A new approach to segmentation based on fusing circumscribed contours, region growing and clustering

One of the major problems in machine vision is the segmentation of images of natural scenes. This paper presents a new proposal for the image segmentation problem which has been based on the integration of edge and region information. The main contours of the scene are detected and used to guide the posterior region growing process. The algorithm places a number of seeds at both sides of a contour allowing stating a set of concurrent growing processes. A previous analysis of the seeds permits to adjust the homogeneity criterion to the regions's characteristics. A new homogeneity criterion based on clustering analysis and convex hull construction is proposed

Active regions for colour texture segmentation integrating region and boundary information

In this paper a colour texture segmentation method, which unifies region and boundary information, is proposed. The algorithm uses a coarse detection of the perceptual (colour and texture) edges of the image to adequately place and initialise a set of active regions. Colour texture of regions is modelled by the conjunction of non-parametric techniques of kernel density estimation (which allow to estimate the colour behaviour) and classical co-occurrence matrix based texture features. Therefore, region information is defined and accurate boundary information can be extracted to guide the segmentation process. Regions concurrently compete for the image pixels in order to segment the whole image taking both information sources into account. Furthermore, experimental results are shown which prove the performance of the proposed method

Improving Clustering Algorithms for Image Segmentation using Contour and Region Information

In image segmentation, clustering algorithms are very popular because they are intuitive and, some of them, easy to implement. For instance, the k-means is one of the most used in the literature, and many authors successfully compare their new proposal with the results achieved by the k-means. However, it is well known that clustering image segmentation has many problems. For instance, the number of regions of the image has to be known a priori, as well as different initial seed placement (initial clusters) could produce different segmentation results. Most of these algorithms could be slightly improved by considering the coordinates of the image as features in the clustering process (to take spatial region information into account). In this paper we propose a significant improvement of clustering algorithms for image segmentation. The method is qualitatively and quantitative evaluated over a set of synthetic and real images, and compared with classical clustering approaches. Results demonstrate the validity of this new approach

The Bogota – sabana region : the political economy behind the struggle to implement a sustainable urban development model

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The region: territorial organization of modernity

Region is a concept that has been used to describe, analyze and organize spaces. The concept has classical roots, and throughout history has been adapted to serve academic, governmental and planning purposes. This article analyzes the concept’s evolution, from social sciences in general, with an emphasis on a geographical focus. It also frames Latin American ideas in an international  discussion where the French, German and Anglo-Saxon school have been important. And in order  to understand the various theoretical and methodological approaches, it follows an historical overview. Finally, the text explores the way in which the concept was received and used in Latin  America, both by scholars and planners.

El estado region

Orientación sobre el desarrollo histórico del Ordenamiento territorial desde la invasión española que trajo como aporte la municipalidad como uno de los elementos que cambio el rumbo de las nuevas tierras Colombia ha hecho transito constitucional

Rural community in the Mediterranean Region in 2030 : projections and future scenarios : climate change and social change. ' Comunidades rurales en 2030 : proyecciones y escenarios futuros : cambio climático y cambio social.

Resumen en español

A qualitative analysis of immigrant population health practices in the Girona Healthcare Region

The research we present here forms part of a two-phase project - one quantitative and the other qualitative - assessing the use of primary health care services. This paper presents the qualitative phase of said research, which is aimed at ascertaining the needs, beliefs, barriers to access and health practices of the immigrant population in comparison with the native population, as well as the perceptions of healthcare professionals. Moroccan and sub-Saharan were the immigrants to who the qualitative phase was specifically addressed. The aims of this paper are as follows: to analyse any possible implications of family organisation in the health practices of the immigrant population; to ascertain social practices relating to illness; to understand the significances of sexual and reproductive health practices; and to ascertain the ideas and perceptions of immigrants, local people and professionals regarding health and the health system. Methods: qualitative research based on discursive analysis. Data gathering techniques consisted of discussion groups with health system users and semi-structured individual interviews with healthcare professionals. The sample was taken from the Basic Healthcare Areas of Salt and Banyoles (belonging to the Girona Healthcare Region), the discussion groups being comprised of (a) 6 immigrant Moroccan women, (b) 7 immigrant sub-Saharan African women and (c) 6 immigrant and native population men (2 native men, 2 Moroccan men and 2 sub-Saharan men); and the semi-structured interviews being conducted with the following healthcare professionals: (a) 3 gynaecologists, (b) 3 nurses and 1 administrative staff. Results: use of the healthcare system is linked to the perception of not being well, knowledge of the healthcare system, length of time resident in Spain and interiorization of traditional Western medicine as a cure mechanism. The divergences found among the groups of immigrants, local people and healthcare professionals with regard to healthcare education, use of the healthcare service, sexual and reproductive healthcare and reticence with regard to being attended by healthcare personnel of the opposite sex demonstrate a need to work with the immigrant population as a heterogeneous group. Conclusions: the results we have obtained support the idea that feeling unwell is a psycho-social process, as it takes place within a specific socio-cultural situation and spans a range of beliefs, perceptions and ideas regarding symptomology and how to treat it

The impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the atmospheric pollutant variability in the Porto region, Portugal

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is an important large-scale atmospheric circulation that influences the European countries climate. This study evaluated NAO impact in air quality in Porto Metropolitan Area (PMA), Portugal, for the period 2002-2006. NAO, air pollutants and meteorological data were statistically analyzed. All data were obtained from PMA Weather Station, PMA Air Quality Stations and NOAA analysis. Two statistical methods were applied in different time scale : principal component and correlation coefficient. Annual time scale, using multivariate analysis (PCA, principal component analysis), were applied in order to identified positive and significant association between air pollutants such as PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO and NO2, with NAO. On the other hand, the correlation coefficient using seasonal time scale were also applied to the same data. The results of PCA analysis present a general negative significant association between the total precipitation and NAO, in Factor 1 and 2 (explaining around 70% of the variance), presented in the years of 2002, 2004 and 2005. During the same years, some air pollutants (such as PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NOx and CO) present also a positive association with NAO. The O3 shows as well a positive association with NAP during 2002 and 2004, at 2nd Factor, explaining 30% of the variance. From the seasonal analysis using correlation coefficient, it was found significant correlation between PM10 (0.72., p<0.05, in 2002), PM2.5 (0 74, p<0.05, in 2004), and SO2 (0.78, p<0.01, in 2002) with NAO during March-December (no winter period) period. Significant associations between air pollutants and NAO were also verified in the winter period (December to April) mainly with ozone (2005, r=-0.55, p.<0.01). Once that human health and hospital morbidities may be affected by air pollution, the results suggest that NAO forecast can be an important tool to prevent them, in the Iberian Peninsula and specially Portugal.

The local population and museums. An analysis based on the use of museums in the Alt Pirineu and Aran Region (Catalonia, Spain)

His paper is based on a study of visitors to the museums in the Alt Pirineu and Aran region (Catalonia, Spain). We describe the characteristics of the museums’ users and analyse the relationship between the museums and the local community. We highlight the importance of these facilities for local development, and the need to consider and prioritize their role as culture centres for the region’s population.

Estudios sonoros desde la Región Andina UIO-BOG = Sonic Studies from the Andean Region

El presente trabajo se basa en el análisis de las prácticas sonoras y, a partir de ahí, de una apuesta por un nuevo campo de estudios, el de los Estudios Sonoros; cuyo fin último es establecer una perspectiva epistemológica y política de las prácticas experimentales con sonido, en diálogo con proyectos provenientes de los Estudios Culturales, como son el proyecto modernidad/ colonialidad, las teorías poscoloniales y los estudios subalternos. Desde estas posiciones teóricas y políticas, estoy conciente de que el sonido, y sus posibilidades experimentales, articulan un régimen influyente en el mundo contemporáneo. Razón por la cual, sobre todo, esta es una reflexión desde las prácticas sonoras que surgen en dos ciudades andinas: Quito y Bogotá, como una expresión emergente para establecer encuentros Sur-Sur, que puedan generar diálogos epistemológicos sobre el sonido. En otras palabras, en este libro estoy proponiéndo a mis lectoras y lectores, una especie de “juego epistémico”: comprender el sonido como un lugar de conocimiento.Y el sonido es conocimiento precisamente porque el sonido nos permite vernos (y permite verme) como un sujeto históricamente ubicado. En el capítulo primero abordaré la pregunta de cómo se fue articulando el régimen discursivo del sonido como arte, dentro de diálogos y conflictos que se generaron en el contexto de la Guerra Fría que, para el caso de Latinoamérica, constituyó la transferencia de conocimientos articulados desde promesas como el desarrollismo y la modernización. También analizaré el cómo se configuraron, tanto en Quito como en Bogotá, las nuevas subjetividades “artísticas” frente al discurso de las vanguardias europeas del siglo XX y el experimentalismo estadounidense. Como verán mis lectoras y lectores, estos modelos, aparentemente originales e innovadores, fueron influidos por formas de saber y poder moduladas alrededor de la idea de la renovación de las artes a través del sonido, formulación que instaló el sonido como dispositivo/materia desde el cual, en detrimento de lo local, se articuló la fantasía de un universal deseado: las máquinas de sonido y de reproducibilidad técnica. En el segundo capítulo me centraré en algunas prácticas de experimentación sonora para indagar cuestiones como el estilo, procedimiento posmodernista ampliamente diseminado dentro de las instituciones artísticas y de éstas hacia la vida cotidiana. A partir de lo cual intentamos esclarecer el porqué de la confiscación y sometimiento de lo sonoro bajo el cuidadoso encierro del régimen discursivo del arte, que de manera eficiente lo absorbe como un “nuevo” medio para disciplinarlo y nombrarlo como proyecto sonoro, pieza sonora, instalación sonora, performance sonoro, acción sonora, objeto sonoro, paisaje sonoro, composición, loop. En otras palabras, cómo todo lo que genera el posmodernismo es apropiado por las universidades para crear la noción de “pastiche”, en donde todo cabe, bajo la indulgencia del “estilo”, procedimiento desde el cual se va instalando el régimen de verdad de un nuevo universal deseado: El Arte Sonoro. En este mismo capítulo, indagamos sobre las lógicas de producción de estas prácticas, para avanzar hacia las lógicas culturales donde lo sonoro se define y redefine por el posicionamiento y el lugar desde el que actúan los sujetos. Bajo estas consideraciones, queda planteada la propuesta, acuñada por esta investigación, la de un nuevo campo de estudio: Los Estudios Sonoros, propuesta que debe ser entendida como lo que algunos intelectuales latinoamericanos llaman epistemes emergentes11, precisamente porque esta investigación hace un esfuerzo por esclarecer las interdependencias existentes entre prácticas artísticas con sonido, el campo discursivo del arte y otras construcciones discursivas de la modernidad-colonialidad que establecen y regulan la formación del régimen sonoro. En el capítulo tercero analizaré cómo un “medio de creación” se vuelve hegemónico y cómo ciertos artistas que usan el sonido, bajo la pretensión de representar la marginalidad, marginalizan aún más a las personas que han sido históricamente subalternizadas. Seguido de este análisis, en el capítulo cuarto, indagamos sobre las tácticas que marcan nuevas formas de adhesión, de representación y de resistencia cultural, las mismas que son estrategias suplementarias frente, y en contra, de los discursos dominantes de las prácticas artísticas con sonido y las geopolíticas de conocimiento.

Effect of Community of Residence on Neurobehavioral Development in Infants and Young Children in a Flower-Growing Region of Ecuador

In this study we compared neurobehavioral development in Ecuadoran children living in two communities with high potential for exposure to organophosphate (OP) and carbamate pesticides to that of children living in a community with low potential for exposure. Residence in communities with high potential for exposure to OP and carbamate pesticides was associated with poorer neurobehavioral development of the child even after controlling for major determinants of delayed development. Malnourished populations may be particularly vulnerable to neurobehavioral effects of pesticide exposure.

Sociodemographic and nutritional correlates of neurobehavioral development: a study of young children in a rural region of Ecuador

To identify and describe the sociodemographic and nutritional characteristics associated with neurobehavioral development among young children living in three communities in the northeastern Andean region of Cayambe-Tabacundo, Ecuador. Women in the study communities who had a child 3 to 61 months of age completed a questionnaire about maternal and child health and sociodemographic characteristics. The Ages and Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) was directly administered to 283 children by two trained interviewers. Growth measurements and a hemoglobin finger-prick blood test were obtained in 2003–2004. Prevalence of developmental delay was calculated, and associations between child development and maternal, child, and household characteristics were explored. High frequencies of developmental delay were observed. Children 3 to 23 months old displayed delay in gross motor skills (30.1%), and children 48 to 61 months old displayed delay in problem-solving skills (73.4%) and fine motor skills (28.1%). A high frequency of both anemia (60.4%) and stunting (53.4%) was observed for all age groups. Maternal educational level was positively associated with communication and problem-solving skills, and monthly household income was positively associated with communication, gross motor, and problem-solving skills. The results suggest a high prevalence of developmental delay and poor child health in this population. Child health status and the child’s environment may contribute to developmental delay in this region of Ecuador, but sociodemographic factors affecting opportunities for stimulation may also play a role. Research is needed to identify what is causing high percentages of neurobehavioral developmental delay in this region of Ecuador.