The 8 neighbour notation of a centre pixel p1 is as shown. p9 p2 p3 p8 p1 p4 p7 p6 p5 2. n (p1) is the number of non zero neighbours of p1. I.e. n (p1) = p2 + p3 + †¦. + p9. 3. t (p1) is the number of 0-1 transitions in the ordered sequence p2, p3,†¦p9,p2. Algorithm : Thinning Input: Binarized image bin(x,y). Output: One pixel thinned image th(x,y). Steps: 1. W.r.t the neighborhood notation a pixel p1 in bin(x,y). is flagged for deletion if the following conditions are satisfied; 2 ≠¤ n(p1) ≠¤ 6 . t(p1)=1. p2 V p4 V p6 = 0 p4 V p6 V p8 = 0 2. Delete all the flagged pixels from bin(x,y). 3. W.r.t the neighborhood notation a pixel p1 in bin(x,y) is flagged for deletion if the following conditions are satisfied; 2 ≠¤ n(p1) ≠¤ 6 . t(p1)=1. p2 V p4 V p8 = 0 p2 V p6 V p8 = 0 4. Delete all the flagged pixel from bin(x,y). 5. Go to step 1 if bin(x, y) is not same as the previous bin(x, y) (indicating that single pixel thickness is yet not obtained) 6. Assign the image bin(x, y) obtained from step 4. to th(x, y). Thus one iteration of the thinning algorithm consists of applying step 1 to flag border points for deletion deleting the flagged points; applying step 3 to flag the remaining border points for deletion; and deleting the flagged points. The basic procedure is applied iteratively until no further points are deleted, at which time the algorithm terminates, yielding the skeleton of the region. 3.2.3 ESTIMATING SPATIAL CO-ORDINATES DIRECTION OF MINUTIAE POINTS. Minutiae representation is by far, the most widely used method of fingerprint representation. Minutia or small details mark the regions of local discontinuity within a fingerprint image. These are locations where the the ridge comes to an end(type: ridge ending) or branches into two (type: bifurcation). Other forms of the minutiae includes a very short ridge (type: ridge dot), or a closed loop (type: enclosure). The different types of minutiae are illustrated Figure 1. There are more than 18 different types of minutiae [2] among which ridge bifurcations and endings are the most widely used. Other minutiae type may simply be expressed as multiple ridge endings of bifurcations. For instance, a ridge dot may be represented by two opposing ridge endings placed at either extremities. Even this simplification is redundant since many matching algorithms do not even distinguish between ridge ending and bifurcations since their types can get flipped. The template simply consists of a list of minutiae location and their orientations. The feature extractor takes as input a gray scale image I(x,y) and produces a unordered set of tuples- M = {m1,m2,m3mN}. Each tuple mi corresponds to a single minutia and represents its properties. The properties extracted by most algorithms include its position and orientation. Thus, each tuple mi is usually represented as a triplet {xi, yi, ÃŽ ¸i}. The crossing number (CN) method is used to perform extraction of the spatial coordinates of the minutiae points. This method extracts the bifurcations from the skeleton image by examining the local neighborhood of each ridge pixel using a 33 window. The CN of a ridge pixel ‘p is given as follows CN=0.5 { i=18pi-pi+1 } p(9) =p(1) . For a pixel ‘p if CN= 3 it is a bifurcation point. For each extracted minutia along with its x and y coordinates the orientation of the associated ridge segment is also recorded. The minutia direction is found out using a ridge tracking technique. With reference to figure 3.3 once the x and y coordinates of the bifurcation point are known, we can track the three directions from that point. Each direction is tracked upto 10 pixel length. Once tracked we construct a triangle from these three points. The midpoint of the smallest side of the triangle is then connected to the bifurcation point and the angle of the resulting line segment is found which is the minutia direction. Assumptions: Ridges are assumed to have value 0 (black) and background points to have value 1(white). Notations: The 8 neighbor notation of a center pixel p1 is as previously shown. The algorithm for extracting the minutiae using the crossing number technique can be outlined as follows: Algorithm: Crossing number Input: Thinned image th(x,y). Output: Image with (x,y) coordinates and orientation thita of each minutia. Steps: 1. For every pixel p in th(x,y) compute the crossing number (CN) ; CN=0.5 { i=18pi-pi+1 } p(9) =p(1) . 2. If CN= 3, the pixel p is declared as a bifurcation point and its x and y coordinates, i.e. p.x and p.y are recorded. 3. The orientation at the bifurcation points p.ÃŽ ¸ is calculated using tracking algorithm. Fingerprint matching Process:- Each minutiae may be described by a number of attributes such as its position (x,y), its orientation ÃŽ ¸, its quality etc. However, most algorithms consider only its position and orientation information. Given a pair of fingerprints and their corresponding minutiae features to be matched, features may be represented as an unordered set given by I1 = {m1,m2.mM} where mi = (xi, yi, ÃŽ ¸i) I2 = {m1,m2.mN} where mi = (xi, yi , ÃŽ ¸i ) Here the objective is to find a point mj in I2 that exclusively corresponds to each point mi in I1. Usually points in I2 is related to points in I1 through a geometric transformation T( ). Therefore, the technique used by most minutiae matching algorithms is to recover the transformation function T( ) that maps the two point sets . The resulting point set I2 is given by: I2 = T(I1) = {m†1,m† 2,m† 3.m†M} m†1 = T(m1) m† N = T(mN) The minutiae pair mi and m†j are considered to be a match only if (xi-xj)2+(yi-yj)2≠¤r0 min( |ÃŽ ¸i − ÃŽ ¸Ã¢â‚¬  j | , 360 − |ÃŽ ¸i − ÃŽ ¸Ã¢â‚¬ j | ) Here r0 and ÃŽ ¸0 denote the tolerance window. The matcher can make on of the following assumptions on the nature of the transformation T Rigid Transformation: Here it is assumed that one point set is rotated and shifted version of the other. Affine Transformation: Affine transformations are generalization of Euclidean transform. Shape and angle are not preserved during transformation. Non-linear Transformation: Here the transformation may be due to any arbitrary and complex transformation function T(x,y). The problem of matching minutiae can be treated as an instance of generalized point pattern matching problem. In its most general form, point pattern matching consists of matching two unordered set of points of possibly different cardinalities and each point. It is assumed that the two pointsets are related by some geometrical relationship. In most situations, some of the point correspondences are already known (e.g. control points in an image registration problem [5,4,6,7])andthe problem reduces to finding the most optimal geometrical transformation that relates these two sets. However, in fingerprints, the point correspondences themselves are unknown and therefore the points have to be matched with no prior assumption making it a very challenging combinatorial problem. There have been several prior approaches where general point pattern techniques havebeen applied. Some of these have been discussed here. Ranade and Rosenfield [8] proposed an iterative approach for obtaining point correspondences. In this approach, for each point pair mi, mj they assign pij , the likelihood of the point correspondence and c(i, j, h, k), a cost function that captures the correspondence of other pairs(mh,m_k) as a result of matching mi with mj. In each iteration pij is incremented if it increases the compatibility of other points and is decremented if it does not. At the point of convergence, each point mi is assigned to the point argmaxk(pik). While this is a fairly accurate approach and is robust to non-linearities, the iterative nature of the algorithm makes it unsuitable for most applications. The hough transform [9] approach or the transformation clustering approach reduces the problemof point pattern matching to detecting the most probable transformation in a transformation search space. Ratha et al [10] proposed a fingerprint matching algorithm based on this approach. In this technique, the search space consists of all the possible parameter under the assumed distortionmodel. For instance, if we assume a rigid transformation, then the search space consists of all possible combinations of all translations (Δx,Δy) , scales s and rotations and ÃŽ ¸. However, to avoid computation complexity the search space is usually discretized into small cells. Therefore the possible transformations form a finite set with Δx ÃŽ µ {Δ1x,Δ2x . . .ΔIx} Δy ÃŽ µ {Δ1y,Δ2y . . .ΔJy} ÃŽ ¸ ÃŽ µ {ÃŽ ¸1, ÃŽ ¸2 . . . ÃŽ ¸K} s ÃŽ µ {s1, s2 . . . sL} A four dimensional accumulator of size (I Ãâ€"J Ãâ€"K Ãâ€"L) is maintained. Each cell A(i, j, k, l) indicatesthe likelihood of the transformation parameters (Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl). To determine the optimal transformation, every possible transformation is tried on each pair of points. The algorithm used is summarized below for each point mi in fingerprint T . for each point m_j in fingerprint I for each ÃŽ ¸k ÃŽ µ {ÃŽ ¸1, ÃŽ ¸2 . . . ÃŽ ¸K} for each sl ÃŽ µ {s1, s2 . . . sL} compute the translations Δx,Δy Explicit alignment: An illustration of the relative alignment using ridges associated with minutiae mi and mj ∆x∆y=∆xi∆yi-s1cosÃŽ ¸k -sinÃŽ ¸ksinÃŽ ¸k cosÃŽ ¸kxjyj †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦(1) d Let (Δix,Δjy) be the quantized versions of (Δx,Δy) respectively. e If T{mi} matches with m_j increase the evidence for the cell A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl] A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl] = A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl]+1 3.The optimal transformation parameters are obtained using (Δ*x,Δ*y, ÃŽ ¸*, s*) = argmax(i,j,k,l) A[Δix,Δjy, ÃŽ ¸k, sl] References: Gonzalez, Woods, and Eddins. Digital Image Processing using matlab. Prentice Hall, 2004. D. Maltoni, D. Maio, A.K. Jain, S. Prabhakar, Handbook of Fingerprint Recognition, Springer, 2003, ISBN 0-387-95431-7. R.Thai, Fingerprint image enhancement and feature extraction. Australia. Anil Jain, Salil Prabhakar, Lin Hong, and Sharath Pankanti. Filterbank-based fingerprint matching. In Transactions on Image Processing, volume 9, pages 846-859, May 2000. Anil Jain, Arun Ross, and Salil Prabhakar. Fingerprint matching using minutiae texture features.In International Conference on Image Processing, pages 282-285, october 2001. L. Hong, Y. Wang, and A. K. Jain. Fingerprint image enhancement: Algorithm and performanceevaluation. Transactions on PAMI, 21(4):777-789, August 1998. L. Brown. A survey of image registration techniques. ACM Computing Surveys, 1992. A. Ranade and A. Rosenfeld. Point pattern matching by relaxation. Pattern Recognition, 12(2):269-275, 1993. R. O. Duda and P. E. Hart. Use of the hough transformation to detect lines and curves in pictures. Communications of the ACM, 15(1), 1972. N. K. Ratha, K. Karu, S. Chen, and A. K. Jain. A real-time matching system for large fingerprint databases. Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, 18(8):799-813, 1996.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown Essay -- Young Goodman Brown

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Young Goodman Brown   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† captivates the reader through a glimpse of the Puritan church. The story also shows the struggle of good versus evil in the main character Goodman Brown. The role of the Puritan church is crucial in shaping Goodman Brown’s personality and helping the reader understand why he was reluctant to continue his journey.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Puritanism, movement arising within the Church of England in the latter part of the 16th century that sought to purify or reform, that church and establish a middle course between Roman Catholicism and the ideas of the Protestant reformers† (Puritanism 1). The term Puritanism was referred to as an insult that was attached by traditional Anglicans who wished to purify the Church of England. The Encarta Online Encyclopedia states that the term Puritanism has often been used as a term of abuse in a way that does little justice to historical Puritanism. For instance, when a rigid moralism, the condemnation of innocent pleasure, or a religious narrowness is characterized as Puritanical (1). Puritanism was founded on the principles and beliefs of John Calvin, and one of the major ideals they focused on was the doctrine of predestination. Calvin believed that the grace of God was the ticket into Heaven and that his grace could not be earned. God’s gra ce was bestowed upon a select few regardless of what they did to earn it. This doctrine stated that God determines a man’s destiny, whether it be redemption or condemnation, regardless of any worth or merit on the person’s part.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Great pains were taken to warn members and especially children of the dangers of the world. Religiously motivated, they were exceptional in their time for their interest in the education of their children. Reading the Bible was necessary to giving the righteous life. Three diversions were banned in the Puritan society: drama, religious music, and erotic poetry. They believed that these led to immorality. Music in worship created a dreamy state which was not conducive to listening to God.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Each Puritan congregation was to be individually responsible to God, as was each person. The New Testament was their model, and their devotion so great that permeated their entire society. People opposing theological views were asked to leave the community or to be converted. Their... ...heir followers to doubt themselves and their community so much that a reality in which one could achieve grace did not exist. Hawthorne describe this mindset in the story of Goodman Brown. Hawthorne loaded the story with tones of references to the Puritan religion. Works Cited Campbell, Donna M. â€Å"Puritanism in New England.† Literary Movements (2002).Hill Center Lab, Kentucky State University. 1 July 2002.   Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.gonzaga.edu/faculty/campbell/en1310/purdef.html Dudley. William, and Teresa O’Neill, Eds. Puritanism: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego:  Greenhaven Press, Inc. 1994. Feldmeth, Greg D. â€Å"US History Resources†. 29 June 2002.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://home.earthlink.net/~gfeldmeth/USHistory.html Hawthorne, Nathaniel. â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†. Literature and the Writing Process.   Elizabeth McMahan, Susan X Day, and Robert Funk. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice, 2002. â€Å"Puritanism†. Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia Deluxe (2002). Internet Explorer.  Ã‚  1 July 2002. Keyword: Puritanism. Wilson, John F. â€Å"Puritans†. Discovery Channel School.2002. World Book Online. 29 June 2002. http://www.discovery school.com/homeworkhelp/worldbook/atozhisotry/p1452140.html

Abortion - Human Life is Involved Essay -- Argumentative Persuasive To

Abortion - Human Life is Involved      Ã‚  Ã‚   Divine law and natural reason exclude all right to the direct killing of an innocent man. However, if the reasons given to justify an abortion were always manifestly evil and valueless the problem would not be so dramatic. The gravity of the problem comes from the fact that in certain cases, perhaps in quite a considerable number of cases, by denying abortion one endangers important values to which it is normal to attach great value, and which may sometimes even seem to have priority. Pro-lifers do not deny these very great difficulties. It may be a serious question of health, sometimes of life or death, for the mother; it may be the burden represented by an additional child, especially if there are good reasons to fear that the child will be abnormal or retarded; it may be the importance attributed in different classes of society to considerations of honor or dishonor, of loss of social standing, and so forth. Pro-lifers say that none of these reasons can ever objective ly confer the right to dispose of another's life, even when that life is only beginning. With regard to the future unhappiness of the child, no one, not even the father or mother, can act as its substitute--even if it is still in the embryonic stage--to choose in the child's name, life or death. The child itself, when grown up, will never have the right to choose suicide; no more may his parents choose death for the child while it is not of an age to decide or itself. Life is too fundamental a value to be weighed against even very serious disadvantages.    When does human life begin? According to physicians, biologists and scientists testifying before the United States Congress:    Conception (fertilizatio... ...he Amedos. Medical A's',, 1W12/84, p. 20.    Hooker and Davenport. The Prenatal Origin of Behavior. Kansas: University of Kansas Press, 1952.    Noonan, "The Experience of Pain, New Perspectives on Human Abortion." N.p.: A1etheia Books, 1981. p.213.    Reinis, Stanislaw and Jerome M. Goldman. The Development of the Brain. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas Publishers, 1980.    Rockwell, P.E.,M.D. Director of Anesthesiology, Leonard Hospital, Troy, NY, U.S. Supreme Court, Markle vs. Abele, 72-56, 72-730, 1972. P.11       The Silent Scream. Cleveland, OH: American Portrait Films, 1984.    Tanner, J.M. and G.R. Taylor, Time-Life Books. Growth, New York: Life Science Life, 1965. p.64.    U.S. Congress. Subcommittee on Separation of Powers to Senate Judiciary Committee S-158, 97th Congress, 1st Session 1981. p.7   

Assessing and Classifying/Diagnosing 16 to 20 Year Olds

Topic: Problems related to assessing and classifying/diagnosing 16 to 20 year olds with patterns of impulsivity, instability in interpersonal relationships, self image and affect. Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. What is Borderline personality disorder 3. Developmental stages of Borderline Disorder on 16-20 year olds 4. Problems associated with diagnosing and classifying Borderline personality Disorder 5. How its patterns affect self image and interpersonal relationships 6. Conclusion 7. References 1. IntroductionIn this essay I will be discussing the problems related to assessing and classifying/diagnosing 16-20 year olds with patterns of impulsivity, instability in interpersonal relationships, self image and effect. Before I will discuss the above statement, we have to understand what Borderline Personality disorder. â€Å"Borderline personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of instability in interpersonal relationships, self image and emotions. People with Borderline Person ality Disorder are usually very impulsive (Grohol,J, 2010).The American Psychiatric Association (2009) found that the Borderline Personality Disorder is a serious psychiatric disorder which is difficult to treat and is poorly understood. As time goes on of course they are working on finding q theoretical concept with the help of psychiatrists. 2. What is Borderline Personality Disorder? According to the APA (2000) â€Å"Borderline Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of instability of interpersonal relationships, self image, and effects and a marked impulsivity beginning in early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts†.It is a critical disorder, a person with this disorder will have a variety of symptoms where they avoid real life events, they have unstable intense interpersonal relationships where sometimes they are happy with whom they are relating to, and then the other moment they are dissatisfied with the relationship. They have an image disturbance where they really do not understand who they are, what they are about and what they want for themselves. 3. Developmental stage of Borderline Personality Disorder on 16-20 year olds The development of Borderline Personality Disorder is not exactly known, since it is difficult to diagnose.Psychiatrist and clinicians also find it complicated to know how it develops. There are various factors that can develop it, such as biological, social and genetic factors, since it involves patterns of Depression, Bipolar, Anxiety and other personality disorders. Borderline Personality Disorder shows up at a later stage of one’s life but it actually starts when the person is still very young. The relationships at the young age the person has had have an impact to its development. Most symptoms are extreme at early 20’s.According to Goodman,M. et al. (2009) Case Presentation of â€Å"V† who was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, they found out that when ‘V’ w as a child she was moody and unusually sensitive to physical experiences, responded with anger and at times loose appreciation of her surroundings which these episodes occurred from 3-4 times a week, which goes to show that these continuous actions did have an impact towards â€Å"V† being diagnosed with borderline Personality Disorder. 4.Problems associated with diagnosing and classifying Borderline personality Disorder Most people who have personality disorders or a general mental health problems they do not seek out medical health at early stages when the they can see that something is wrong but rather they leave it, but only start acting when the mental problem start affecting their day to day living. In such cases it can be difficult to help people in a short period of time because the disorder may have affected a large area of their lives which will take time for healing.With Borderline Personality Disorder to diagnose most patients are misdiagnosed with other disorders related to it like depression or Bipolar or end up being diagnosed at a later stage of their lives. Borderline Personality Disorder is treated by professional mental health practitioners and they also have difficulty in diagnosing it in 16-20 year olds, since this disorder involves patterns of various personality disorders, so at this age it is still early to know exactly, there maybe still doubts, because the individual diagnosed has to have had repetitive actions of either suicide, depression, anxiety and Bipolar.At the age of 16-20 years the psychiatrist or clinician might just diagnose and say you only have one of the disorders mentioned above. According to the American Psychiatry Association, the individual has to be 18 years old to be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, so basically that means at 16-20 years the disorder is at its early stages, and might be difficult for the psychiatrist to easily diagnose it. It is at early adult hood between 22 years and upwards the psychiatrist can easily pick up from the ongoing patterns of impulsive behaviors. . How its patterns affect self image and interpersonal relationships People with Borderline Personality Disorder are frequently angry and are difficult to live with due to their actions and symptoms of impulsive behavior, sometimes they are happy sometimes they are not happy, these patterns can really confuse a relative and making it difficult to tolerate such a person. 5. 1 Family and Friends Family and friends are usually the first to be affected when their relative has Borderline Personality Disorder.Since clinicians and psychiatrists take time in diagnosing this disorder it does get difficult for the family to deal with it since they do not understand what is wrong with them. People with Borderline Personality Disorder are affected in the way they think and see things and can affect the way they see their family and friends. Since it is also caused by the way they have been nurtured at a young age, those experiences can affect the way people treat them. Some of their family and friends cannot really keep up with their impulsive behaviors, and end up resenting and rejecting them.They are also fearful of how they will end up since they are involved also in dangerous acts. 5. 2 Self Image The way one sees themselves determines how they will respond and interprete situations they face. People with Borderline Personality Disorder do not believe in themselves since they are fearful and suicidal, so in some instances they lack in productivity. They cannot control situations they are involved in due to their impulsive behaviors, and they are stressful and face many other challenges due to their personalities.Their different patterns affect even their careers, one moment they are productive and impressive the next moment they are on a downfall. With the loss of some close relatives due to their behavior can lead to their change in self image, leading them next relationships to be very sensitive. They usually expect a lot from people and if they do not get what they want they will end up being disappointed. The change in self image may lead to them thinking they are irrelevant and they are not needed by anyone. 6. ConclusionThere are problems related in diagnosing16-20 year olds with Borderline Personality Disorder, because it is a pervasive patterns of instability which includes a variety of other disorders, making it hard for clinicians and psychiatrists to diagnose it. Its development it is still not exactly known and shows up at a later stage even thought it starts at a younger age. It does also affect the relationship s the person has with their friends, family and also the way they see themselves due to their behavior. 7. References 1. Goodman, M. , Hazlett, E. A. , New, A. S. , Koenigsberg, H.W. , & Siever, L. (2009). Quieting the effective storm of Borderline Personality Disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166,522-528. 2. Grohol, J. , (2010). B orderline Personality Disorder. Psych Central. Retrived on May 04, 2012, from http://psychcentral. com/lib/2007/symptoms-of-borderline-personality-disorder/ 3. Gunderson, J. G. (2009). Borderline Personality Disorder: Ontogeny of a diagnosis. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166,530-539. 4. Kernberg, O. F. , Michels, R. (2009) Borderline Personality Disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 166,505-508.

Jazz music Essay

The origins of Jazz music can be traced back to Africa and the tribal and folk music of the local populace. The African style of performing music centered on the social interaction of tribe. Songs were created for specific occasions such as birth, marriages and deaths. Furthermore, everyone participated in the creation and performance of the music. The characteristics of the African music are reflected in jazz. Rhythm is central to the creation of African song; it involves clapping, using sticks or one’s feet to pound the ground and the general use of the body to create complex rhythms. The main instrument that was used while composing these pieces of music was the drum. A wide variety of percussion instruments made from animal skin and hollowed out gourds or wood were used to create the complex polyrhythms that would come to typify jazz music. The arrangement of the vocals in this tribal music form involved a lot of ‘call and response’ portions. The vocalist would sing a pattern or call and be followed by a chorus of voices; the response. This also found its way into jazz. Experimenting with vocal range and sounds is another characteristic of the African music form. Falsetto, note bending and different kinds of vocal manipulation were prevalent in their songs. Jazz singers displayed a similar quest for experimentation. Finally, most of this African music is composed around the pentatonic scale; a five note scale. This scale became the heart of jazz music. Jazz musicians combined the polyrhythms and the many variations of this simple five note scale to create the seemingly disorderly, yet technically challenging form of music.