Objective versus perceived walking distances to destinations : correspondence and predictive validity

Judgments concerning features of environments do not always correspond accurately with objective measures of those same features. Moreover, perceived and objectively assessed environmental attributes, including proximity of destinations, may influence walking behavior in different ways. This study compares perceived and objectively assessed distance to several different destinations and examines whether correspondence between objective and perceived distance is influenced by age, gender, neighborhood walkability, and walking behavior. Distances to most destinations close to home are overestimated, whereas distances to those farther away are underestimated. Perceived and objective distances to certain types of destinations are differentially associated with walking behavior. Perceived environmental attributes do not consistently reflect objectively assessed attributes, and both appear to have differential effects on physical activity behavior.

Stereo correspondence estimation using multiwavelets scale-space representation-based multiresolution analysis

A multiresolution technique based on multiwavelets scale-space representation for stereo correspondence estimation is presented. The technique uses the well-known coarse-to-fine strategy, involving the calculation of stereo correspondences at the coarsest resolution level with consequent refinement up to the finest level. Vector coefficients of the multiwavelets transform modulus are used as corresponding features, where modulus maxima defines the shift invariant high-level features (multiscale edges) with phase pointing to the normal of the feature surface. The technique addresses the estimation of optimal corresponding points and the corresponding 2D disparity maps. Illuminative variation that can exist between the perspective views of the same scene is controlled using scale normalization at each decomposition level by dividing the details space coefficients with approximation space. The problems of ambiguity, explicitly, and occlusion, implicitly, are addressed by using a geometric topological refinement procedure. Geometric refinement is based on a symbolic tagging procedure introduced to keep only the most consistent matches in consideration. Symbolic tagging is performed based on probability of occurrence and multiple thresholds. The whole procedure is constrained by the uniqueness and continuity of the corresponding stereo features. The comparative performance of the proposed algorithm with eight famous existing algorithms, presented in the literature, is shown to validate the claims of promising performance of the proposed algorithm.

Email correspondence : a qualitative data collection tool for organisational researchers

This paper proposes a novel method for qualitative data collection in organisational research, that of email correspondence. This approach involves written communication between the researcher and each respondent, as a conversational dialogue is constructed. An overview of this method of engaging vvith respondents is provided. The author then discusses how email correspondence was used in two studies of middle managers, outlining both the benefits and challenges experienced. Lessons learned for future use of the method are also considered. Email correspondence proved a valuable tool in revealing respondents' workplace experiences, and this method provides opportunity for organisational researchers seeking to explore employees' personal reflections.

Pixel-based correspondence for facial images

A pixel-based correspondence method is presented for representation of facial images. The proposed method consists of two modules: face-image matching and face-image morphing. In the face-image matching module, the correspondence between two images are calculated for all pixel locations. A novel area-based matching method is proposed that makes use of the concept of the fractal dimension, and develops a non-parametric local transform as a basis for establishing correspondence between two face images. In the face-image morphing module, a mapping is performed for deformation of the source face image onto the target face image. This is done to map the pixels in the source face image to the location of their corresponding pixels in the target image.

Wavelets/multiwavelets bases and correspondence estimation problem : an analytic study

Correspondence estimation in one of the most active research areas in the field of computer vision and number of techniques has been proposed, possessing both advantages and shortcomings. Among the techniques reported, multiresolution analysis based stereo correspondence estimation has gained lot of research focus in recent years. Although, the most widely employed medium for multiresolution analysis is wavelets and multiwavelets bases, however, relatively little work has been reported in this context. In this work we have tried to address some of the issues regarding the work done in this domain and the inherited shortcomings. In the light of these shortcomings, we propose a new technique to overcome some of the flaws that could have significantly impact on the algorithm performance and has not been addressed in the earlier propositions. Proposed algorithm uses multiresolution analysis enforced with wavelets/multiwavelts transform modulus maxima to establish correspondences between the stereo pair of images. Variety of wavelets and multiwavelets bases, possessing distinct properties such as orthogonality, approximation order, short support and shape are employed to analyse their effect on the performance of correspondence estimation. The idea is to provide knowledge base to understand and establish relationships between wavelets and multiwavelets properties and their effect on the quality of stereo correspondence estimation.

Beyond externalizing and finalizing definitions : standards for teachers of english language and literacy in Australia (STELLA)

This article explores issues relating to the development of the Standards for Teachers of English Language and Literacy in Australia (STELLA). STELLA is the product of work by members of the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE) and the Australian Literacy Educators' Association (ALEA), the two key professional bodies in Australia representing secondary English teachers and primary school literacy teachers respectively. However, the question remains as to the extent to which English literacy teachers around Australia can meaningfully identify with these standards. This article asks whether professional standards can provide a framework for practitioner inquiry and the renewal of the English teaching profession in contradistinction to managerial pressures to impose standards for regulatory purposes.

Law and theology in Gilbert of Foliot's (c. 1105/10-1187/88) correspondence

Lord Peter Stein, eminent historian of Roman law, described the interaction of law and theology in the writings of one twelfth-century writer as a kind of 'universal jurisprudence' , The twelfth-century figure to whom he referred was Master Vacarius (c. 1115/2O-c. 1200), well-known English Roman lawyer and Anglo-Norman canonist. While Stein drew this conclusion largely on the basis of an analysis of Vacatius' strictly 'legal' work, the Liber pauperum, I have shown elsewhere, following a systematic study ofVacarius' other works, dealing with maniage, christology and heresy, that, when seen together, they demonstrate a use of law as a universal heuristic device to resolve conflict in law and theology.

Foreign correspondence and fixers : the missing link

Colleen Murrell gives a talk for the Reuters Institute seminar series.