Computer Analysis of Visual Properties of Curved Objects

A method is presented for the visual analysis of objects by computer. It is particularly well suited for opaque objects with smoothly curved surfaces. The method extracts information about the object's surface properties, including measures of its specularity, texture, and regularity. It also aids in determining the object's shape. The application of this method to a simple recognition task ??e recognition of fruit ?? discussed. The results on a more complex smoothly curved object, a human face, are also considered.

Synthesis and characterization of CaBi4Ti4O15 thin films annealed by microwave and conventional furnaces

CaBi4Ti4O15 thin films were deposited by the polymeric precursor method and crystallized in a domestic microwave oven and conventional furnace. The films obtained for microwave energy are well-adhered, homogeneous and with good specularity, when treated at 700 degrees C for 10 min. The microstructure and the structure of the films can be tuned by adjusting the crystallization conditions. When microwave oven is employed, the films presented bigger grains with mean grain size around 80 nm. For comparison, films were also prepared by the conventional furnace at 700 degrees C for 2 h. (C) 2007 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

SrBi2Nb2O9 thin films crystallized using a low power microwave oven

SrBi2Nb2O9 thin films were produced by the polymeric precursor method using an aqueous solution. The crystallization of the films was carried out using a domestic microwave oven by means of a SiC susceptor in order to absorb the microwave energy and rapidly transfer the heat to the film. Low microwave power and short time have been used. The films obtained are well-adhered, homogeneous and with good specularity, even when treated at 600 degreesC for 10 min. The microstructure and the structure of the films can be tuned by adjusting the crystallization conditions. Depending on the direction of the heat flux it is possible to obtain preferential oriented or polycrystalline films in the microwave oven for 10 min. The microstructure presented a polycrystalline nature with spheroid small mean grain size when the susceptor is placed above the substrate. When the susceptor is placed below the substrate, the films presented platelet grains with mean grain size around 250 nm and a 001 orientation. For comparison, films were also prepared by the conventional method at 700 degreesC for 2 h. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Indícios de subjetividade na fala de uma criança psicótica: um olhar para as hesitações

This study, performed under a linguistic-discoursive prism, aimed to: (1) describe the moments in which occurred hesitations in the utterances of a psychotic child diagnosed with Language Disorder; and (2) determine the extent to which these moments (also) can indicate aspects of a subjectivity trying to emerge in this child. Data were extracted from a speech therapy session with a ten year old female child. Concerning the fi rst goal, from a total of 362 utterances produced by the child, only 74 (20%) had hesitation traces, while 288 (80%) did not. Concerning the second goal, the utterances with hesitation traces occurred in situations of: topic development, especially in the form of complementarity; introduction of new topic; return to the previous topic; refuses to the topic; enunciative incompleteness. The high percentage of utterances without hesitation traces (80%) is explained because they are highly predictable from the context, mostly in situations of ritualized adjacent pairs, oftentimes in situations of immediate specularity. The reduced percentage of utterances with hesitation traces are explained precisely by the fact that, unlike those without traces, in these ones, signs of a subjectivity that tries to emerge and show itself in the discourse production are detected. With the development of this study, we tried to emphasize the view at the hesitations as marks of subjectivity – in other words, evidences of confl icting relationships between the subject and the others that constitute the utter. The concern was also about bringing to the fi eld of Speech Pathology discoursive linguistic refl ections based on data extracted from symptomatic contexts of language.