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OpenSRS Help & Support
Register a Domain(s)
Registering domain names through the RWI
Debbie Browning
The New Domain Lookup textbox in the RWI allows you to check the availability of a domain name and request suggestions for similar, available names.
In order to provide you with the largest selection of names from which to choose, you can widen your search to include, not only domain names that are supplied by OpenSRS, but also domain names that may be purchased from external (non-OpenSRS) suppliers; these are referred to as Premium Domains. Many desirable domain names may already be taken, but the owners are willing to sell them for a price.
When you perform a domain name lookup that includes Premium domains, the search results show whether the name you entered (or similar names) is available from a non-OpenSRS supplier. For those Premium Domains that have a set price, the search results list indicates the purchase price.
If you include Premium Domains - Make Offer in your search criteria, the search results may also include Premium Domain names that are available from a non-OpenSRS supplier that allows you to negotiate the price. To purchase these domains, you click Make Offer to begin the negotiation process. When you choose this option, you are taken to the Sedo website, and the rest of the purchase process is done through Sedo. As the buyer, you make an offer which the seller can choose to accept or reject, or they can make a counter offer.
Note: Premium domains that are purchased cannot be transferred away for 60 days.
To register a domain name through the RWI
1. In the Domain Lookups section, select the type of results that you want to see by selecting one or more of the following:
Display Suggested Names—Domain names that are similar to the one you entered in the Domain Search field.
Display Premium Domains—Domain names that may be purchased from external suppliers. Many desirable domain names may already be taken, but the owners are willing to sell them for a price. The search results show whether the name you entered (or similar names if you also selected Name Suggestion) is available, as well as the purchase price of the available Premium domain names.
Display Premium Domains - Brokered Transfers—Domain names that may be purchased from external suppliers that use a broker to complete the purchase process. These domains may take several days to complete.
Display Premium Domains - Make Offer—Domain names that may be purchased from external suppliers. The price is not displayed; instead the potential buyer can make an offer and the seller might accept the offer or make a counter offer.
Display Generic TLDs—gTLDs include domains such as .ASIA, ,.BIZ, .COM, .INFO, .MOBI, .NAME, .NET, .ORG, .TEL and XXX.
Display ccTLDs—Country Code TLDs.
Display Personal Names—Domain names that are based on your own name. When you search for a name using the format firstname lastname, the results indicate whether web and email addresses are available for that name. For more information, see "What are Personal Names and how do I get one?"
2. Optionally, click the applicable checkboxes to choose the languages in which you want to see suggestions for similar names.
For example, you can submit a name, word, or phrase in Spanish and request suggestions in Spanish by putting a checkmark in the Spanish checkbox. If you do not choose a language, the system tries to determine the language you used in the New Domain Lookup field and returns suggestions in that language.
3. In the New Domain Lookup field, enter a name, word, or phrase, and click Check Availability.
The system checks the availability of the name you entered. If a domain name has the status Undetermined, it means that the system could not connect to the applicable Registry to find out whether the name is available or not.
If you searched for the exact domain name that you want, including the TLD extension (such as example.com), and the name is available, the registration form appears. If the name is not available or if you entered anything other than a complete domain name, you will see a list of related, available domain names.
4. Do one of the following:
If the list includes a name that you want, click Register.
Complete the New Domain Registration Form and click Submit.
If there is a Premium domain or a Premium brokered domain name that you want, click Purchase.
Complete the Premium Domain Form opens and click Submit.
Once you submit the completed order form, it is processed like any other domain name registration, except that the new expiry date for the domain will be one year from the old expiry date for that domain.
If there is a Premium domain that does not display a set price, it means that the price is negotiable. Click Make Offer to begin the purchase process. You are taken to the Sedo website, and the rest of the purchase process is done through Sedo. The buyer makes an offer which the seller can accept or reject, or they can make a counter offer.
Important: OpenSRS has no input or influence on these purchases. Once the domain name is purchased, the buyer can transfer the domain anywhere they choose, whether that is to OpenSRS or to another registrar. Resellers do not earn any commission from the purchase of these domains.
Note: Due to the additional checks that are required to confirm availability and obtain Premium domains, the purchase process may take slightly longer than a new domain registration.
For example, if you select Display Suggested Names, Display Generic TLDs, and Display Premium Domains, the system returns a list of domain names that match or are similar to what you entered in the New Domain Lookup field, and tells you whether each of the the names are Available or Taken as well the cost for those domain names that are for sale from non-OpenSRS suppliers.
If you select Display Premium Domains, Display Premium Domains - Brokered Transfers and Display Premium Domains - Make Offer, the system returns a list of domain names that that can be purchased through third party vendors.
Premium names that are brokered and those whose price is negotiable are displayed in separate sections on the Domain Name Availability Results page.
When you click Make Offer, you are taken to the Sedo website. The rest of the purchase process is done through Sedo.
.NAME domain policies
Mail administration console users- ADM accounts
Managing domains by profile
.AC .IO .SH domain policies
OpenSRS Management Interface


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کانال های تلوزیونی بر اساس نوع زبان
کانال های تلوزیونی براساس ژانرها
Sat.tv > عربی
Langue: عربی
A leader in around the clock news, this international news channel from the BBC targets the Arab general public in North Africa, the Middle East and the Gulf states. Since 2008, BBC Arabic has broadcast its programmes non-stop; 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Along with the success of the BBC Arabic radio… Read more »
Given that Islam is the subject of numerous discussions throughout the world, and a central aspect of countries and cultures all through the world, Beitol Abbas TV's mission is to transmit the true values of this religion based on principles of tolerance and love. Headquartered in Karbala, Iraq, this television channel is run by Shiite… Read more »
Cartoon Network Arabic (Arabic: كرتون نتورك بالعربية) is a free-to-air children's channel that is broadcast for a pan-Arab audience in the Arab World, and it is one of two Arabic-language versions of Cartoon Network. Its program include TV series such as original Cartoon Network Studios productions (like the Ben 10 reboot, Regular Show, Powerpuff Girls… Read more »
CBC is an Egyptian TV channel that began broadcasting from Cairo on July 2, 2011. CBC is aimed at raising awareness and discussing the views of all segments of Egyptian society, thus playing an effective role in confronting the challenges of the post-revolutionary period. CBC can be received in the all Middle East and North… Read more »
CBC Drama channel offers a continuous series of TV serials, some of which you watch for the first time only on CBC Drama as well as TV shows, the classics of the Egyptian drama. Among the exclusive TV serials and modern and old series we are always keen to select what brings you enjoyment and… Read more »
CBC Sofra is the first TV channel in Egypt specialized in cooking arts. CBC Sofra can be received in the all Middle East and North Africa region, through the Nilesat/Eutelsat 7W satellite, and viewers can receive it for free.
Founded by the businessman Tharwat Basili, CTV is the official channel of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the Arab countries. The channel broadcasts free of charge on the HOTBIRD satellite network, and has a mission to regularly inform its faithful worldwide of new developments in the Coptic faith. Guided by its Patriarch, His Holiness Pope… Read more »
DMC is the Generalist entertainment channel from DMC Group that broadcasts multiple popular TV shows and drama produced in Egypt, as well as movies DMC provides exclusive coverage of the latest football news and follows the news of other sports. The channel was launched in 2017. it can be received in the all Middle East… Read more »
DMC Sports is the sport channels of the Egyptian DMC Group. It was launched in 2017. The channel presents the Egyptian Premier League and offers a lot of sports news. The Egyptian Premier League channel is presented with all its games in a high quality. DMC Sports can be received in the all Middle East… Read more »
Dream 2 is a top rated general interest television service from Egypt. It features a wide variety of programming including news, current affairs, sports, movies and popular series including comedies and dramas. Dream 2 can be received in the all Middle East and North Africa region, through the Nilesat/Eutelsat 7W satellite, and viewers can receive… Read more »
A part of the Dubai Media Incorporated Group, Dubai Sports 3 is a fully dedicated TV channel for sports and sports only. Based in the United Arab Emirates, this 24/7 satellite channel has been operational since 1998. Like its counterparts Dubai Sports, Dubai Sports 1 & 2, Dubai Sports 3 broadcasts national and international sporting… Read more »
The Dubai TV Europe channel is part of the wider incorporated network offered by the Dubai Media Incorporated group. It covers a variety of topics and is very popular with people in Arab countries, though it was designed for Arab viewers living and working across Europe. The majority of the programmes on Dubai TV Europe… Read more »
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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You are here: Home / Archives for magna carta
Collections Spotlight: Sonia Sotomayor
March 13, 2017 by PSN Leave a Comment
Sonia Sotomayor received a B.A. from Princeton University and a J.D. from Yale Law School where she served as an editor of the Yale Law Journal. She served as Assistant District Attorney in New York County, then litigated international commercial matters in New York City at Pavia & Harcourt. President George H.W. Bush nominated her to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York in 1992. President Bill Clinton then nominated Sotomayor to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second … [Read more...]
Filed Under: Primary Source Picks Tagged With: articles, barack obama, bill clinton, cases, collection spotlight, district attorney, george h.w. bush, judge, justice, magna carta, media coverage, press coverage, princeton university, school without walls, Sonia Sotomayor, supreme court, supreme court justice, U.S. Court of Appeals, u.s. district court, yale university
Teaching with the Library of Congress Blog
Meet Meg Medina, the Library's New Ambassador for Young People's Literature
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1912 Florida East Coast Railway connected the island of Key West with the Florida mainland. Check out our curated collection of LOC.gov resources related to the Florida Keys.
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Discover stories of events that happened in history on each day of December.
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Funded by a grant from the Library of Congress, since 2004 Citizen U, under the Barat Education Foundation, has provided free, engaging, inquiry-based learning materials that use Library primary sources to foster understanding and application of civics, literacy, history, math, science, and the arts.
The mission of the national Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program is to: build awareness of the Library's educational initiatives; provide educational content that uses the Library's resources; and offer access to and promote sustained use of educational resources provided by the Library and TPS Consortium members. Learn more.


Photocraft by Tom Warriner offers online proofing, standard and canvas prints, albums, slideshows, and many other products and services. We can provide an officiant for your wedding ceremony. Contact Tom for availability and pricing. Don't trust your wedding photography to someone who just received a fancy looking camera for Christmas. Remember that after the food and wedding cake are eaten, the band or DJ packs up the equipment and leaves, the tuxedo is returned to the rental company, and the wedding dress is packed away in moth balls, all you have left are the photos. Do you really want the photographer that says, "Since I'm just getting started, I can give you a really good deal on the price of your wedding photography," the uncle who says, "I have a pretty good little camera, and I'll be happy to shoot your wedding for free and let you print your own pictures," or do you want someone who has the experience and equipment needed to produce the professional images of your wedding that you expect?
Tom is a member of the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC).


I have had the pleasure of attending Essentials for five years and tutoring for three of them. I would like to also add that Essentials is a class that enables the parent to meet the needs of their student wherever they are academically. The degree of ability of the students and parents will vary, and it all works out quite nicely. Since it is designed to be a three year course which mimics the Trivium, no prior formal preparation in an English grammar program is necessary particularly if the parent chooses to spend those years simply engaging their child in good literature. Most parents will be learning right along side their students, and that is okay! If you are a first time Essentials parent, I recommend to adjust your expectations accordingly, be diligent in your efforts, and remember your second year will look nothing like your first year!
← Seeds Family Worship–All CDs $9.97!!!


The Polara was Dodge's mid-range full-size car through much of the sixties. Available in all body styles, the third generation was introduced in 1965, and would last until 1968. The Polara featured dramatic sixties styling, especially the post-'67 fastback, which, with optional V8s of up to 440 ci, had the power behind the looks. This Polara, though extremely presentable and in nice, original shape, still has the marks of a daily driver.
Oh God, I've always wanted one of these in this color. Beautiful!


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You are here: Home1 / News2 / UK News3 / SEO: Blackcircles catching Kwik Fit in UK tyre search engine positioni...
SEO: Blackcircles catching Kwik Fit in UK tyre search engine positioning
Date: 10th November 2021 Author: Chris Anthony Comments: 0
Online demand for tyre retail and pre-sale research appears to be booming (Photo: Kaboompics)
On the one hand, most sources agree that online tyre demand is booming as a result of the pandemic and its related lockdowns. However, on the other hand, such rapid growth has also led to increased competition online. One way of finding which tyre firms are getting ahead in the online space is to consider the race for pole-position in Google search results. Since Google is by far the biggest search engine online holding a dominant 92.47 per cent global market share as of June 2021 (87.7 per cent in the UK specifically), getting your brand ahead of the competition in search results makes a big difference. And paid search advertising, known as pay-per-click (PPC) – is one way to do that. In order to get a handle on the tyre retail sector's virtual performance in 2021, Tyres & Accessories worked with SEO marketing specialists Evolved who analysed the organic search and PPC performance of the top 23 UK-based etailers and concluded that online specialist Blackcircles is taking ground from bricks and mortar market leader Kwik Fit, amongst other things.
Evolved's report found that brands big and small have continued to look to maximise revenues where they can in the short term, whilst also jockeying for top position in search results, hoping to be ideally positioned to take off in the post-Covid market. Amidst the challenges of the bigger picture, Evolved reports that "there is some evidence that we may be witnessing the start of a long-anticipated coming of age for online-first brands and their ability to grow market share in organic search results."
Research conducted into the product-specific search visibility for the sector through the digital marketing search tool SearchMetrics shows that the gap in terms of total search visibility for all tyre traffic may now be as little as 10 per cent between market-leading Kwik Fit and the Michelin-owned online brand, Black Circles. Since overall metrics for the domains suggest Kwik Fit is significantly larger and that Kwik Fit still holds number one spots for competitive high traffic search terms like "Tyres", this may be surprising. But Blackcircles' overall growth in online search visibility is said to have been driven by "a combination of rising performance on highly searched generics, but also from a wide net of keywords around specific tyre brands and models."
This range of keywords has been further enhanced by strong performance in the "garages area" of the site, targeting valuable local search traffic. In addition to their main commercial rankings, the domain has achieved notable success from their help centre area, which accounts for around 10 per cent of their total visibility for keywords, according to the Evolved research.
Investment in content has allowed Blackcircles to build prominent rankings for everything from searches for "tyre sizes" to explaining how "load indexes" work. The value of this type of traffic can often be overlooked by those who see it as lacking intent to buy now. However, pre-sale research is just that – research that takes place before a sale. And it is different to put a price on the marketing value of building a trust narrative with consumers. Such content also has the by-product of generating "strong SEO signals" that can positively impact a domain's overall ability to "rank organically for competitive commercial terms".
Protyre and Tyresavings 'ones to watch'
Within the tyres sector, search competition has been consistent if only in its tendency for volatility and change. Blackcircles now appears to be closing in on Kwik Fit in relation to tyres, but previously held a far higher overall visibility score in 2016/17. According to Evolved, the brand later lost around 40 per cent of this around the time of the "Phantom" and oddly named "Fred" Google updates. The latter focused on de-ranking so-called "thin pages" – content which Google views as poor quality.
For its part, National Tyres got within 15 per cent of Kwik Fit in 2017, but since have "experienced a significant" drop in "search visibility from these previous highs", according to Evolved. However, it should also be noted that National Tyres made significant positive progress in the first quarter of 2021, before encountering headwinds in the second quarter once again.
Most recently, National Tyre's comeback has continued with the site adding 20 – 25 per cent in terms of search visibility across all product areas in the past six or so months.
In terms of click value, Asda Tyres have moved into second place. Despite not having as high of a search visibility as Blackcircles, Asda Tyres ranked for more valuable keywords from a cost per click perspective. This clearly a great outcome for Asda Tyres, which saw "huge growth" at the beginning and end of 2019, had an "erratic" 12 months in 2020, before finishing 2020 20 per cent down on its opening performance.
Other notable findings include the emergence of Protyre.co.uk and Tyresavings.com. According to Evolved, these are two of "the ones to watch in the next 12 months". Although both have been in the market for some time, their progress against the market leaders is described as "impressive". Notable performance landmarks include the achievement of top five rankings for terms like "Tyres" and "Car Tyres".
If you take a look at the top-performing pure-play e-tail brands Blackcircles and Oponeo from a five-year perspective, we can see that both are "currently very much short of their recent performance peaks". 2020 represented the continuation of a "torrid decline" in search visibility for Oponeo which is currently 50 to 60 per cent down on its 2019 high point.
According to Evolved's analysis, Oponeo continued to struggle through the spring and summer of 2021, with "organic search visibility now at another all-time low". The site which at one time was a market leader with over a visibility score of over 12,000 in 2018, has dropped over the year to 2700. Within the year alone this represents a 50 per cent fall from their visibility in early January.
Does this all mean we could be seeing the emergence of new leaders within tyre-related search? According to the visibility-related data, Blackcircles and Kwik Fit are closer than they have been for some time. And the likes of Asda Tyres and Protyre could turn out to be real contenders moving forward.
But not all clicks are not created equal. According to Evolved, focusing on raw traffic "can often serve to misrepresent the overall value of clicks a brand receives". Rather, one of the best ways to assess the market value of keywords and clicks is to look at the Google Ads CPC's (cost per click) attached to these in a bid to value such terms. Here, we get a different picture:
"Despite the inroads made by Blackcircles in terms of overall organic traffic, when it comes to the value of that traffic, it is Kwik Fit that is still the standout market leader. Kwik Fit dominates when it comes to high value commercially desirable keywords around tyres with an estimated equivalent CPC value of £977,735. This means that – combined – the clicks Kwik Fit receives from organic search are worth almost £1 million each month, if they were to look to buy this same traffic from Google Ads.
Focusing on value, Blackcircles are still the closest competitor, but it is a distant second with the current value around half of this at just under half a million per month (£487,070). This is followed in third by another strong performing online brand Asda Tyres who have reached £449,030 worth of monthly organic traffic.
The potential traffic value figures for each site are also illuminating. This figure measures the total value of all the keywords a site appears for in search results, regardless of whether it is currently in a ranking position to generate traffic. This tells us about the range of a site to appear for available keywords and how far it could potentially cast the net. Here, Kwik Fit are "in a league of their own when it comes to current results in terms of site potential", they only rank third with Blackcircles and Tyre City taking the top two spots each with around £2.5 million of potential value, 25 per cent more than Kwik Fit.
We should also consider the ownership of the best-known online brands, many of which should be grouped together since they have the same owner. For example, Kwik Fit, Tyre Pros and Tyre City should all be considered as different channels of the same owner – ETEL. Viewed this way, questions relating to Kwik Fit's/ETEL's market leadership are swiftly removed. However, now that ETEL has announced that it is focusing on Kwik Fit and STS Tyrepros, it will be interesting to see if Kwik Fit's lead can remain unchallenged in 2022.
Applying the same group logic to eTyres, Asda Tyres and RAC Tyres (which are all part of the Colewood Automotive group) as well as National Tyres and Tyre Shopper (which are part of Axle Group) plus mytyres and Tirendo (just two of Delticom's many brands) reveals not only are these market leaders even stronger than they first appear but that most of the online retail market is made of up of a comparably small group of very competitive players. Here positive search positioning can make a big difference, something that good optimisation and strategic connections with strong sites positively impacts (see optimisation ranking chart). Now that miles-driven figures are beginning to rise and as we all enter further into the new normal, the data suggests that the online marketplace is only getting more competitive.
ETEL continues to lead top 20 UK tyre retailers 2019
Tyre retail market in a redistribution phase
Micheldever's TyreClick to support independents' online competitiveness
Micheldever's Protyre retail chain is UK's fastest growing
ASDA Tyres, Blackcircles, Delticom, e-commerce, etyres, Evolved, featured, Internet, Kwik Fit, National Tyres and Autocare, online tyre business, Protyre, RAC Tyres, SEO, Tirendo, Tyre retail, Tyre Shopper, Tyresavings
Interview: Continental's Tires head Christian Kötz on tyres, sensors... Continental India first: Vredestein pauses motorcycle tyre sales in Europe


I've been to a lot of Dine Out dinners this year and everybody's talking about Nosh – at 2585 West Broadway in Kits – as the unsung hero of the 2013 food festival. In other words, there's great value for money. We broke the news about Nosh's imminent arrival in December. The new rotisserie by Sandra and Tony Scott opened January 16, just two days before Dine Out started, no doubt escalating the buzz.
Nosh is offering an $18, 3-course Dine Out menu through February 3. I had the chance to try it with my family this week. It is well worth the blogger talk.
The Dine Out menu is simple and sweet. You have two starter options – a creamy parsnip apple soup or a salad with caramelized squash and salt-roasted beets. Since we were two, we tried both. It's nice to see that the rotisserie is well-versed in veg and leads me to believe many will enjoy Nosh as a light lunch spot by day, when plenty of veg sides are on offer with hearty rotisseries sandwiches.
Booze-wise, there's Red Truck lager and IPA on tap. Plus three B.C. wines on tap thanks to Vancouver Urban Winery.
As for dessert, as tempting as the "spiced apple hand pie" sounds, it disingenuously comes with a fork. And the orange cinnamon rice pudding, served in a jar with a generous amount of cookie topping, is sheer grace. So go for the pudding.
I eavesdropped on other tables and Nosh is already well-liked. A couple of families dropped by to grab a whole rotisserie chicken while we ate in. The most popular lunch items are the BBQ pork banh mi and the braised short rib sandwich on sourdough.


Well maintained starter home with 2 car garage and lovely new deck. Easy care Vinyl siding and move in ready condition. Great location in the village and in walking distance to downtown and schools. Great starter or retirement home. Call to see!


Hosni Mubarak is the fourth and former President of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
Mubarak is a vicious dictator that had taken his people hostage for more than 30 years. His regime has been known to resort to police brutality, secret prisons, and "Baltajiya" (hired x-cons that brutalize civilians) among other morbid aspects. Despite all this, he was for long backed by the west. His reign was so corrupt, he is believed to have become the richest man in the world, with a net worth exceeding 70 billion dollars!
His complete name is Muhammad Hosni Sayyid Mubarak and he was born on the 4th of May 1928 in Egypt.
In 1975, Hosni Mubarak was appointed as the Vice President of Egypt. On the 14th of October 1981 and after the assassination of President Anwar El-Sadat, Hosni Mubarak became the President of Egypt.
Hosni Mubarak is considered as the longest Egyptian ruler since Muhammad Ali Pasha.
Between 1972 and 1975, Hosni Mubarak worked as a career officer and a commander in the Egyptian Air Force.
In the years 1987, 1993 and 1999. Hosni Mubarak was re-elected by majority votes in a referendum for four successive terms. Because of a restriction in the Egyptian constitution where People Assembly elect the President of the Republic, it was impossible for anyone else to run for Presidency against Mubarak.
In the year 2009, The Hosni Mubarak government banned the Cairo Anti-war Conference. The conference wanted to criticize Mubarak inability to take any action against Israel.
Hosni has a younger son named Gamal Mubarak who is active in the Political life in Egypt. It was previously believed that Gamal would succeed his father for the Presidency of Egypt.
In the early year of 2011 (starting on 25 January), major protests in the country started following similar protests in Tunisia. The protests aimed at removing Mubarak from his throne. On the 28th of January 2011, the Internet in Egypt was cut off following an order by Hosni Mubarak himself. It was said that even Vodafone mobile provider was ordered to pull down its network until the protests stopped and the situation contained.
Hosni Mubarak was finally forced to resign on 11-02-2011, after the determined protesters led a strong fight, and lost more than 400 between them in Martyrs, and 5000 in wounded.
Mohamed Elbaradei is believed to be a probable future President for Egypt.
In February 2011, rumors circulated that Hosni Mubarak could have Lebanese origins as well. Mubarak is incidentally a very common family name in Lebanon, and other celebrities such as Shakira also hold the same one. The story, which was exposed on Lil Nasher with Tony Khalifeh, suggests that a priest from Rayfun traveled to Egypt where he converted to Islam and married an Egyptian woman. The man supposedly is Hosni's ancestor.


"TED" Lakeland, Michigan, Age 66. Loving husband of Diane. Beloved father of Kimberly (Peter) Javarinis of Naples, FL and Robert Delcomyn of Westland. Dearest brother of Sandra (Travis) Randolph of Saugatuck, MI; his niece, Loring and his nephew, Barrett. A Healing Farewell Service 11 a.m. Monday Borek Jennings Funeral Home, Hamburg Chapel (810) 231-0200. Visitation Sunday 1-8 p.m. Please leave a Message of Comfort to Ted's family at 877-231-7900 or visit his guestbook at borekjennings.com.


Just months after the state threatened to close 100 parks because of budget cuts, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced a plan today that will keep all parks open by instead reducing maintenance, administrative staff and some facilities' hours.
The governor had cut $14.2 million from the parks budget as part of an effort to close a $60-billion budget shortfall, and parks officials said the reduction would force the closure of up to 100 state parks. That sparked an outcry from the public and pressure from environmental groups to reconsider.
Schwarzenegger said today that Parks and Recreation Department and state finance officials have come up with an alternative plan to keep all the parks open, with a reduction of the hours or days of operation at most of them.
The plan means that in many cases restrooms might be cleaned only once each day, some facilities will close weekdays and be open on weekends and holidays, and portions of a park, such as a back loop of a campground, may close part of the week.
Other parks that already close because of seasonal conditions may see a longer closure.
Details were not yet released on which parks will see reductions in the hours and days of operation.


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Decoding subcategories of human bodies from both body- and face-responsive cortical regions
Foster, C., Zhao, M., Romero, J., Black, M. J., Mohler, B. J., Bartels, A., Bülthoff, I.
NeuroImage, 202(15):116085, November 2019 (article)
Our visual system can easily categorize objects (e.g. faces vs. bodies) and further differentiate them into subcategories (e.g. male vs. female). This ability is particularly important for objects of social significance, such as human faces and bodies. While many studies have demonstrated category selectivity to faces and bodies in the brain, how subcategories of faces and bodies are represented remains unclear. Here, we investigated how the brain encodes two prominent subcategories shared by both faces and bodies, sex and weight, and whether neural responses to these subcategories rely on low-level visual, high-level visual or semantic similarity. We recorded brain activity with fMRI while participants viewed faces and bodies that varied in sex, weight, and image size. The results showed that the sex of bodies can be decoded from both body- and face-responsive brain areas, with the former exhibiting more consistent size-invariant decoding than the latter. Body weight could also be decoded in face-responsive areas and in distributed body-responsive areas, and this decoding was also invariant to image size. The weight of faces could be decoded from the fusiform body area (FBA), and weight could be decoded across face and body stimuli in the extrastriate body area (EBA) and a distributed body-responsive area. The sex of well-controlled faces (e.g. excluding hairstyles) could not be decoded from face- or body-responsive regions. These results demonstrate that both face- and body-responsive brain regions encode information that can distinguish the sex and weight of bodies. Moreover, the neural patterns corresponding to sex and weight were invariant to image size and could sometimes generalize across face and body stimuli, suggesting that such subcategorical information is encoded with a high-level visual or semantic code.
paper pdf DOI [BibTex]
Foster, C., Zhao, M., Romero, J., Black, M. J., Mohler, B. J., Bartels, A., Bülthoff, I. Decoding subcategories of human bodies from both body- and face-responsive cortical regions NeuroImage, 202(15):116085, November 2019 (article)
Active Perception based Formation Control for Multiple Aerial Vehicles
Tallamraju, R., Price, E., Ludwig, R., Karlapalem, K., Bülthoff, H. H., Black, M. J., Ahmad, A.
IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Robotics and Automation Letters, 4(4):4491-4498, IEEE, October 2019 (article)
We present a novel robotic front-end for autonomous aerial motion-capture (mocap) in outdoor environments. In previous work, we presented an approach for cooperative detection and tracking (CDT) of a subject using multiple micro-aerial vehicles (MAVs). However, it did not ensure optimal view-point configurations of the MAVs to minimize the uncertainty in the person's cooperatively tracked 3D position estimate. In this article, we introduce an active approach for CDT. In contrast to cooperatively tracking only the 3D positions of the person, the MAVs can actively compute optimal local motion plans, resulting in optimal view-point configurations, which minimize the uncertainty in the tracked estimate. We achieve this by decoupling the goal of active tracking into a quadratic objective and non-convex constraints corresponding to angular configurations of the MAVs w.r.t. the person. We derive this decoupling using Gaussian observation model assumptions within the CDT algorithm. We preserve convexity in optimization by embedding all the non-convex constraints, including those for dynamic obstacle avoidance, as external control inputs in the MPC dynamics. Multiple real robot experiments and comparisons involving 3 MAVs in several challenging scenarios are presented.
Tallamraju, R., Price, E., Ludwig, R., Karlapalem, K., Bülthoff, H. H., Black, M. J., Ahmad, A. Active Perception based Formation Control for Multiple Aerial Vehicles IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Robotics and Automation Letters, 4(4):4491-4498, IEEE, October 2019 (article)
3D Morphable Face Models - Past, Present and Future
Egger, B., Smith, W. A. P., Tewari, A., Wuhrer, S., Zollhoefer, M., Beeler, T., Bernard, F., Bolkart, T., Kortylewski, A., Romdhani, S., Theobalt, C., Blanz, V., Vetter, T.
arxiv preprint arXiv:1909.01815, September 2019 (article)
In this paper, we provide a detailed survey of 3D Morphable Face Models over the 20 years since they were first proposed. The challenges in building and applying these models, namely capture, modeling, image formation,and image analysis, are still active research topics, and we review the state-of-the-art in each of these areas. We also look ahead, identifying unsolved challenges, proposing directions for future research and highlighting the broad range of current and future applications.
paper project page [BibTex]
Egger, B., Smith, W. A. P., Tewari, A., Wuhrer, S., Zollhoefer, M., Beeler, T., Bernard, F., Bolkart, T., Kortylewski, A., Romdhani, S., Theobalt, C., Blanz, V., Vetter, T. 3D Morphable Face Models - Past, Present and Future arxiv preprint arXiv:1909.01815, September 2019 (article)
Learning and Tracking the 3D Body Shape of Freely Moving Infants from RGB-D sequences
Hesse, N., Pujades, S., Black, M., Arens, M., Hofmann, U., Schroeder, S.
Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), 2019 (article)
Statistical models of the human body surface are generally learned from thousands of high-quality 3D scans in predefined poses to cover the wide variety of human body shapes and articulations. Acquisition of such data requires expensive equipment, calibration procedures, and is limited to cooperative subjects who can understand and follow instructions, such as adults. We present a method for learning a statistical 3D Skinned Multi-Infant Linear body model (SMIL) from incomplete, low-quality RGB-D sequences of freely moving infants. Quantitative experiments show that SMIL faithfully represents the RGB-D data and properly factorizes the shape and pose of the infants. To demonstrate the applicability of SMIL, we fit the model to RGB-D sequences of freely moving infants and show, with a case study, that our method captures enough motion detail for General Movements Assessment (GMA), a method used in clinical practice for early detection of neurodevelopmental disorders in infants. SMIL provides a new tool for analyzing infant shape and movement and is a step towards an automated system for GMA.
pdf Journal DOI [BibTex]
Hesse, N., Pujades, S., Black, M., Arens, M., Hofmann, U., Schroeder, S. Learning and Tracking the 3D Body Shape of Freely Moving Infants from RGB-D sequences Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence (TPAMI), 2019 (article)
Perceptual Effects of Inconsistency in Human Animations
Kenny, S., Mahmood, N., Honda, C., Black, M. J., Troje, N. F.
ACM Trans. Appl. Percept., 16(1):2:1-2:18, Febuary 2019 (article)
The individual shape of the human body, including the geometry of its articulated structure and the distribution of weight over that structure, influences the kinematics of a person's movements. How sensitive is the visual system to inconsistencies between shape and motion introduced by retargeting motion from one person onto the shape of another? We used optical motion capture to record five pairs of male performers with large differences in body weight, while they pushed, lifted, and threw objects. From these data, we estimated both the kinematics of the actions as well as the performer's individual body shape. To obtain consistent and inconsistent stimuli, we created animated avatars by combining the shape and motion estimates from either a single performer or from different performers. Using these stimuli we conducted three experiments in an immersive virtual reality environment. First, a group of participants detected which of two stimuli was inconsistent. Performance was very low, and results were only marginally significant. Next, a second group of participants rated perceived attractiveness, eeriness, and humanness of consistent and inconsistent stimuli, but these judgements of animation characteristics were not affected by consistency of the stimuli. Finally, a third group of participants rated properties of the objects rather than of the performers. Here, we found strong influences of shape-motion inconsistency on perceived weight and thrown distance of objects. This suggests that the visual system relies on its knowledge of shape and motion and that these components are assimilated into an altered perception of the action outcome. We propose that the visual system attempts to resist inconsistent interpretations of human animations. Actions involving object manipulations present an opportunity for the visual system to reinterpret the introduced inconsistencies as a change in the dynamics of an object rather than as an unexpected combination of body shape and body motion.
publisher pdf DOI [BibTex]
Kenny, S., Mahmood, N., Honda, C., Black, M. J., Troje, N. F. Perceptual Effects of Inconsistency in Human Animations ACM Trans. Appl. Percept., 16(1):2:1-2:18, Febuary 2019 (article)
The Virtual Caliper: Rapid Creation of Metrically Accurate Avatars from 3D Measurements
Pujades, S., Mohler, B., Thaler, A., Tesch, J., Mahmood, N., Hesse, N., Bülthoff, H. H., Black, M. J.
IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 25, pages: 1887,1897, IEEE, 2019 (article)
Creating metrically accurate avatars is important for many applications such as virtual clothing try-on, ergonomics, medicine, immersive social media, telepresence, and gaming. Creating avatars that precisely represent a particular individual is challenging however, due to the need for expensive 3D scanners, privacy issues with photographs or videos, and difficulty in making accurate tailoring measurements. We overcome these challenges by creating "The Virtual Caliper", which uses VR game controllers to make simple measurements. First, we establish what body measurements users can reliably make on their own body. We find several distance measurements to be good candidates and then verify that these are linearly related to 3D body shape as represented by the SMPL body model. The Virtual Caliper enables novice users to accurately measure themselves and create an avatar with their own body shape. We evaluate the metric accuracy relative to ground truth 3D body scan data, compare the method quantitatively to other avatar creation tools, and perform extensive perceptual studies. We also provide a software application to the community that enables novices to rapidly create avatars in fewer than five minutes. Not only is our approach more rapid than existing methods, it exports a metrically accurate 3D avatar model that is rigged and skinned.
Project Page IEEE Open Access IEEE Open Access PDF DOI [BibTex]
Pujades, S., Mohler, B., Thaler, A., Tesch, J., Mahmood, N., Hesse, N., Bülthoff, H. H., Black, M. J. The Virtual Caliper: Rapid Creation of Metrically Accurate Avatars from 3D Measurements IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics, 25, pages: 1887,1897, IEEE, 2019 (article)
High-quality reflection separation using polarized images
IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 20(12):3393-3405, IEEE Signal Processing Society, December 2011 (article)
In this paper, we deal with a problem of separating the effect of reflection from images captured behind glass. The input consists of multiple polarized images captured from the same view point but with different polarizer angles. The output is the high quality separation of the reflection layer and the background layer from the images. We formulate this problem as a constrained optimization problem and propose a framework that allows us to fully exploit the mutually exclusive image information in our input data. We test our approach on various images and demonstrate that our approach can generate good reflection separation results.
Kong, N., Tai, Y., Shin, S. Y. High-quality reflection separation using polarized images IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 20(12):3393-3405, IEEE Signal Processing Society, December 2011 (article)
A human inspired gaze estimation system
Wulff, J., Sinha, P.
Journal of Vision, 11(11):507-507, ARVO, September 2011 (article)
Estimating another person's gaze is a crucial skill in human social interactions. The social component is most apparent in dyadic gaze situations, in which the looker seems to look into the eyes of the observer, thereby signaling interest or a turn to speak. In a triadic situation, on the other hand, the looker's gaze is averted from the observer and directed towards another, specific target. This is mostly interpreted as a cue for joint attention, creating awareness of a predator or another point of interest. In keeping with the task's social significance, humans are very proficient at gaze estimation. Our accuracy ranges from less than one degree for dyadic settings to approximately 2.5 degrees for triadic ones. Our goal in this work is to draw inspiration from human gaze estimation mechanisms in order to create an artificial system that can approach the former's accuracy levels. Since human performance is severely impaired by both image-based degradations (Ando, 2004) and a change of facial configurations (Jenkins & Langton, 2003), the underlying principles are believed to be based both on simple image cues such as contrast/brightness distribution and on more complex geometric processing to reconstruct the actual shape of the head. By incorporating both kinds of cues in our system's design, we are able to surpass the accuracy of existing eye-tracking systems, which rely exclusively on either image-based or geometry-based cues (Yamazoe et al., 2008). A side-benefit of this combined approach is that it allows for gaze estimation despite moderate view-point changes. This is important for settings where subjects, say young children or certain kinds of patients, might not be fully cooperative to allow a careful calibration. Our model and implementation of gaze estimation opens up new experimental questions about human mechanisms while also providing a useful tool for general calibration-free, non-intrusive remote eye-tracking.
Wulff, J., Sinha, P. A human inspired gaze estimation system Journal of Vision, 11(11):507-507, ARVO, September 2011 (article)
Detecting synchrony in degraded audio-visual streams
Dhandhania, K., Wulff, J., Sinha, P.
Even 8–10 week old infants, when presented with two dynamic faces and a speech stream, look significantly longer at the 'correct' talking person (Patterson & Werker, 2003). This is true even though their reduced visual acuity prevents them from utilizing high spatial frequencies. Computational analyses in the field of audio/video synchrony and automatic speaker detection (e.g. Hershey & Movellan, 2000), in contrast, usually depend on high-resolution images. Therefore, the correlation mechanisms found in these computational studies are not directly applicable to the processes through which we learn to integrate the modalities of speech and vision. In this work, we investigated the correlation between speech signals and degraded video signals. We found a high correlation persisting even with high image degradation, resembling the low visual acuity of young infants. Additionally (in a fashion similar to Graf et al., 2002) we explored which parts of the face correlate with the audio in the degraded video sequences. Perfect synchrony and small offsets in the audio were used while finding the correlation, thereby detecting visual events preceding and following audio events. In order to achieve a sufficiently high temporal resolution, high-speed video sequences (500 frames per second) of talking people were used. This is a temporal resolution unachieved in previous studies and has allowed us to capture very subtle and short visual events. We believe that the results of this study might be interesting not only to vision researchers, but, by revealing subtle effects on a very fine timescale, also to people working in computer graphics and the generation and animation of artificial faces.
Dhandhania, K., Wulff, J., Sinha, P. Detecting synchrony in degraded audio-visual streams Journal of Vision, 11(11):800-800, ARVO, September 2011 (article)
ISocRob-MSL 2011 Team Description Paper for Middle Sized League
Messias, J., Ahmad, A., Reis, J., Sousa, J., Lima, P.
15th Annual RoboCup International Symposium 2011, July 2011 (techreport)
This paper describes the status of the ISocRob MSL robotic soccer team as required by the RoboCup 2011 qualification procedures. The most relevant technical and scientifical developments carried out by the team, since its last participation in the RoboCup MSL competitions, are here detailed. These include cooperative localization, cooperative object tracking, planning under uncertainty, obstacle detection and improvements to self-localization.
Messias, J., Ahmad, A., Reis, J., Sousa, J., Lima, P. ISocRob-MSL 2011 Team Description Paper for Middle Sized League 15th Annual RoboCup International Symposium 2011, July 2011 (techreport)
Trajectory Space: A Dual Representation for Nonrigid Structure from Motion
Akhter, I., Sheikh, Y., Khan, S., Kanade, T.
Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Transactions on, 33(7):1442-1456, IEEE, July 2011 (article)
Existing approaches to nonrigid structure from motion assume that the instantaneous 3D shape of a deforming object is a linear combination of basis shapes. These basis are object dependent and therefore have to be estimated anew for each video sequence. In contrast, we propose a dual approach to describe the evolving 3D structure in trajectory space by a linear combination of basis trajectories. We describe the dual relationship between the two approaches, showing that they both have equal power for representing 3D structure. We further show that the temporal smoothness in 3D trajectories alone can be used for recovering nonrigid structure from a moving camera. The principal advantage of expressing deforming 3D structure in trajectory space is that we can define an object independent basis. This results in a significant reduction in unknowns, and corresponding stability in estimation. We propose the use of the Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) as the object independent basis and empirically demonstrate that it approaches Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for natural motions. We report the performance of the proposed method, quantitatively using motion capture data, and qualitatively on several video sequences exhibiting nonrigid motions including piecewise rigid motion, partially nonrigid motion (such as a facial expressions), and highly nonrigid motion (such as a person walking or dancing).
Akhter, I., Sheikh, Y., Khan, S., Kanade, T. Trajectory Space: A Dual Representation for Nonrigid Structure from Motion Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, IEEE Transactions on, 33(7):1442-1456, IEEE, July 2011 (article)
Loose-limbed People: Estimating 3D Human Pose and Motion Using Non-parametric Belief Propagation
Sigal, L., Isard, M., Haussecker, H., Black, M. J.
International Journal of Computer Vision, 98(1):15-48, Springer Netherlands, May 2011 (article)
We formulate the problem of 3D human pose estimation and tracking as one of inference in a graphical model. Unlike traditional kinematic tree representations, our model of the body is a collection of loosely-connected body-parts. In particular, we model the body using an undirected graphical model in which nodes correspond to parts and edges to kinematic, penetration, and temporal constraints imposed by the joints and the world. These constraints are encoded using pair-wise statistical distributions, that are learned from motion-capture training data. Human pose and motion estimation is formulated as inference in this graphical model and is solved using Particle Message Passing (PaMPas). PaMPas is a form of non-parametric belief propagation that uses a variation of particle filtering that can be applied over a general graphical model with loops. The loose-limbed model and decentralized graph structure allow us to incorporate information from "bottom-up" visual cues, such as limb and head detectors, into the inference process. These detectors enable automatic initialization and aid recovery from transient tracking failures. We illustrate the method by automatically tracking people in multi-view imagery using a set of calibrated cameras and present quantitative evaluation using the HumanEva dataset.
pdf publisher's site link (url) Project Page Project Page [BibTex]
Sigal, L., Isard, M., Haussecker, H., Black, M. J. Loose-limbed People: Estimating 3D Human Pose and Motion Using Non-parametric Belief Propagation International Journal of Computer Vision, 98(1):15-48, Springer Netherlands, May 2011 (article)
Point-and-Click Cursor Control With an Intracortical Neural Interface System by Humans With Tetraplegia
Kim, S., Simeral, J. D., Hochberg, L. R., Donoghue, J. P., Friehs, G. M., Black, M. J.
IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 19(2):193-203, April 2011 (article)
We present a point-and-click intracortical neural interface system (NIS) that enables humans with tetraplegia to volitionally move a 2D computer cursor in any desired direction on a computer screen, hold it still and click on the area of interest. This direct brain-computer interface extracts both discrete (click) and continuous (cursor velocity) signals from a single small population of neurons in human motor cortex. A key component of this system is a multi-state probabilistic decoding algorithm that simultaneously decodes neural spiking activity and outputs either a click signal or the velocity of the cursor. The algorithm combines a linear classifier, which determines whether the user is intending to click or move the cursor, with a Kalman filter that translates the neural population activity into cursor velocity. We present a paradigm for training the multi-state decoding algorithm using neural activity observed during imagined actions. Two human participants with tetraplegia (paralysis of the four limbs) performed a closed-loop radial target acquisition task using the point-and-click NIS over multiple sessions. We quantified point-and-click performance using various human-computer interaction measurements for pointing devices. We found that participants were able to control the cursor motion accurately and click on specified targets with a small error rate (< 3% in one participant). This study suggests that signals from a small ensemble of motor cortical neurons (~40) can be used for natural point-and-click 2D cursor control of a personal computer.
pdf publishers's site pub med link (url) Project Page [BibTex]
Kim, S., Simeral, J. D., Hochberg, L. R., Donoghue, J. P., Friehs, G. M., Black, M. J. Point-and-Click Cursor Control With an Intracortical Neural Interface System by Humans With Tetraplegia IEEE Transactions on Neural Systems and Rehabilitation Engineering, 19(2):193-203, April 2011 (article)
A Database and Evaluation Methodology for Optical Flow
Baker, S., Scharstein, D., Lewis, J. P., Roth, S., Black, M. J., Szeliski, R.
International Journal of Computer Vision, 92(1):1-31, March 2011 (article)
The quantitative evaluation of optical flow algorithms by Barron et al. (1994) led to significant advances in performance. The challenges for optical flow algorithms today go beyond the datasets and evaluation methods proposed in that paper. Instead, they center on problems associated with complex natural scenes, including nonrigid motion, real sensor noise, and motion discontinuities. We propose a new set of benchmarks and evaluation methods for the next generation of optical flow algorithms. To that end, we contribute four types of data to test different aspects of optical flow algorithms: (1) sequences with nonrigid motion where the ground-truth flow is determined by tracking hidden fluorescent texture, (2) realistic synthetic sequences, (3) high frame-rate video used to study interpolation error, and (4) modified stereo sequences of static scenes. In addition to the average angular error used by Barron et al., we compute the absolute flow endpoint error, measures for frame interpolation error, improved statistics, and results at motion discontinuities and in textureless regions. In October 2007, we published the performance of several well-known methods on a preliminary version of our data to establish the current state of the art. We also made the data freely available on the web at http://vision.middlebury.edu/flow/ . Subsequently a number of researchers have uploaded their results to our website and published papers using the data. A significant improvement in performance has already been achieved. In this paper we analyze the results obtained to date and draw a large number of conclusions from them.
pdf pdf from publisher Middlebury Flow Evaluation Website [BibTex]
Baker, S., Scharstein, D., Lewis, J. P., Roth, S., Black, M. J., Szeliski, R. A Database and Evaluation Methodology for Optical Flow International Journal of Computer Vision, 92(1):1-31, March 2011 (article)
Neural control of cursor trajectory and click by a human with tetraplegia 1000 days after implant of an intracortical microelectrode array
(J. Neural Engineering Highlights of 2011 Collection. JNE top 10 cited papers of 2010-2011.)
Simeral, J. D., Kim, S., Black, M. J., Donoghue, J. P., Hochberg, L. R.
J. of Neural Engineering, 8(2):025027, 2011 (article)
The ongoing pilot clinical trial of the BrainGate neural interface system aims in part to assess the feasibility of using neural activity obtained from a small-scale, chronically implanted, intracortical microelectrode array to provide control signals for a neural prosthesis system. Critical questions include how long implanted microelectrodes will record useful neural signals, how reliably those signals can be acquired and decoded, and how effectively they can be used to control various assistive technologies such as computers and robotic assistive devices, or to enable functional electrical stimulation of paralyzed muscles. Here we examined these questions by assessing neural cursor control and BrainGate system characteristics on five consecutive days 1000 days after implant of a 4 × 4 mm array of 100 microelectrodes in the motor cortex of a human with longstanding tetraplegia subsequent to a brainstem stroke. On each of five prospectively-selected days we performed time-amplitude sorting of neuronal spiking activity, trained a population-based Kalman velocity decoding filter combined with a linear discriminant click state classifier, and then assessed closed-loop point-and-click cursor control. The participant performed both an eight-target center-out task and a random target Fitts metric task which was adapted from a human-computer interaction ISO standard used to quantify performance of computer input devices. The neural interface system was further characterized by daily measurement of electrode impedances, unit waveforms and local field potentials. Across the five days, spiking signals were obtained from 41 of 96 electrodes and were successfully decoded to provide neural cursor point-and-click control with a mean task performance of 91.3% ± 0.1% (mean ± s.d.) correct target acquisition. Results across five consecutive days demonstrate that a neural interface system based on an intracortical microelectrode array can provide repeatable, accurate point-and-click control of a computer interface to an individual with tetraplegia 1000 days after implantation of this sensor.
pdf pdf from publisher link (url) Project Page [BibTex]
Simeral, J. D., Kim, S., Black, M. J., Donoghue, J. P., Hochberg, L. R. Neural control of cursor trajectory and click by a human with tetraplegia 1000 days after implant of an intracortical microelectrode array J. of Neural Engineering, 8(2):025027, 2011 (article)
Dorsal Stream: From Algorithm to Neuroscience
Jhuang, H.
PhD Thesis, MIT, 2011 (techreport)
Jhuang, H. Dorsal Stream: From Algorithm to Neuroscience PhD Thesis, MIT, 2011 (techreport)
Modelling pipeline for subject-specific arterial blood flow—A review
Igor Sazonov, Si Yong Yeo, Rhodri Bevan, Xianghua Xie, Raoul van Loon, Perumal Nithiarasu
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 27(12):1868–1910, 2011 (article)
In this paper, a robust and semi-automatic modelling pipeline for blood flow through subject-specific arterial geometries is presented. The framework developed consists of image segmentation, domain discretization (meshing) and fluid dynamics. All the three subtopics of the pipeline are explained using an example of flow through a severely stenosed human carotid artery. In the Introduction, the state-of-the-art of both image segmentation and meshing is presented in some detail, and wherever possible the advantages and disadvantages of the existing methods are analysed. Followed by this, the deformable model used for image segmentation is presented. This model is based upon a geometrical potential force (GPF), which is a function of the image. Both the GPF calculation and level set determination are explained. Following the image segmentation method, a semi-automatic meshing method used in the present study is explained in full detail. All the relevant techniques required to generate a valid domain discretization are presented. These techniques include generating a valid surface mesh, skeletonization, mesh cropping, boundary layer mesh construction and various mesh cosmetic methods that are essential for generating a high-quality domain discretization. After presenting the mesh generation procedure, how to generate flow boundary conditions for both the inlets and outlets of a geometry is explained in detail. This is followed by a brief note on the flow solver, before studying the blood flow through the carotid artery with a severe stenosis.
Igor Sazonov, Si Yong Yeo, Rhodri Bevan, Xianghua Xie, Raoul van Loon, Perumal Nithiarasu Modelling pipeline for subject-specific arterial blood flow—A review International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 27(12):1868–1910, 2011 (article)
Geometrically Induced Force Interaction for Three-Dimensional Deformable Models
IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 20(5):1373 - 1387, 2011 (article)
In this paper, we propose a novel 3-D deformable model that is based upon a geometrically induced external force field which can be conveniently generalized to arbitrary dimensions. This external force field is based upon hypothesized interactions between the relative geometries of the deformable model and the object boundary characterized by image gradient. The evolution of the deformable model is solved using the level set method so that topological changes are handled automatically. The relative geometrical configurations between the deformable model and the object boundaries contribute to a dynamic vector force field that changes accordingly as the deformable model evolves. The geometrically induced dynamic interaction force has been shown to greatly improve the deformable model performance in acquiring complex geometries and highly concave boundaries, and it gives the deformable model a high invariancy in initialization configurations. The voxel interactions across the whole image domain provide a global view of the object boundary representation, giving the external force a long attraction range. The bidirectionality of the external force field allows the new deformable model to deal with arbitrary cross-boundary initializations, and facilitates the handling of weak edges and broken boundaries. In addition, we show that by enhancing the geometrical interaction field with a nonlocal edge-preserving algorithm, the new deformable model can effectively overcome image noise. We provide a comparative study on the segmentation of various geometries with different topologies from both synthetic and real images, and show that the proposed method achieves significant improvements against existing image gradient techniques.
Si Yong Yeo, Xianghua Xie, Igor Sazonov, Perumal Nithiarasu Geometrically Induced Force Interaction for Three-Dimensional Deformable Models IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, 20(5):1373 - 1387, 2011 (article)
Computational flow studies in a subject-specific human upper airway using a one-equation turbulence model. Influence of the nasal cavity
Prihambodo Saksono, Perumal Nithiarasu, Igor Sazonov, Si Yong Yeo
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 87(1-5):96–114, 2011 (article)
This paper focuses on the impact of including nasal cavity on airflow through a human upper respiratory tract. A computational study is carried out on a realistic geometry, reconstructed from CT scans of a subject. The geometry includes nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx, trachea and two generations of airway bifurcations below trachea. The unstructured mesh generation procedure is discussed in some length due to the complex nature of the nasal cavity structure and poor scan resolution normally available from hospitals. The fluid dynamic studies have been carried out on the geometry with and without the inclusion of the nasal cavity. The characteristic-based split scheme along with the one-equation Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model is used in its explicit form to obtain flow solutions at steady state. Results reveal that the exclusion of nasal cavity significantly influences the resulting solution. In particular, the location of recirculating flow in the trachea is dramatically different when the truncated geometry is used. In addition, we also address the differences in the solution due to imposed, equally distributed and proportionally distributed flow rates at inlets (both nares). The results show that the differences in flow pattern between the two inlet conditions are not confined to the nasal cavity and nasopharyngeal region, but they propagate down to the trachea.
Prihambodo Saksono, Perumal Nithiarasu, Igor Sazonov, Si Yong Yeo Computational flow studies in a subject-specific human upper airway using a one-equation turbulence model. Influence of the nasal cavity International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering, 87(1-5):96–114, 2011 (article)
Predicting Articulated Human Motion from Spatial Processes
International Journal of Computer Vision, 94, pages: 317-334, Springer Netherlands, 2011 (article)
Publishers site Code Paper site PDF [BibTex]
Soren Hauberg, Kim S. Pedersen Predicting Articulated Human Motion from Spatial Processes International Journal of Computer Vision, 94, pages: 317-334, Springer Netherlands, 2011 (article)
Infinite Kernel Learning
Gehler, P., Nowozin, S.
(178), Max Planck Institute, octomber 2008 (techreport)
project page pdf [BibTex]
Gehler, P., Nowozin, S. Infinite Kernel Learning (178), Max Planck Institute, octomber 2008 (techreport)
A non-parametric Bayesian alternative to spike sorting
Wood, F., Black, M. J.
J. Neuroscience Methods, 173(1):1–12, August 2008 (article)
The analysis of extra-cellular neural recordings typically begins with careful spike sorting and all analysis of the data then rests on the correctness of the resulting spike trains. In many situations this is unproblematic as experimental and spike sorting procedures often focus on well isolated units. There is evidence in the literature, however, that errors in spike sorting can occur even with carefully collected and selected data. Additionally, chronically implanted electrodes and arrays with fixed electrodes cannot be easily adjusted to provide well isolated units. In these situations, multiple units may be recorded and the assignment of waveforms to units may be ambiguous. At the same time, analysis of such data may be both scientifically important and clinically relevant. In this paper we address this issue using a novel probabilistic model that accounts for several important sources of uncertainty and error in spike sorting. In lieu of sorting neural data to produce a single best spike train, we estimate a probabilistic model of spike trains given the observed data. We show how such a distribution over spike sortings can support standard neuroscientific questions while providing a representation of uncertainty in the analysis. As a representative illustration of the approach, we analyzed primary motor cortical tuning with respect to hand movement in data recorded with a chronic multi-electrode array in non-human primates.We found that the probabilistic analysis generally agrees with human sorters but suggests the presence of tuned units not detected by humans.
pdf preprint pdf from publisher PubMed [BibTex]
Wood, F., Black, M. J. A non-parametric Bayesian alternative to spike sorting J. Neuroscience Methods, 173(1):1–12, August 2008 (article)
Neural control of computer cursor velocity by decoding motor cortical spiking activity in humans with tetraplegia
(J. Neural Engineering Highlights of 2008 Collection)
Kim, S., Simeral, J., Hochberg, L., Donoghue, J. P., Black, M. J.
J. Neural Engineering, 5, pages: 455–476, 2008 (article)
Computer-mediated connections between human motor cortical neurons and assistive devices promise to improve or restore lost function in people with paralysis. Recently, a pilot clinical study of an intracortical neural interface system demonstrated that a tetraplegic human was able to obtain continuous two-dimensional control of a computer cursor using neural activity recorded from his motor cortex. This control, however, was not sufficiently accurate for reliable use in many common computer control tasks. Here, we studied several central design choices for such a system including the kinematic representation for cursor movement, the decoding method that translates neuronal ensemble spiking activity into a control signal and the cursor control task used during training for optimizing the parameters of the decoding method. In two tetraplegic participants, we found that controlling a cursor's velocity resulted in more accurate closed-loop control than controlling its position directly and that cursor velocity control was achieved more rapidly than position control. Control quality was further improved over conventional linear filters by using a probabilistic method, the Kalman filter, to decode human motor cortical activity. Performance assessment based on standard metrics used for the evaluation of a wide range of pointing devices demonstrated significantly improved cursor control with velocity rather than position decoding.
pdf preprint pdf from publisher [BibTex]
Kim, S., Simeral, J., Hochberg, L., Donoghue, J. P., Black, M. J. Neural control of computer cursor velocity by decoding motor cortical spiking activity in humans with tetraplegia J. Neural Engineering, 5, pages: 455–476, 2008 (article)
Incremental nonparametric Bayesian regression
Wood, F., Grollman, D. H., Heller, K. A., Jenkins, O. C., Black, M. J.
(CS-08-07), Brown University, Department of Computer Science, 2008 (techreport)
Wood, F., Grollman, D. H., Heller, K. A., Jenkins, O. C., Black, M. J. Incremental nonparametric Bayesian regression (CS-08-07), Brown University, Department of Computer Science, 2008 (techreport)
Brownian Warps for Non-Rigid Registration
Mads Nielsen, Peter Johansen, Andrew Jackson, Benny Lautrup, Soren Hauberg
Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision, 31, pages: 221-231, Springer Netherlands, 2008 (article)
Mads Nielsen, Peter Johansen, Andrew Jackson, Benny Lautrup, Soren Hauberg Brownian Warps for Non-Rigid Registration Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision, 31, pages: 221-231, Springer Netherlands, 2008 (article)
An Efficient Algorithm for Modelling Duration in Hidden Markov Models, with a Dramatic Application
Soren Hauberg, Jakob Sloth
Publishers site Paper site PDF [BibTex]
Soren Hauberg, Jakob Sloth An Efficient Algorithm for Modelling Duration in Hidden Markov Models, with a Dramatic Application Journal of Mathematical Imaging and Vision, 31, pages: 165-170, Springer Netherlands, 2008 (article)
Parameterized modeling and recognition of activities
Yacoob, Y., Black, M. J.
Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 73(2):232-247, 1999 (article)
In this paper we consider a class of human activities—atomic activities—which can be represented as a set of measurements over a finite temporal window (e.g., the motion of human body parts during a walking cycle) and which has a relatively small space of variations in performance. A new approach for modeling and recognition of atomic activities that employs principal component analysis and analytical global transformations is proposed. The modeling of sets of exemplar instances of activities that are similar in duration and involve similar body part motions is achieved by parameterizing their representation using principal component analysis. The recognition of variants of modeled activities is achieved by searching the space of admissible parameterized transformations that these activities can undergo. This formulation iteratively refines the recognition of the class to which the observed activity belongs and the transformation parameters that relate it to the model in its class. We provide several experiments on recognition of articulated and deformable human motions from image motion parameters.
pdf pdf from publisher DOI [BibTex]
Yacoob, Y., Black, M. J. Parameterized modeling and recognition of activities Computer Vision and Image Understanding, 73(2):232-247, 1999 (article)


The following article, ELECTORAL INTERFERENCE: Democrats Push to Throw Trump Off 2020 Ballot in 18 States, was first published on Big League Politics.
Now that FBI spook Robert Mueller's Russian collusion investigation is over and yielded no evidence implicating President Trump, Democrats have moved onto Trump's tax returns as the bogeyman threatening our electoral integrity.
Today would be a good day for @realDonaldTrump to release his tax returns.
NEWS ALERT, FOLKS: Trump and his minions at the IRS will NEVER voluntarily comply with the House Democrats' request to hand over his tax returns. Time to issue the damn subpoenas!!
Democratic-run states are even willing to jeopardize the integrity of the 2020 presidential election over their new witch hunt against the President. Eighteen liberal states are threatening to remove Trump from the ballot in 2020 if he does not release his tax returns.
The Illinois Senate has already passed one version of the bill that would force candidates for president and vice president to submit the previous five years of tax returns that will be viewable to the public on the secretary of state webpage.
"If you have nothing to hide, you shouldn't worry about anything," said Democratic state Sen. Tony Munoz on the Senate floor, arguing for his electoral interference scheme.
Republican state Sen. Dale Righter noted that there have been two Supreme Court rulings that would make a measure such as this unconstitutional. He cited Anderson v. Celebrezze (1983) and Williams v. Rhodes (1968) where SCOTUS ruled that it is illegal and unconstitutional for states to alter national ballot qualifications as the Democrats are trying to accomplish with their arbitrary power-grab.
"This is, quite frankly, with all due respect to the sponsor, an embarrassing waste of the Senate's time," Righter said.
The Democrats have shown their willingness to exhaust the time, money, and patience of the American public as they desperately try to undo the 2016 presidential election and stop Trump's 'America First' agenda. If they cannot get the public to care about this tax return hoax, they will concoct another Alinskyist scam as they cling to what's left of their power.


Nehru Trophy Boat Race is a popular Vallam Kali held in the punnamada Lake near Alappuzha. It's conducted on the Second Saturday of August every year is a major tourist attraction.
Vallam Kali or Vallamkali literally means boat race. The most attractive event of the race is the competition of Snake Boats known as ChundanVallams. So it's also known as snake Boat Race. There is other types boats which participate in various events of the race are Churulan vallam, Odi vallam, (Vaipu Vallam), Vadakkanody Vallam and Kochu Vallam.
Marari Beach, beautiful long beach on the way from cochin to alleppey. It is a perfect place spend a day time with your friends and for adventure lovers.


The natural world is replete with examples of evolutionary convergence. That's when two organisms that didn't get traits they have in common from the same ancestor but instead got them on their own, in response to separate environmental pressures.
In the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, there's a special exhibit that addresses the evolutionary convergence of the agave genus of plants and the aloe genus. These two genuses aren't even in the same family, and they came into being in ecosystems that are very far apart: The agaves, also known as century plants, exist in Mexico and the Desert Southwest. Aloes, by contrast, exist on the African continent south of the Sahara Desert.
The environment in southern Africa is similar to that in the Desert Southwest: hot, dry, desert-like. As you can see from the pictures, the thorn-crested agave has traits similar to those of the aloe vera plant: thorns, thick leaves that come to a point, and so on.
The thorns that each developed are clearly there to keep non-pollinator animals from eating the leaves. Not only do the thorns act as swords to injure any potential herbivores, but they also act, mainly through their coloration, to warn potential herbivores away, a 2011 study published in Plant Signaling & Behavior suggests.
Animals do this sort of thing all the time. Think about insects that have developed the yellow and brown stripes seen in dangerous wasps. Think about caterpillars that use coloration not only as camouflage but as a warning. Think about birds that have developed coloration patterns that make them look unpalatable to potential predators.


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- Add support for `options.shell`
- Improve parsing of shebangs by using [`shebang-command`](https://github.com/kevva/shebang-command) module
- Refactor some code to make it more clear
- Update README caveats

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Tag: diversity dance studio
How to Get the Best Dance Studio in Miami
A lot of Miami residents are complaining that the city has the worst dance studios in the nation, and it's time for them to know that the truth is far more important than their opinion.Miami is known for its dance studios, and while many people in the area love to dance and play the music,…
What do you get when you mix dance with film?
By now, most people have heard the trailer for The American Dream, the dance-oriented film from director and producer Kevin Spacey that tells the story of two college students who decide to leave their home and find their true calling in Los Angeles.The film is also the subject of a Netflix special, which is now…


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Exclusive Pictures: Introducing Celebrity Flora
Posted in News, Projects on 25 April, 2019
Celebrity Flora seamlessly combines modern luxury, sustainability and design, redefining the expedition travel experience
Celebrity Cruises unveils another stunning revolution in ship design: Celebrity Flora is an elevated and inspired approach to marine exploration, meticulously designed expressly for the awe-inspiring Galapagos Islands.
One of the most energy-efficient ships of its size in the diverse archipelago, the 100-guest Celebrity Flora will offer seamless sea-to-shore transportation, and includes anchorless technology that maintains the ship's position while protecting the sensitive sea floor. Innovative outward-facing design gives guests 360-degree views of the islands, while personal suite attendants, new dining venues, an open-air stargazing platform, and expert-led ecological seminars will round out the modern luxury vacation experience.
"Celebrity Flora marks another example of our revolutionary ship design by allowing the destination and its environment to influence every decision we've made," said Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, President and CEO, Celebrity Cruises. "From the luxurious all-suite accommodations to industry-first, eco-friendly innovations, we created a ship that brings a new level of luxury, sustainability and natural exploration to the region. Guests will feel as though they're boarding a high-end yacht for a week of unparalleled adventures, and they are!"
Designed with the Destination in Mind:
The natural beauty of the islands, the diversity and uniqueness of the species that it harbors earned this archipelago the reputation of being a living laboratory of evolutionary processes still in progress. The region made room for the development of a large number of flora and fauna that do not exist anywhere else in the world, making the Galapagos a very unique place of global importance for the common heritage of humanity.
Featuring Celebrity's signature outward-facing design, Celebrity Flora virtually erases boundaries and brings this typically remote destination closer to guests. Educational, research-based programming gives travelers an opportunity to continue learning about the wildlife-rich Galapagos Islands.
The Marina is the primary point of access to the ship and can accommodate up to three Zodiacs at once, reducing transport time to and from land and allowing more time for guests to explore the practically untouched islands. While onboard guests will unwind in the Sunset Lounge, find solace in The Vista, an open-air hideaway with 360-degree views, cocoon-style loungers and private cabanas, and enjoy the breathtaking surrounds in the floor-to-ceiling glass-wrapped Observatory.
Darwin's Cove and the Naturalist Center provide a bounty of information on the destination, wildlife and environmental efforts, while the Discovery Lounge will be home to Naturalist presentations and excursion information. Guests can participate in a guided astronomy tour or enjoy star-lit skies on their own from the Stargazing Platform.
Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served daily in the Seaside Restaurant. The Ocean Grill offers a casual dining space, panoramic views and Dinner Under the Stars, or guests can choose from an indulgent in- room dining experience.
Sophisticated Accommodations, Attentive Service:
Celebrity Flora transports travelers in all-suite accommodations featuring oversized bathrooms perfect for post-adventure refreshing. These modern retreats bring the outside in through Celebrity's signature outward-facing layouts and heralded Infinite Verandas, and come complete with sustainable, natural, regionally inspired materials. Personal suite attendants cater to guests' every need.
Celebrity Flora's two Penthouse Suites are the largest in the Galapagos with separate indoor and outdoor living areas, customizable lighting and shades, and a telescope for stargazing or sea lion-peeping. Guests can also find relaxation in Royal Suites, Ultimate Sky Suites with Infinite Veranda, Premium Sky Suites with Infinite Veranda and Sky Suites with Infinite Veranda.
Environmental Stewardship and Innovation:
Celebrity Flora is one of the most energy-efficient ships in its class, with a 15 percent reduction of fuel consumption and equivalently fewer air emissions2, thanks to the introduction of an advanced propulsion system, hull configuration and specially designed diesel engines. Two more firsts in the Galapagos, Celebrity Flora's dynamic positioning system allows the ship to stay in position without physically anchoring and damaging the sea floor, with zero speed stabilizers promising smooth sailing throughout.
Celebrity will reduce the need for plastics onboard by introducing in-room water filtration stations and by converting sea water and air conditioning condensation into pure, fresh water. Any materials that can be recycled, reused or donated will be as part of a strict waste management system.
"I think this is a clear example of an intelligent investment, not only because the boat design was thought with the characteristics of the Galapagos, but because it is based on the best technology available to protect a Natural Heritage of Humanity," said Walter Bustos, Director of Galapagos National Park. "This proposal is a mix of experiences and education so that each visitor returns to their country with a different mindset, more committed to the conservation of the environment, which is one of the objectives of the Galapagos National Park."


The downward trend in EU flat product selling values persists. The poor economic outlook in many parts of the world, combined with global overcapacity, has led many international suppliers to focus on the West European steel market. Meanwhile, the traditional destocking period, before the end of the year, has resulted in a seasonal slowdown in demand. The differential between offers from producers in the north and south of the region continues at an unsustainable level.
German mills have reduced prices in an attempt to improve their unsatisfactory plant utilisation rates. Demand has slowed a little in the second half of the year, leaving distributors with surplus stock, which will negatively affect their balance sheets. Consequently, service centres are trying to adjust their inventory levels. This has led to reduced quantities being placed with the mills. Ordering may take place at the end of 2015, to provide them with the material to operate in early 2016.
In the French market, prices have continued to fall significantly, since our last report. They are still under threat from imported steel. Stockholders describe the general level of end-users' activity, in terms of volume, as "fairly satisfactory". Negotiations with the auto industry for first half 2016 contracts will start at the beginning of December, with the mills under pressure to make reductions. If they concede, it will prove difficult for them to raise first quarter prices for the rest of industry.
In Italy, domestic producer, Ilva, has been price-matching third country import offers, in November. Huge volumes of Chinese material, ordered earlier in the year, are sitting at the ports. Overall, underlying demand is quite stable. Service centres want to destock for the end of the year, even though they are already placing some orders for delivery in 2016. Resale values are very low as end-users constantly push for concessions.
UK basis values have been put under pressure by third country importers and mainland European suppliers, taking advantage of the strong pound. Distributors report that demand, although quieter than in the summer, has still been reasonably healthy. Their profit margins remain good. There is more intertrading than normal between service centres because their stocks are low, as are traders' inventories at the docks.
Belgian selling values were under pressure, in November. Many cheap offers from China have influenced market values, despite few orders being concluded. Buyers have been purchasing from Russian sources at competitive levels. Large quantities of material have been arriving from southern Europe, especially from Spain, with very short delivery lead times – one week only, in some instances.
In Spain, sales have improved a little but competition from ever decreasing Chinese prices is hitting both the mills and service centres. Delivery lead times are short, enabling customers to work with lower stocks.


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Dingiswayo (? - 1818) foi um célebre chefe Mtetwa, que iniciou a unificação política das tribos ngunis, na região da África do Sul conhecida como KwaZulu-Natal.

Inicialmente chamado Godongwana ou Ngodongwa, não se sabe ao certo quando nasceu, nem quando assumiu o poder, mas deve ter sido nas últimas décadas do século XVIII ou primeira do século XIX. Dingiswayo encetou alianças com os outros chefes nguni, permitindo que eles continuassem no seu posto, mas com a obrigação de pagarem tributo em gado. Também estabeleceu alianças comerciais com os portugueses da Baía da Delagoa, em Moçambique. Dingiswayo alicerçou o seu poder através da organização de um exército por grupos de jovens da mesma idade, tentando submeter outros chefes nguni. Um dos jovens recrutado por Dingiswayo foi Shaka, da tribo dos zulus. que chegou a comandante de uma das suas unidades militares.

Nesse movimento, algumas tribos afastaram-se, tendo-se iniciado, por exemplo, o povoamento de Essuatíni pela tribo nguni dos Ngwane. Mas os Ndwandwe resistiram e, ora atacavam Dingiswayo, ora eram por este atacados. Finalmente, em 1818, durante a Guerra Ndwandwe–Zulu, morre Dingiswayo e Shaka assume o poder, assimilando os mtétua aos zulus e continuando a aniquilação dos Ndwandwe.

Sul-africanos

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia