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Rx drug information, pharmaceutical research, clinical trials, news, and more
Close clinical surveillance of all women taking estrogens is important. Adequate diagnostic measures, including endometrial sampling when indicated, should be undertaken to rule out malignancy in all cases of undiagnosed persistent or recurring abnormal vaginal bleeding. There is currently no evidence that the use of "natural" estrogens results in a different endometrial risk profile than synthetic estrogens of equivalent estrogen dose. (See WARNINGS, Malignant Neoplasms, Endrometrial cancer.)
Estrogens with and without progestins should not be used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease or dementia. (See WARNINGS, Cardiovascular Disorders and Dementia
The Women's Health Initiative (WHI) study reported increased risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, invasive breast cancer, pulmonary emboli, and deep vein thrombosis in postmenopausal women (50 to 79 years of age) during 5 years of treatment with oral conjugated estrogens (CE 0.625 mg) combined with medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA 2.5 mg) relative to placebo. (See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY,CLINICAL STUDIES and WARNINGS, Cardiovascular
Disorders and Malignant Neoplasms, Breast cancer.)
The Women's Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS), a substudy of WHI, reported increased risk of developing probable dementia in postmenopausal women 65 years of age or older during 4 years of treatment with oral conjugated estrogens plus medroxyprogesterone acetate relative to placebo. It is unknown whether this finding applies to younger postmenopausal women. (See CLINICAL
PHARMACOLOGY, CLINICAL STUDIES and WARNINGS, Dementia and CLINICAL STUDIES and WARNINGS, Dementia and PRECAUTIONS, Geriatric Use.)
Other doses of oral conjugated estrogens with medroxyprogesterone acetate, and other combinations and dosage forms of estrogens and progestins were not studied in the WHI clinical trials and, in the absence of comparable data, these risks should be assumed to be similar. Because of these risks, estrogens with or without progestins should be prescribed at the lowest effective doses and for the shortest duration consistent with treatment goals and risks for the individual woman.
Alora (Estradiol Transdermal System, USP) is designed to deliver estradiol continuously and consistently over a 3 or 4-day interval upon application to intact skin. Four strengths of Alora are available, having nominal in vivo delivery rates of 0.025, 0.05, 0.075, and 0.1 mg estradiol per day through skin of average permeability (inter-individual variation in skin permeability is approximately 20%). Alora has contact surface areas of 9 cm2, 18 cm2, 27 cm2, and 36 cm2 and contains 0.77, 1.5, 2.3, and 3.1 mg of estradiol, USP, respectively. The composition of the estradiol transdermal systems per unit area is identical.
Alora is indicated in:
Treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with the menopause.
Treatment of moderate to severe symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy associated with the menopause. When prescribing solely for the treatment of symptoms of vulvar and vaginal atrophy, topical vaginal products should be considered.
Treatment of hypoestrogenism due to hypogonadism, castration or primary ovarian failure.
Prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis. When prescribing solely for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis, therapy should only be considered for women at significant risk of osteoporosis and non-estrogen medications should be carefully considered. The mainstays for decreasing the risk of postmenopausal osteoporosis are weight bearing exercise, adequate calcium and vitamin D intake, and, when indicated, pharmacologic therapy. Postmenopausal women require an average of 1500 mg/day of elemental calcium to remain in neutral calcium balance. Therefore, when not contraindicated, calcium supplementation may be helpful for women with suboptimal dietary intake. Vitamin D supplementation of 400-800 IU/day may also be required to ensure adequate daily intake in postmenopausal women.
Pharmacokinetics of testosterone and estradiol gel preparations in healthy young
men. [2013]The paucity of pharmacokinetic data on testosterone gel formulations and absence
of such data on estradiol administration in healthy young men constitutes a
fundamental gap of knowledge in behavioral endocrinological research. We
addressed this issue in a double-blind and placebo controlled study in which we
applied a topical gel containing either 150mg of testosterone (N=10), 2mg of
estradiol (N=8) or a respective placebo (N=10) to 28 healthy young men...
Ethinyl estradiol and levonorgestrel pharmacokinetics with a low-dose transdermal contraceptive delivery system, AG200-15: a randomized controlled trial. [2011.11.29]BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the ethinyl estradiol (EE) and levonorgestrel (LNG) pharmacokinetic profiles of AG200-15, a transdermal contraceptive delivery system, compared with a combination oral contraceptive (COC) containing EE 35 mcg and norgestimate 250 mcg... CONCLUSIONS: EE and LNG daily exposure during AG200-15 treatment was within the range reported for a low-dose COC. The daily EE dose with AG 200-15 was equivalent to a 30-mcg COC and was safe and well tolerated. Copyright (c) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Naproxen or estradiol for bleeding and spotting with the levonorgestrel intrauterine system: a randomized controlled trial. [2011.09.24]OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether oral naproxen or transdermal estradiol decreases bleeding and spotting in women who are initiating the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine system... CONCLUSION: The administration of naproxen resulted in a reduction in bleeding and spotting days compared with placebo. Copyright A(c) 2011 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.
Prevention of menstrual migraine with perimenstrual transdermal 17-beta-estradiol: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study. [2011.08]The effect of treatment with percutaneous E(2) (100 mug/24 h) during 2 weeks perimenstrually on the number and severity of menstrual migraine attacks was studied in 27 women in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, crossover trial. We were not able to demonstrate any difference between E(2) supplementation and placebo on the number or severity of migraine attacks, but both regimens showed significant effects compared with before treatment.
Increased estradiol and improved sleep, but not hot flashes, predict enhanced mood during the menopausal transition. [2011.07]BACKGROUND: The antidepressant effect of estrogen in women undergoing the menopause transition is hypothesized to be mediated by central nervous system effects of increasing estradiol on mood or through a pathway involving suppression of hot flashes and associated sleep disturbance. Estrogen therapy (ET) and the hypnotic agent zolpidem were selected as interventions in a three-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to distinguish the effects of estradiol, sleep, and hot flashes on depression... CONCLUSIONS: For women with menopause-associated depression, improvement in depression is predicted by improved sleep, and among perimenopausal women, by increasing estradiol levels. These results suggest that changes in estradiol and sleep quality, rather than hot flashes, mediate depression during the menopause transition. Therapies targeting insomnia may be valuable in treating menopause-associated depression.
Vaginal Testosterone Cream vs ESTRING for Vaginal Dryness or Decreased Libido in Early Stage Breast Cancer Patients [Recruiting]
The purpose of this clinical research study is to determine whether the ESTRING or a special
preparation of a testosterone cream inserted vaginally are safe for use in breast cancer
patients. This study will also evaluate if either of these treatments can improve symptoms
of vaginal dryness or decreased sexual interest that are related to your treatment for
breast cancer.
Serum Estradiol Levels In Postmenopausal Women With Breast Cancer Receiving Adjuvant Aromatase Inhibitors and Vaginal Estrogen [Recruiting]
The purpose of this study is to see if Vagifem® 10mcg is safe for women who have had breast
cancer. Vagifem is an estrogen product. It is a tiny tablet that is inserted into the
vagina. It relieves vaginal dryness. Women who have had breast cancer are usually told not
to take estrogen. This is because estrogen use can lead to a breast cancer recurrence or a
new primary breast cancer. It is unclear if the estrogen in Vagifem is only absorbed in the
vagina. It may be absorbed into the blood stream for a short time and may cause a brief rise
in your estrogen level. However, there is no clear evidence that this would cause any bad
effects in patients with breast cancer. How much, if any, of these topical estrogens are
absorbed through the vagina is not known. We also do not know what the impact is of low
dose estrogen absorption on breast cancer outcomes. Also, the absorption should decrease as
the mucus membranes are restored after estrogen exposure.
Effect of Estradiol+Drospirenone Versus Estradiol+MPA on Endothelial Function [Recruiting]
This study compares the effects of two common hormone medications on the heart and blood
vessels of healthy post-menopausal women over the age of 45.
The study will take place over the course of about 5 months. Each subject will take two
different medications over two six-week periods. They will be randomized at the beginning of
the study to either estradiol+medroxyprogesterone acetate or estradiol+drospirenone for the
first period, and will receive the other medication the second six-weeks of the study. At
the very beginning of the study and at the end of each six-week treatment period, subjects
will come to the hospital various tests including non-invasive blood vessel imaging tests,
blood draws to test the levels of certain hormones in the body, an oral glucose tolerance
test, a test to monitor renal blood flow, and 24-hour blood pressure monitoring. Between
treatment periods, there will be a four-week medication-free washout period.
Comparative Efficacy of Low-Dose Estradiol and Venlafaxine XR for Treatment of Menopausal Symptoms [Recruiting]
The primary objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of both low-dose oral (by
mouth) 17-ß-estradiol and the non-hormonal drug venlafaxine XR compared to placebo in
reducing hot flashes. Included in this objective is the intention to compare venlafaxine XR
to estradiol therapy, to provide evidence of the relative efficacy of venlafaxine to what is
currently considered the most established but also a controversial therapy. 17-Ã-estradiol
is a type of estrogen. Venlafaxine XR is the extended release (XR) version of venlafaxine.
Venlafaxine XR is an serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI). A placebo is a
substance containing no medication.
Initiating Transdermal Estradiol Therapy in Turner's Syndrome [Recruiting]
This is a multicenter, randomized, controlled, semi-blinded study to compare two low doses
of estradiol administered by recently available transdermal patches for the initiation of
puberty in Turner syndrome girls 11. 5-13. 0 years old in conjunction with growth hormone (GH)
The specific hypotheses to be tested are: when combined with growth hormone (GH) treatment,
low dose transdermal estradiol (LTE2) replacement will be more effective in stimulating
feminization, height velocity, and bone mineral density without compromising growth
potential than very low dose transdermal estradiol (VLTE2), which will in turn be superior
to GH alone in effects on feminization, height velocity, and bone mineral density.
All Rights reserved - Copyright DrugLib.com, 2006-2015


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An existing agreement between Facebook and Zynga is set to expire, limiting the games developer's access to the social network's one billion users
Zynga, the developer behind previous megahits like FarmVille and CityVille, has seen its shares fall 13 per cent following the announcement.
When the current agreement expires, on March 31, 2013, Zynga players will no longer be able to share their progress on Facebook, while Zynga itself won't be able to promote its games on Facebook or display Facebook branding on its own site.
Despite having its own games platform, the news is a bad blow for the company which, at it's peak, attracted 82 million players a month.
Last month, Zynga announced job cuts and studio closures in an effort to save costs. The message from Facebook is that this move brings Zynga in line with other game developers using the social network.
"We will continue to work with Zynga, just as we do with developers of all sizes," Facebook said in a statement.
However, according to the BBC, research suggests 80 per cent of Zynga's revenue comes from Facebook users.
Via: BBC

subset: commoncrawl


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Android Lacks Audiobook Support in .m4b Format
Android devices lack the ability to play .m4b audiobook & podcast files. Sure, you can try and jimmy your .m4a or .mp3 audiobooks, but it most likely won't work as planned. I don't understand why this isn't supported yet…. and judging by some of the user comments, neither can you.
Some choice quotes:
In the digital age we live in, where everything has an RSS feed and podcast attached to it, not having built-in M4B bookmark reading support is a make it or break it feature. Nothing against Google's Android, but the music player is sort of what makes the iPhone an end-all portable media device. I really hope people are working on making the media player look, feel, and act much more user-friendly. I see a lot of room for improvement. And this is coming from a guy who has an iPhone, but wants out of the walled-garden that is Apple products. Save for the random text messages being sent to the wrong person, this issue and maybe video editing not being as feature rich as the iMovie app, I really want to get an Android device. But again, this is a make it or break it feature. I'm a podcast junkie. M4B's make podcasts fun. So why can't Android make M4B podcasts easy?
The current audio players do not seem to be able to cope with large files, making
listening to audiobooks impossible. When I fastforward a book, it will always jump to
the second file. No bookmarks makes me bring my Ipod with me in the car. I would love
to be able to use my Galaxy for this! Please add this to Android!
I'm in this boat as well. When I can play an audiobook at 2x speed and have bookmarks I will dump my
I've been googling the term audiobook for android and there is zip! so please add
support for audiobook's, its the only thing stopping me from switching from my
If I had known that android had no support for m4b I would have not got the phone
I don't listen to music much, I listen to books a lot. I have m4b books I can't play.
Please add m4b support. It's pretty hard to understand why it's not there already.
Is there anyway to play m4b audiobooks on google Android phones? If not, why is it taking so long for this to be supported?
I totally agree, Android needs M4B support!
via Issue 3923 – Audiobook format .m4b support – Project Hosting on Google Code.


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A truce between the warring factions of Indian tennis seems to be on the cards as in a joint statement issued late on Saturday, Mahesh Bhupathi and his fellow-players, ranging from Somdev Devvarman to Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, stressed that they are available to play for India in the Davis Cup fixture against Indonesia at Bangalore from April 5 to 7.
The statement is as follows: "Based on the communication dated February 7, 2013 received from the AITA yesterday, we have confirmed to the AITA our availability to play in the Davis Cup tie against Indonesia, subject to all of the conditions and commitments in the AITA's letter being unconditionally complied with by the AITA.
"Given that a number of the concerns that we have raised remain unresolved, our confirmation of availability is limited only to the tie against Indonesia.
"Going forward, we are hopeful that a reasonable and comprehensive long-term understanding will be formally documented after a consultative and collaborative process involving us as players." — Special Correspondent


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How to decorate a living room
Quick tricks
When you're designing a room, think about the big picture. This will help you create a room that's balanced with furnishings that work together not against each other.
- For beautiful windows that soften the light as it comes in, try white wooden blinds with thin curtains layered over the top.
- If you're laying a rug, always leave four inches of space around the edges to show it off.
- Adding a picture rail, dado rail or skirting board can have an instant effect on the perceived shape and dimensions of the room.
- A little bit of pattern goes a long way – a few cushions, a throw or even just one strip of patterned wallpaper on a wall can have a big impact and create a real feature
How to choose a theme
For a great looking room, first choose your living room colour scheme and theme and work everything else around it. Once you know what your theme should be, it's much easier to paint walls, add new features, choose lighting and decide on fabrics for sofas, chairs and curtains or blinds. If you're concerned a theme may date quickly, focus on accessories like throws, cushions and screens that you can change easily.
Make sure you settle on a theme that reflects your taste and personality.
A great way of choosing design theme is to make your own a mood board – simply rip out images you like from magazines, or fabric samples or colour charts and stick them on a board together to build up a picture of the things you like and if you can make them work together. Inspiration can come from many places – it could be a painting, a film, a traditional design style such as Art Deco or just a memory of a time and place when you were happy – a time spent by the sea or out in the countryside. If these themes appeals to you, take look at our metallic art deco living room, coastal living room and eclectic country living room design ideas.
Making a small room feel larger
Colours like white, cream, lemon, light blue and lilac make a room lighter so you could consider a neutral living room colour scheme , but for maximum impact paint your skirting boards and picture rails a lighter shade than the walls. Paint shelves and fittings such as radiators the same colour as walls to make them less intrusive.
Vertical striped wallpaper can make ceilings seem higher and well-positioned mirrors are perfect for creating the impression of more space. You could place a large mirror along one wall at eye level, or position one near a window to reflect the light from outside – the same trick works with a lamp in the evenings.
When it comes to furniture, choose sofas and chairs with exposed legs so you can just see part of the floor underneath, this enable you to see further back to the wall giving the room more depth. Finally, choose accessories carefully, avoid overpowering patterns, styles or textures and keep the room free from clutter by decluttering the room. For more advice, read our article how to small room feel bigger, plus see our inspirational gallery how to save space in a small room.
Making a large room feel smaller
Sometimes a living room can be too big to feel really homely. High ceilings can make a space seem bright and airy during the day, but cold and empty in the evening. A good trick is to paint your ceiling a slightly darker colour than your walls, or divide your walls in half by putting up a dado rail and use a darker paint on the lower section. Pay close attention to flooring too – if you're stuck with light wood flooring or a pale carpet, add a large, darker coloured rug. Lighting is also crucial. In a large room concentrate light into the centre rather than round the edges. For loads more advice, read how to make a large room feel cosier.
Creating a cosy living room
For an informal, relaxing atmosphere, assemble furniture of varying sizes, and combine with a range of different textures, fabrics and patterns. You can then enhance the whole effect with the right mood lighting . Layer your lighting, providing as many ways as possible to light your room. Uplighters and table lamps, which create a softer, warmer glow are a great investment, as are dimmer lights.
The darker the colours, the smaller and cosier the room will feel – creating a living room feature wall is a way of introducing a rich, deep shade – go for orange or red undertones. If you don't want to repaint the walls or you're not confident enough to go for a high-impact all-over colour, use accent colour accessories such as rugs, throws, cushions and lampshades to bring those warmer tones into the room.
Finishing touches
By paying attention to the smaller details, you'll create a living room that is both coordinated and contemporary. Lampshades are commonly overlooked but they can set the tone of a room – don't just go for neutral colours because it's easy – do something different with modern styles and contemporary colours that tie in with your theme. Our stunning statement lighting gallery shows you how to make an impact with pendants, lamps and chandeliers.
If your living room contains a lot of family photographs, why not change them all at once rather than now and then? Update with more recent photos or dig out a few long-forgotten gems for an instant living room facelift.
For more advice on designing your living room, you may find these articles helpful:
How to layout your living room
Decorating a living room on a budget
Living room colour schemes
12 small living room design ideas


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Seattle Mariners blog
Seattle Mariners MLB news, including Seattle Mariners trades, roster, rumors, game and schedule information
Posts filtered on Tag
Mariners start filming TV ads – with special guest, a buffalo
Every year at spring training, the Mariners shoot the commercials we'll see all season on TV. Production for the 2013 ads is now under way in Peoria, Ariz., and we've got a sneak peek (see gallery above). At least one of this year's commercials includes an unorthodox guest star: a big-ol' buffalo. (OK, we know […] [Read More]


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Posted at: 07/24/2013 11:10 AM
Updated at: 07/24/2013 12:30 PM
With the Tall Ships Festival visiting the Twin Ports of Duluth-Superior starting this week, the Coast Guard anticipates a busy period of recreational boating traffic.
Coast Guard crews will be conducting various patrol activities including enforcing a 100 yard safety zone around all Tall Ships, recreational boat safety checks, and watching for people boating under the influence or operating in an unsafe manner.
Boaters are advised that the safety zone will be enforced and should remain outside this zone. The 100 yard safety zone surrounds all Tall Ships while underway or moored and will remain in place to protect recreational boaters from navigating too close to the Tall Ships.
The Coast Guard appreciates cooperation in maintaining a safe distance from all Tall Ships, and strongly encourages the following:
• Always wear a Coast Guard approved life jacket.
• Never boat under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
• Be aware of weather and water conditions.
• File a float plan to let others know where you are going, examples may be found here.
• Have a VHF radio since cell phone services are unreliable offshore.
• Be cautious and do not exceed your ability to handle your vessel, and be constantly aware of other vessels.
• Observe safety and security zones while on the water.


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Register now for free, or sign in with any of these services:
You are correct. I also sense this group is more interested in the parts rather than the whole. However, don't forget, this is the first bid, the base price. Some firm or firms -- including supermarket chains -- could be interested in a larger swath of Penn Traffic and outbid these agents, who do, indeed, specialize in scrapping large retail organizations and their holdings. Thanks for your comments, which are always on target.
I added some more detail from the court documents. I may have answered your questions. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks, Acknight. I fixed the address. I had it wrong. Appreciate your comments.
Vicki, these BiLo stores are listed on Penn Traffic's Web site as Penn Traffic stores.
Another unsubstantiated rumor. Did you note this to the Buffalo News?
When you have a publicly traded company whose business affects thousands of lives, is the job of journalists to sit at our desks and wait for press releases or court papers to be filed? No. We dig. We report the facts and source them. At the same time, we owe it to employees, investors and shoppers to talk about what is going on with this company. If we didn't do that, readers and anonymous posters would be criticizing us to do the same.
Not that this is anywhere near the level of Watergate or Hurricane Katrina, if the two major news organizations that largely kept people connected with important stories, and sometimes had to use anonymous sources and rumors, stood back and waited for press releases, who knows what would have happened?
This is a difficult and important story to cover for communities in five states. Sometimes journalists have to take chances, go out on a limb, achieve, fail, get back up on our feet and keep fighting to get information in any way possible. Not to mention take insults from people who don't know how we do our jobs seven days a week, 24-hours-a-day to keep people informed and up to date. I would defend to my last breath the honor of Mr. Dupras and all of the other editors who scrutinize my work, who push me, who help me, who sweat over the small details to make stories presentable and engaging.
Again, we thank all of you who post feedback.
No, "Neat" Tack, if that's the handle you are using now, I just wondered if you were spending time on the Buffalo News' Web site correcting their reporters, since you seem to have inside information. I would be happy to speak with you by phone. Please contact me. I've been working on this story seven days a week at all hours of the day, but I'm always happy to speak with readers who have something to contribute.
bjmshopper -- My bad, not our stellar editors. Thanks for pointing this out!
Thanks, nydinersdotc... Writing and posting on the fly... I corrected those spellings and linked to their Web sites.
I know, Ratherripped. The Post-Standard bought this transcript -- it was $130, if you care to know -- today to post it as a service to readers, to give them a glimpse inside what's actually going on in the courtroom. I drew out excerpts for people who don't want to look at the PDF. I pushed for it because I thought it was important for Penn Traffic's 5,700 employees, family and friends, not to mention creditors and others. I've covered enough court proceedings to know it isn't exactly "L.A. Law" (dating myself now on TV courtroom dramas!). Anyway, here it is.
Welder689... We DID report some of Mr. Golub's comments questioning Sen. Schumer's involvement in the case. One story was in Sunday's Post-Standard and was available online Saturday night. You can still find it on this Web site.
Circlec, there was no rumor mill. It came from Mr. Yando. Feel free to give him a call. He's in the Malone store right now.
2sides2all, nothing in the court docket yet.
We are monitoring the court docket. There are some objections to the Tops offer for Penn Traffic. Those objections are coming from shopping center operators who want guarantees their anchor supermarkets will remain open. This is normal in a bankruptcy filing by a large retail chain.
As to Mr. Nash's claim he has unnamed backers lined up to team with the ESOP, we can't investigate them, or get answers, until we know WHO they are. He still isn't saying but as of this hour, Mr. Nash says a bid will be filed.
As of tonight... the judge hasn't issued a ruling. As I understand it -- and I could be wrong -- it may take until Monday's hearing before there is a ruling for an extension, or an awarded bid. Thanks for being patient. You are watching in real time, good or bad, how news stories develop. Journalists have played this wait-and-see game for many years. These days, you, the reader, get the pieces of facts and filings as we find them. Things change on the fly. This Penn Traffic coverage is a perfect example of this new journalism. The final, edited story comes later.
There was an hour recess at 1 p.m. We're waiting for the case to resume.
Problem solved: Send an e-mail to:
That should work and... nice catch!
You might want to read the seventh paragraph before commenting. We've followed this for three years. This episode was different because the Wegmans product was so prominent, right after the title sequence -- as the story noted.
Yes, the Eastview Mall store IS a corporate Sephora. Good catch. On Sephora's Web site, it is, of course, listed under "Victor," which I missed on the store list. Thanks! Story is corrected.
Thanks! I knew that, I know this band! My fingers weren't typing it correctly. Appreciate your input!!!


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Come along for a peek behind the magician's curtain at one of Hollywood's top visual effects houses, New Deal Studios.
"This $25 was the BEST I could have ever spent! I have spent hours relearning things I had forgotten and solidified my confidence in what I do know." —Claudia W.
more from our members »


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Step 1: Supplies
Make sure the pop tops are all identical, they come in different shapes and slightly different sizes. You will need to remove any sharp edges with needle nose pliers.
Step 2: Starting the bracelet
1. Push the first ribbon through the bottom left hole.
2 push the other end in the hole above it, pull tightly, leaving about 4 or 5 inches hanging at the bottom.
Step 3: Weave the ribbon
Fold the ribbon down and hold with your thumb.
Step 4: Adding another Pop Top
Push the pointy end of ribbon through the left side holes of the second and 3rd pop tops. Pull tightly to the back.
Step 5: Pop Top #4
Push ribbon through holes just like you did on the 3rd pop top, pull tightly.
Add another pop top, alternationg direction.


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THE POWER OF NEGATIVE THINKING: An Unconventional Approach to Achieving Positive Results. By Bob Knight with Bob Hammel. New Harvest (Amazon Publishing). 240 pages. $25.
This is an easy-to-read and intriguing book by basketball coach Bob Knight, whose fiery personality is well-known.
He uses the language of basketball terms to convey his argument, and it is easy to see its practical applications.
Knight's premise is that we tend to overestimate the good and are ill-prepared for the bad. He defines "negative thinking" as being prepared, and argues that it produces positive results.
Platitudes do not win championships or a business contract. One must pay attention to what can go wrong and develop strategies to overcome obstacles.
He should know. He compiled one of the greatest college basketball records ever: five National Coach of the Year awards, three NCAA championships, 11 Big Ten championships, an Olympic championship and 902 victories overall, along with achieving a near-perfect graduation rate for his players.
He makes reference to Norman Vincent Peale, the Bible, George Washington, Shakespeare, Napoleon, Hitler and others.
He catches the reader's attention with provocative headings such as "Keep Pollyanna on the Bench," "Less Hope More Sweat" and "The Odds are Against You."
The book offers the 10 commandments for obtaining optimum results, including always question, always worry and be skeptical.
This is a book about looking at the downside of any situation and doing the homework, which is the preparation for winning.
Reviewer Doretha Walker is an adjunct professor at the College of Charleston and assistant professor at South University.
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lization period prior to salt restriction and recurrent exercise in the heat. Thus, during the first 7 days of the experiment all subjects remained under the 24-hour control of test investigators with obligations only to the study (as was the case throughout the experiment). During this interval, subjects consumed the same test diets—which delivered 8 g of NaCl daily for each volunteer—and adhered to a structured and consistent schedule of activity that included completion of questionnaires (for example, environmental symptoms, thermal comfort), simulated target acquisition and firing, a maximal oxygen uptake test on day 4, and at least 4 hours per day of light recreational activity that included reading, videos, and games. All of this activity took place after blood sampling on all days.
During the stabilization period, circulating levels of all three hormones were generally consistent between groups, with some minor variation over time. All values were well within the normal range for young adult males, except for ALD levels on day 4, which were approximately 4 ng per dl above the upper limit of the normal range. This increment was probably due to the reduced NaCl content of the stabilization diet (8 g per day) as compared to the normal salt content of military dining hall rations, which is usually 11 to 15 g per day (Szeto et al., 1987). By day 7, mean ALD levels had returned to within the normal range.
Francesconi et al. (1983, 1985) and others (Finberg and Berlyne, 1977; Finberg et al., 1974) have reported—and current results confirm—that the acquisition of acclimation attenuates the response to exercise in the heat of both PRA and ALD. In the current experiments, the effects of acclimation were manifested in mean daily ALD levels of 79 and 84.9 ng per dl on days 8 and 11 (days 1 and 4 of heat acclimation), respectively, which were reduced by days 15 and 17 (days 8 and 10 of heat acclimation) to 44.3 and 51.3 ng per dl, respectively, in the control group. Even in the low-salt group, the mean plasma ALD concentration on day 11 was a markedly elevated 167.3 ng per dl, which was reduced to 133.5 and 78.7 ng per dl on days 15 and 17, respectively. By day 17 there were no significant differences in plasma ALD either between the control and low-salt groups at any of the individual sampling times or between the T1, T2, and T3 values for either group. These results suggest that the chronicity of both the heat acclimation regimen and the low-salt diet engender temporally related endocrinological accommodations to these experimental manipulations. Thus, the attenuated hormonal responses over time may be related to the following: increased plasma volume of heat acclimation (Bonner et al., 1976), generally reduced adrenocorticotrophic activity with decreased physiological strain (that is, a reduced stress response to the experimental conditions) (Francesconi et al., 1984), decreased sensitivity to adrenocorticotrophic hormone (McDougall, 1987), increased renal sensitivity to ALD-induced sodium reabsorption mechanisms (Smiles and Robinson, 1971), and a general improvement of the Na+


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A method and apparatus for high-resolution 3D imaging ladar system which can penetrate foliage and camouflage to sample fragments of concealed surfaces of interest is disclosed. Samples collected while the ladar moves can be integrated into a coherent object shape. In one embodiment, a system and method for automatic data-driven registration of ladar frames, comprises a coarse search stage, a pairwise fine registration stage using an iterated closest points algorithm, and a multi-view registration strategy. After alignment and aggregation, it is often difficult for human observers to find, assess and recognize objects from a point cloud display. Basic display manipulations, surface fitting techniques, and clutter suppression to enhance visual exploitation of 3D imaging ladar data may be utilized.
1. A method of registering ladar data, comprising:
receiving a plurality of ladar frames; and
registering at least two of said plurality of ladar frames for determining a sensor pose with respect to a reference, said registering step comprises performing a coarse search for determining a translation shift, wherein said performing said coarse search comprises constructing range images from point sets derived from said at least two ladar frames, estimating a 2D image shift from said at least two ladar frames, scaling said 2D image shift for generating said translation shift in cross-range directions and estimating said translation shift in a down-range direction from said at least two ladar frames.
2. The method of
3. The method of
performing a fine registration.
4. The method of
binning point sets from each frame of said at least two ladar frames into coarse 3D grids of binary voxels; and
correlating the grids for generating said translation shift.
5. The method of
6. The method of
7. The method of
8. The method of
9. The method of
10. The method of
11. The method of
12. The method of
a) creating a point cloud from said at least two ladar frames at a plurality of resolution levels; and
b) performing said ICP method at each of said plurality of resolution levels.
13. The method of
14. The method of
15. The method of
16. The method of
17. The method of
18. An apparatus for registering ladar data, comprising:
means for receiving a plurality of ladar frames; and
means for registering at least two of said plurality of ladar frames for determining a sensor pose with respect to a reference, said means for registering comprises means for performing a coarse search for determining a translation shift, wherein said means for performing said coarse search comprises means for constructing range images from point sets derived from said at least two ladar frames, means for estimating a 2D image shift from said at least two ladar frames, means for scaling said 2D image shift for generating said translation shift in cross-range directions, and means for estimating said translation shift in a down-range direction from said at least two ladar frames.
19. The apparatus of
means for performing a fine registration.
20. The apparatus of
means for binning point sets from each frame of said at least two ladar frames into coarse 3D grids of binary voxels; and
means for correlating the grids for generating said translation shift.
This application claims benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/463,761, filed Apr. 18, 2003, and 60/464,555, filed Apr. 22, 2003 which are herein incorporated by reference.
This invention was made with U.S. government support under contract number DAAD17-01-D-004, DAAD17-01-C-0055, F33615-02-C1265 and DAAD17-01-D-0006. The U.S. government has certain rights in this invention.
The present invention generally relates to the ability to detect and recognize objects hidden behind porous occluders, such as foliage and camouflage, thereby enhancing operations in public safety, law enforcement, and defense. While any instantaneous view of the scene might contain rays hitting only a fraction of the object surface of interest, different fragments could be exposed by moving the object, the occluder, or the sensor. Theoretically, the aggregation of a diverse set of views should yield enough information to reconstruct the whole object. But achieving this goal with a 2D sensor is impractical for three reasons: the pores may be smaller than the sensor's pixel resolution, insufficient light from the object may reach the sensor, and segmenting a 2D image into object and occluder pixels is difficult.
In contrast, a 3D ladar imaging system can record multiple range echoes from a single laser pulse, enabling detection of concealed objects through pores smaller than the beam width. Ladar receivers can have high photon sensitivity yet not be overwhelmed by noise. The measured range values immediately provide foreground/background segmentation. A frame of ladar data is a collection of 3D points measured simultaneously or over a short period of time where motion is negligible. However, combining multiple frames from a moving sensor requires proper alignment of the frames to a common coordinate system. In topographic mapping using aerial ladar, it is feasible to rely on accurate Global Positioning System/inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) based pose determination to align sensed 3D points. However, weight, cost, and real-time constraints may preclude such accurate pose measurement in certain applications. Therefore, there is a need in the art for data-driven registration of ladar frames.
In one embodiment, the present invention comprises a system for automatic data-driven registration of ladar frames, comprising one or more processing steps. For example, the present system may comprise a coarse search stage, a pairwise fine registration stage using an iterated closest points algorithm and a multi-view registration strategy, and a system for enhancing visual exploitation of aligned and aggregated ladar frames, comprising display manipulations, surface fitting techniques, and clutter suppression.
So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present invention are attained and can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the invention, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the embodiments thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings.
It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally effective embodiments.
Embodiments of the present invention show some characteristics of ladar frames collected by sensors in an operational scenario.
Upon sensor 110A-C calibration, the bearings and time delays of ladar returns can be converted to 3D point coordinates. Depending on the ladar configuration, the resulting 3D point set may be organized or unorganized. When a scanning system samples points on a regular azimuth/elevation grid, the point set can be organized as a range image, a 2D array. Each pixel holds 0, 1, or more range values, depending on the number of distinct echoes recorded at that bearing. In contrast, a ladar that randomly scans a single beam while the platform moves rapidly in space produces an unorganized 3D point set. Somewhat different processing techniques are useful for the two cases.
As the ladar moves between frames, each frame of 3D points is formed in a separate sensor-centered coordinate system, which should be related to a common system by an unknown 3D congruence transformation; rotation and translation. The goal of registration is to deduce those motion parameters for every frame in a sequence of frames, by observation of the 3D points sets themselves. Notationally, there is a fixed scene with a collection of continuous surfaces forming a dense point set S. During the ith frame, the sensor has pose (Ri, Ti) and sees a transformed scene Si={s|Ris+TiεS} which is sampled by point set Pi={pi1, pi2, . . . }⊂Si. One embodiment of the present invention estimates the pose parameters (R1, T1), (R2, T2), . . . . The support of a frame is defined as the volume of space where points could potentially be detected by the ladar system. A frame's point set does not usually fill the support completely due to occlusion and because the volume includes empty space as well as surfaces.
Pairwise registration finds the relative rotation and translation (R, T) relating two surfaces Sj and Si={s|Rs+TεSj} using the observed point sample sets P⊂Si, and Q⊂Sj. The capture range of the fine registration algorithm will be limited by problems of false matches, a scene dependent phenomenon. Therefore, if the initial displacement between two frames (after alignment via GPS/INS measurements, if any) might exceed the expected capture range, a coarse search stage may be necessary to estimate the approximate displacement. Otherwise, the coarse search stage 215 may be considered an optional stage.
The impact of noise upon a registration algorithm is profound. Due to significant noise, the first step of finding a closest point could be compromised. Even if the closest points are correctly identified, the estimated rigid motion (R&T) will deviate from the true solution based on noise-less data.
Data may be pre-processed to reduce noise by averaging around a neighbor. The neighborhood could be a sphere or a particular shape defined by local point/shape analysis. This pre-registration approach is referred to as static noise cleaning.
In another example, neighboring matched closest points are grouped together to form the (weighted) average closest points that subsequently used to update the motion. This approach is referred to as dynamic noise cleaning.
In step 215 a coarse search stage is performed. When imaging a support volume located at down-range distances large compared to the support depth, e.g. 100 m compared to 20 m, pose uncertainty for frames acquired close in time can be treated as primarily translational. Slight rotations of the ladar sensor are mainly manifested as translations of the volume, while large rotational error would cause the target to be completely missed anyway. Therefore, two coarse search methods were developed to estimate translation shifts.
The first approach, which is based on 2D image motion estimation, is applicable when the point sets can be meaningfully organized into range images. The first-return range images, which ignore multiple echoes, can be treated like any ordinary 2D intensity images and be registered assuming a 2D shift in the image plane. In one embodiment, the 2D image shift is estimated by multi-resolution correlation. The image shift is then scaled up by the observed median range to the scene, yielding the translation of the 3D ladar frame in the two cross-range directions. The translation in the down-range direction is estimated from the median difference of aligned range images.
As illustrated in
The second approach, which is based on 3D volumetric correlation, does not assume organized point sets. Each frame's points are binned into a coarse 3D grid of binary voxels covering its support, setting a voxel to 1 if the count of points in that cube exceeds a threshold. The two grids are correlated, and the location of the maximum becomes the first shift estimate. This approach is illustrated in
In step 220 a fine registration stage is performed. The method for fine registration of two point sets P and Q belongs to the class of iterated closest points (ICP) algorithms. Computing the relative pose between two sets of N points is straightforward when the points are given in one-to-one correspondence. But given two ladar frames, the correspondence is not known a priori. The ICP approach alternates between estimating correspondences given hypothesized motion and estimating motion given hypothesized correspondences, repeating until convergence. Specifically, if (R, T) is given, then for any point pKεP the estimated correspondence is the point pkεQ closest to Rpk+T. This concept is illustrated in
Another issue concerning typical ICP is speed. Typically the number of closest points that need to be matched in ICP is huge. Since an ICP algorithm needs certain amounts of data points in order to reliably compute motion, the number of iterations becomes one of the key factors for speeding up the process.
A closest point q of frame S with respect to a reference point p of frame R is found by searching for the nearest neighbor (NN) of Rp+T. The consequence of using NN to find the closest point is that the true corresponding point of Rp+T should be further than or equal to q. Therefore, the motion computed using point pairs (p, q) is an under-estimator. Hence the number of iterations needed could be high. Realizing that point q is an under-estimator of the true corresponding point, we can add some bias by creating a virtual point that extrapolates based on select point pairs Rp+T and q. The present invention then uses the extrapolated point to compute motion. One of the favorable properties of this approach is that the added bias is automatically adjusted based on how far the estimated motion is away from the ground-truth (in noise-clean case). If the motion is already perfect, then the bias term is automatically zero. If the present invention extrapolates the point by 50%, the convergence rate speeds up roughly by a factor of about 1.5. An important implication of adding this automatically adjusted bias is the increase of the capture range for ICP.
The main difficulty that causes convergence of ICP to an inaccurate alignment or even divergence of the algorithm is the presence of many false matches. A false match is a pair of closest points (pk, qk) which don't correspond to nearly the same point on scene surface S. Some false matches are to be expected during the course of ICP, but normally the percentage of false matches decreases as (R, T) approaches the correct motion and thus closest point pairs become more likely to be from the same point on S. But excessive false matches are problematic. False matches arise for several reasons, as depicted in
In 710 of
In 720 of
In 730 of
In 740 of
In 750 of
In 760 of
The situations illustrated in 710-740
The fine alignment process mitigates these false match effects by a combination of tactics. First, if a point pkεP transformed to Rpk+T falls outside the support of Q, then the point is ignored since the closest match found within the support would probably be a false match. This bounds test eliminates the situation in 710
Interior sample removal is accomplished by trying to extract local surface patches from the point set in each frame. At regularly spaced lattice points in the 3D volume, a local plane fit is estimated from the statistics of ladar samples in a window surrounding the analysis location. Letting m be the centroid of samples, the method according to one embodiment eigen-decomposes the covariance matrix Λ=Σ(pk−m)(pk−m)T/N into Λ=Σσi 2φiφi T. If the least standard deviation σ3 is small enough, then the plane passing through m with normal φ3 is a good fit. If that is true and the analysis location is surrounded in all directions along the plane by other ladar samples, then that location is deemed to be interior to a smooth surface, causing nearby points to be ignored by ICP. Unstructured areas of foliage, critical for registration, are untouched by this filter.
A robust method is employed to incrementally estimate (R, T). Although approximate, it serves the purpose of refining the hypothesized pose so that ICP can converge to the optimum pose. Given the previous estimated (R, T) and a set of closest point pairs (pkqk) where qk≅Rpk+T, the present invention seeks an incremental motion (ΔRΔT) that decreases E=ΣD(ΔR(Rpk+T+ΔT), qk), where D(a,b)=|a−b|. Since ΔR is assumed to be close to identity, the present invention decouples each of the 3 rotational degrees of freedom from translation. First, translation is estimated as ΔT=median{qk−(Rpk+T)}, independently in each dimension. The robust center of the translation-corrected points ck=Rpk+T+ΔT is computed as μ=median{ck}. Second, the incremental rotation around each axis, x for example, is estimated from median {∠x(ck−μ), (qk−μ),} where ∠x a,b denotes the angle between vectors projected onto the yz plane. Minimizing L1 norm in lieu of least squares methods for absolute orientation provides robustness to false matches.
Another consideration is efficient implementation of ICP. Each iteration processes a different small subset of points randomly sampled from P. The whole set Q must still be searched for closest points, however. The search is accelerated by organizing Q into a K-D tree data structure at the outset, making the search cost proportional to log N per query point.
In step 225 sensor pose is determined. Step 225 is utilized when a multi-view strategy is utilized. A multi-view strategy may be used if an entire sequence of frames are to be registered. Any one of the frames in a sequence, e.g. the middle one, can be picked to fix the reference coordinate system to which all the point sets will be transformed. If the multi-view stage is to be performed, the multi-view strategy will schedule a set of pairwise registrations and then determine the sensor poses with respect to that reference. Moreover, if absolute pose of the reference frame is given by GPS/INS, then all frames will become georeferenced.
Directly registering each frame to the reference frame is one scheme to determine those sensor poses, but temporally distant frames might not share enough common structure to be registered. In a sequence of frames collected by a steadily moving ladar sensor, temporally adjacent frames (Δt=1) typically see more common scene structure than more distant pairs. This is due both to higher overlap of their supports and to less change in portions of the scene that get occluded. Registering each pair of temporally adjacent frames, then sequentially cascading the transformations, is another scheme, but errors in the pairwise motions tend to accumulate over time, leading to significant misalignment of temporally distant yet spatially overlapping frames. The networks of pairwise alignments corresponding to these two methods are depicted in 810 and 820 of
To mitigate these difficulties, two general strategies are considered for multi-view registration, hierarchical and bundle. Both reduce the shortest number of hops required to go from any frame to any other frame in the network, compared to cascading.
In the hierarchical approach 830 of
In the bundle approach 840 of
Specifically, for each registered pair the error term is defined as Eij=Σ|(Rip+Ti)−(Rj(Rijp+Tij)+Tj|2, where the sum ranges over some subset of points in support of frame i. Following the virtual correspondence approach, the 8 corners of the bounding box of the support are selected rather than actual ladar point samples; in practice, the results are insensitive to the exact points used. Subsequently, joint optimization seeks to minimize E=ΣEij, summed over all pairs of frames, with respect to all poses (Ri, Ti) except for the fixed reference. When pairwise motion errors are independent and identically distributed, this would be the optimum least squares estimate. The optimization is readily achieved by the Levenberg-Marquardt method, typically converging in 3 iterations or so.
Coarse search may not be necessary for every pairwise registration scheduled by a multi-view strategy. Previously estimated pairwise motions could be cascaded to provide an initial estimate for registration. For example, if Δt=1 pairs are registered first in the bundle approach, the Δt=3 pairs could be initialized by composing the Δt=1 motions.
In order to illustrate embodiments of the present invention, two datasets are presented: one collected by a non-real-time experimental ladar and one synthesized to simulate a real-time high resolution ladar.
The datasets in
Picture 910 of
The datasets in
Aggregating the ladar frames prior to registration and cropping away the tree canopy shows gross misalignment in picture 1010 of
The registration error can be evaluated using ground truth sensor poses. Graph 1030 of
Thus, image processing device or system 1100 comprises a processor (CPU) 1110, a memory 1120, e.g., random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory (ROM), a registration module 1140, a visualization module 1150, and various input/output devices 1130, (e.g., storage devices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, a hard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, a speaker, a display, a ladar sensor, an image capturing sensor, e.g., those used in a digital still camera or digital video camera, a clock, an output port, a user input device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, and the like, or a microphone for capturing speech commands)).
It should be understood that registration module 1140 and visualization module 1150 can be implemented as one or more physical devices that are coupled to the CPU 1110 through a communication channel. Alternatively, registration module 1140 and visualization module 1150 can be represented by one or more software applications (or even a combination of software and hardware, e.g., using application specific integrated circuits (ASIC)), where the software is loaded from a storage medium, (e.g., a magnetic or optical drive or diskette) and operated by the CPU in the memory 1120 of the computer. As such, registration module 1140 and visualization module 1150 (including associated data structures) of the present invention can be stored on a computer readable medium, e.g., RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive or diskette and the like.
In step 1210 a visual representation of ladar data is produced. The composite point cloud aggregated from aligned ladar frames from a diverse set of viewpoints may contain many samples on the objects of interest. However, simply projecting this point cloud as a set of undifferentiated dots onto a 2D computer screen is usually an ineffective presentation. Presenting the data so that an observer can readily comprehend the 3D shape of an object, assess its condition, and positively recognize its identity is essential for practical applications, especially with time-critical operations or untrained users. Challenges in ladar visualization include promoting the perception of 3D shape, cutting through interference and distractions, and knowing where to look in a large dataset.
When the human eye views a natural scene, a large number of cues are utilized to perceive 3D shape, all of them absent from a static display of dots on a 2D screen. Depth cues like binocular Stereo and motion parallax can be perceived using stereo displays, interactive navigation in 3D space, or 2D movies of spinning point clouds. But shape cues such as occlusion, region edges, shading, texture, object segmentation, and perspective. For example, the sample points shown for a front surface are interspersed with points from the back side of the object or background surfaces. Such lack of occlusion leads to visual confusion.
Noise interference and distracting clutter may impede visualization. The desire to operate ladar systems with low laser power or total power budget could result in noisy point clouds, such as random isolated point detections or point position errors. Position error, also induced by misalignment of frames, disperses points from an ideal thin boundary into a thick shell. Clutter objects include porous or solid occluders—foliage, camouflage, fences, buildings—behind which the targets are hiding, as well as any nonoccluding but nonintersecting material in the surrounding area. While the point cloud for an object of interest may indeed be disjoint in 3D space from everything else, it could be hard to choose a 3D viewpoint where clutter isn't occluding or juxtaposed on the 2D screen. Moreover, if the user doesn't know where targets lie in a large dataset, clutter impedes his ability to perform visual search.
To optimize visual exploitation of ladar data, it may be necessary to use an interactive user interface 1130 coupled with basic display manipulations as well as tools based on automatic 3D feature extraction.
The dearth of depth cues in point cloud displays can be enhanced by modulating the point markers. The brightness or color may be a function of height above ground, distance to the sensor, or distance to the viewer. Dot size may be decreased as points recede from the viewer.
Interactive cropping can be very effective in suppressing clutter and interspersed background, as long as one can first visually locate the targets. For example, tree canopy is removed by cropping some height above ground level. Interspersed background can also be suppressed by hidden surface removal, without explicit surface detection: each rendered 3D point p inhibits the rendering of any other point that would be occluded from the current viewpoint by a small sphere centered at p.
Wherever a surface is densely sampled by the composite point cloud, the screen can become crowded with dots or even fill in solidly, preventing perception of the sampled surface. The data set should then be reduced by aggregating fewer frames or by spatial thinning. One way to thin is to bin the points into voxels and display centroids of voxels with above-threshold counts. A related method is to randomly delete points with probability inversely related to the local point density. Thinning also mitigates interference from noise.
Several 3D shape cues depend on seeing continuous 1D and 2D structures, namely edges and surfaces, rather than mere points. Extracting such structures from a set of sample points requires grouping points that belong to the same structure and then interpolating a structure from the samples in each point group. The local surface patch fitting procedure described above for suppressing false matches on smooth densely sampled surfaces is also a basis for enhancing visualization, by rendering surfaces, by segmenting objects, and by removing noise and clutter.
The first level of surface rendering fits the local surface patches and renders elliptical disks with semi-axes proportional to σ1 and σ2 shaded with a Lambertian lighting model. Even though the discrete patches are not explicitly merged together into one continuous manifold for each real scene surface, they are readily imagined as smoothly connected. Picture 1310 of
The second level of surface rendering groups together local patches into connected assemblies. Connected components are formed by linking near-coplanar adjacent local patches. The groups are shown by different color labels in picture 1330 of
In step 1220, clutter is removed from the visual representation. Foliage may be characterized as a collection of small surfaces of random orientation, in contrast to vehicular targets, which contain large smooth surfaces. Since adjacent local surface patches in foliage regions are rarely coplanar, connected components in foliage are small. Accordingly, a method for clutter removal is to threshold on the size of connected components. The composite point cloud for the side-looking scene is rendered from the viewpoint of the sensor in picture 1410 of
Another method of clutter removal can be used on downward-looking ladar datasets. No ladar echoes can be returned from 3D positions below an opaque surface. Therefore, when a solid object is entirely surrounded by porous materials like piled-on foliage or camouflage netting, there must be a hollow volume in the 3D point cloud. Samples on the boundary of the hollow can be isolated by "hidden surface" removal with respect to a virtual underground viewpoint.
In step 1230 object classes are distinguished from the visual representation. A ladar looking through porous occluders cannot reliably report target surface reflectivity because the received energy is affected by unknown partial occlusion of the beam. Therefore, ladar data enables reconstructing the 3D geometry but not the space-varying intensity that is usually considered an object's "appearance." 3D size and shape are the only cues available to a human or algorithm for object identification.
Interactive tools for measuring lengths and areas in 3D may help to distinguish object classes whose parts differ in size. A tool for superposing a CAD model or 2D image of the object can help to confirm an ID hypothesis. Picture 1510 of
The present invention discloses a method for automatic data-driven registration of 3D imaging ladar data and tools for effective visualization, with adaptations of established algorithmic components needed to support the novel application of reconstructing 3D objects concealed by porous occluders. Details were given for correlation-based coarse search and ICP-based fine registration, which cannot rely on local surface modeling due to scarcity of ladar samples on foliage within each frame. Efficient hierarchical and bundle strategies for consistent registration across multiple frames were described. The difficulty of visualizing 3D point clouds is minimized by the disclosure of useful display techniques and local surface extraction tools, helping users cut through clutter to find objects of interest and facilitating 3D shape perception.
The present invention may be used to process data sets from many different operational ladar sensors, penetrating through trees, camouflage, and window blinds. The results furnish validation of the concept of assembling fragments seen from diverse views into visualizations of coherent 3D objects.
While the foregoing is directed to embodiments of the present invention, other and further embodiments of the invention may be devised without departing from the basic scope thereof, and the scope thereof is determined by the claims that follow.
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American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 6, 2007 While stationed at Camp Fallujah, Iraq, over Christmas 2006, Marine Lance Cpl. Jordan Richards received a special care package with an extraordinary gift to be claimed upon his return to the states.
Troop-support group Operation Gratitude sent the care package.
Richards claimed that gift, a new Dodge Caliber, on May 30. Checkers/Rally's restaurants donated the car and presented the Marine with the keys at one of the food chain's St. Louis stores.
"We are honored to recognize one of America's true heroes through our partnership with Operation Gratitude. This new car is one small way Checkers and Rally's can continue to show our appreciation to the troops," Terri Snyder, chief marketing officer for Checkers Drive-in Restaurants, said. "We thank Marine Lance Corporal Jordan Richards for his service to our country and hope that he and his fiancee enjoy their new car."
Operation Gratitude is a member of America Supports You, a Defense Department program connecting citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad. Checkers/Rally's is a corporate supporter of the program.
Richards' special care package marked a significant milestone for Operation Gratitude since the group's beginning in March 2003, and the group wanted to make it truly exceptional.
"When we reached our 200,000th care package mark, we wanted to do something very special to commemorate the milestone," Carolyn Blashek, Operation Gratitude's founder, said. "We were overwhelmed and thrilled when Checkers/Rally's said they would donate a new car!
"We are so thankful for Checkers/Rally's support and feel privileged to be able to give this brave Marine such a wonderful welcome home gift," she added.
In addition to a post card from Checkers Drive-in Restaurants proclaiming "This Dodge Caliber is yours!" the package included, among other things, a DVD player and celebrity-autographed hats to tickets to a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game.
Operation Gratitude hasn't slowed its mission since sending Richards' package as part of December's holiday care-package drive. In fact, the group kicked off its 4th Annual Patriotic Drive over Memorial Day weekend. Officials also anticipate that this drive, which is expected to produce 50,000 care packages for troops overseas, also will produce a new milestone: care package 250,000.
Blashek added that she is still accepting names of deployed servicemembers for the current drive. For more information on how to get an Operation Gratitude care package to a deployed servicemember or an entire unit this July 4th holiday, contact the group at email@example.com.


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interviewBy Felly Kimenyi
African governments have not done enough to empower the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights to handle cases of crimes against humanity, according to Chief Justice Prof. Sam Rugege. This has left the ICC to run the show, albeit in highly questionable ways. In an exclusive interview with The New Times' Felly Kimenyi, the Chief Justice also spoke about corruption in Rwanda's Judiciary, the independence of the Judiciary, and reluctance by some countries to extradite or try Genocide fugitives, among other issues. Below are the excerpts;
It's close to a decade since Rwanda's judiciary started undergoing reforms. What have they yielded?
The reforms have been on for the last nine years and it has been an incredible journey. Of course, to understand where we are, it is important to look at where we have come from, especially that after the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, the judiciary was virtually destroyed.
We had an immense deficit in terms of personnel and had to adjust the institutional framework to ensure that it is properly functioning. We started by recruiting and building the capacity of judges, court registrars and clerks so that they can deliver justice in an acceptable way. Before the reforms, around 2004, we had only 70 qualified judges out of the over 700. Today all our judges and clerks are qualified.
Another priority was to try and accelerate the timeframe within which cases were being adjudicated because we had accumulated a huge backlog of cases. In 2004, there were over 60,000 cases pending in different courts, we had to recruit contract judges at the lower levels to clear this backlog. By 2009, almost all pending cases had been cleared.
The productivity per judge has, therefore, tremendously increased over the years, from those days when a judge could dispose of just five cases a month, for instance, in the primary courts and the intermediate courts; these numbers have since increased to 25 cases a month.
Of course, at the higher level, the number reduces modestly but at least a high court judge is able to adjudicate more than 15 cases a month, which is quite high, even when compared with regional standards.
We have also embarked on ensuring that our judges and personnel live up to the expectations of the population by enforcing ethical standards at all levels.
Doesn't the pressure on judges to adjudicate as many cases as possible compromise the quality of justice?
We are not only concerned about productivity of judges. We also look at the quality. We have a department of inspectorate of courts comprising five inspectors who traverse the country talking to judges, and examining their judgments to ensure that they follow the agreed format.
We also train our judges on certain aspects that must be followed while dispensing justice. For instance a judge should not just hear the facts and render a decision, they must justify the judgment based on the law. This should be done in such a way that anybody who reads the ruling will understand why so and so won and why so and so lost the case.
Can you expound more on the contract judges you referred to earlier. How are they recruited and are they still serving?
Contract judges are used in primary courts. We get a lawyer, who has not been in the system and give them a contract for a year or two to reinforce the primary court. We then take a judge at the primary court to reinforce the intermediate court, while those at the intermediate court are moved to the high court to help clear the backlog there. All these are deployed for a short a period and once the cases are cleared, they go back to their respective postings. Of course, things have since remarkably changed. The only short term placements we have now are at the high court. We do not use contract judges at the Supreme Court.
The rulings might be passed expeditiously based on the figures you provided but the execution of these rulings remains rather sluggish, do you share the same view?
I agree with that; the pace of executing judgments is not at the same level as the pace at which rulings are delivered, but, to start with, that is not within our jurisdiction and I cannot give you a concrete answer.
However, what I can say is that we sometimes have problems with court bailiffs who are supposed to enforce the judgments, especially in civil cases.
Those who have lost a case always try to delay the execution of the judgment. They will appeal at every level, and even after they have exhausted the appeal process, they will still try to have the case reviewed.
Addressing this requires improvement on the efficiency of the bailiffs. I understand a professional body of the bailiffs is in the pipeline, which will help address such issues. We shall also devise means of closing loopholes that people use to stay in courts indefinitely.
The judiciary continues to be cited among the institutions with high corruption incidences, including in reports by the Ombudsman's Office among other corruption watchdogs. What are you doing to reverse the trend?
These studies have been conducted by people who are independent and we cannot say much about them but what I can say is that, we are trying our best to fight corruption. Sometimes, of course, it is a question of perception and the judiciary is very vulnerable in this case because few people who lose court cases accept that they were fairly judged. Some of the people come up with allegations that the judge was bribed when it is not the case.
But that is not to say that corruption is non-existent in the judiciary; however, the incidence is really quite minimal, especially when you compare what the situation was before the reforms.
We have played our role in ensuring that discipline is upheld among our judges and we are also always open to complaints from the litigants or members of the public.
We normally follow up on all those complaints, and if investigations find a prima facie case, the matter is brought before the High Council which conducts a hearing in which the concerned party is questioned and an appropriate decision taken. Based on this process, over 40 judges and registrars have since 2005 been dismissed or reprimanded over corruption-related tendencies.
Is it true that judges, especially at the lower level, are poorly paid which makes them susceptible to corruption?
That is wrong. Low pay cannot, under any circumstances, justify corruption. It is not those that are poorly remunerated that are the most corrupt. Otherwise how do you justify the bank managers or all those people with really good salaries who get involved in corruption? What is important, and what we are trying to do is to tell them that we all get from a small basket and the demands of the Judiciary should not compromise other sectors like health, and education among others.
Nevertheless, we have tried to improve the conditions of judges and the salaries have drastically increased, with the lowest paid getting over Rwf200, 000 up from 40,000 in the immediate aftermath of the 1994 Genocide.
There is a perception that the Judiciary in this country is not independent, what do you have to say about that?
These are allegations from some international organisations; such as Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the like.And given their general attitude towards Rwanda, I am not surprised that they look at our Judiciary in that light. I am satisfied that our Judiciary is independent and and we have not had any threat with regard to that independence.This is also reaffirmed by other courts, some of them international in nature, which are now sending Genocide fugitives to stand trial in Rwanda.
You know that the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) had for long refused to send suspects for trial in Rwanda but, since 2011, they decided that our Judiciary is independent and can handle these cases.
The European Court of Human and People's Rights has also ruled that Rwandan courts are independent and can offer a fair trial. Other courts in The Netherlands, Canada and elsewhere have also adjudged the judiciary here to offer fair trial.
Another example is the Global Competitiveness Report, by a well-respected international rating agency; that rates Rwanda very highly in terms of independence of the Judiciary. Last year Rwanda was ranked number 25 globally well ahead of countries with more mature legal systems.
So we cannot dwell on the attacks of Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch because they are not founded on any evidence.
There are several Genocide suspects detained in different countries around the world. Some of these countries have refused to extradite suspects for trial in Rwanda, preferring to try them, what is your take on that?
I do not have any problem with suspects being tried in host countries. My personal view is that these fugitives should face justice, where they are tried does not really matter. I would, of course, prefer that they are tried here where they committed the crimes because then justice will not only be done but also seen to be done.
The relatives of those who were killed would be able to follow the proceedings. I think part of the criticism about international prosecution of these suspects is that it is done remotedly from people who really have a stake in the process, which to me leaves justice half-served.
For example, for those suspects who are in the UK, I cannot see why they do not try them if they cannot send them to Rwanda. We have confidence in their legal system but they are reluctant to prosecute these suspects. There is an international obligation on cases concerning genocide where, in the event that a country cannot try the suspect, it can transfer the suspect to a jurisdiction that can try them.
It is more than a year since Gacaca courts closed, have there been any special challenges that the Judiciary faced as a result of the closure of Gacaca?
The law that closed the Gacaca courts says that any request for review of cases (that were tried by Gacaca) can be done in ordinary courts which has increased the burden for courts. We have not felt the burden that much but that is only because there is still a process of transferring files from Gacaca Jurisdiction to the ordinary courts but quite a number of people have filed for review of their cases that were decided by the Gacaca courts.
Many of them may not have the merit but they will still increase the burden on the judicial system by bringing more cases. We can only hope that they will not be too many to paralyse the work of the primary courts.
The Government has over the years been encouraging usage of ICT in all institutions for efficiency of service delivery. How is the Judiciary faring in this area?
ICT infrastructure has been laid out in all courts. When we started out, there were very few computers in the courts but as I speak, every court has its own computers and everything is done online.
When the reforms started, most courts were using typewriters; judges used what I can call stenographers to do their typing, but now every judge writes their own judgment. That way, you are fully responsible for your actions and any mistakes are your mistakes. This has completely revolutionalised the working of the Judiciary.
The reporting system has also been made easy whereby every court from any part of the country is required to send in a report, on a monthly basis, to the inspectorate detailing the cases that were completed, those that were not completed and why. There is also a video link that helps us, whenever necessary, to conduct a trial or interview witnesses online.
The Supreme Court seems to have a lot on its table. In several countries you have the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court; here the latter does both the interpretation of the Constitution and conduct of ordinary trials. Isn't it cumbersome
In the long term, the solution is to ensure that very few cases reach the Supreme Court. Currently, we have a backlog of over 2,000 cases. It is going to be extremely difficult to get rid of this backlog.
We have tried to limit the number of cases coming in by raising the minimum (in civil cases) value of the litigation to Rwf50 million, but that's not helping much because every litigant tries their best to get the evaluation of the property in litigation to over 50 million to ensure their case comes to the Supreme Court.
In criminal cases, again the cases which have over 10 years of imprisonment must be decided in the Supreme Court. We have introduced a process where cases shouldn't come here because of procedural issues like, if it is filed out of time or it doesn't fall within the criteria of the cases which should come to the Supreme Court, it should be eliminated by the Chief Registrar, and that is helping in reducing the number of cases.
But, ultimately, the solution would be for the Supreme Court itself to be able to sieve through the cases filed and judge on the admissibility before they go on trial, like it is done in many countries around the world. If a case is seen to have been well handled, it should not reach the Supreme Court.
However, both the ordinary Rwandan citizens and the parliamentarians have always resisted that system. They seem to think that everybody should have their say in the highest court.
So we are still stuck with that problem. We had an increase in the number of judges recently, but you cannot just keep increasing the number of judges, that would also bring budget problems. We, therefore, we need to find other solutions.
There have been disagreements between African states and the ICC with the former arguing the court is targeting Africa, what do you think should be the way forward.
There is nothing wrong with the international court handling international crimes. Problems in one country can affect other countries. So, in order to fight impunity everywhere, an international court is a good idea. The problem lies in the way the current international court is operating. It is mainly targeting Africa as if there are no problems elsewhere in the world, as if no crimes against humanity are committed in countries outside Africa. So, it gives one the impression that the ICC only deals with weak states and weak situations. It ceases to be international if it deals with only one part of the world.
The Statute that established the ICC says the ICC only intervenes where the country is unable or not willing to prosecute humanitarian crimes, but there are countries which will not subject themselves to the process. So there is no opportunity for them to decide whether the country is able or willing to prosecute if it is not a member of the organisation.
If powerful countries like the United States, Russia and China are not subject to the ICC, then how can we call it international? And the worse thing is that those are the ones that sit on the Security Council and decide which person to be prosecuted by the same court. The ICC should really be straightforward, countries are not subject to the ICC and those that are not members should not decide who should be prosecuted by the court.
About alternatives, we already have our own court; the African Court of Human and Peoples' Rights which can handle the cases that ICC is handling, but it is not getting the support it deserves.If the African nations can be serious about the African Court of Human Rights, there is no reason why any African should be sent to the ICC.


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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
© Copyright 2015 Gwinnett Daily Post
NORCROSS - Owners of the property located at 2395 Beaver Ruin Road petitioned the city of Norcross to rezone the property for commercial use. Bun Soon An is an entrepreneur who reclaims discarded furniture, refurbishes it and then sells it. His business has grown to the point that he requires a storefront in order to keep up with demand. There is a ranch-style house already situated on the property.In earlier meetings with the city's Planning Commission, the businessman said he needed commercial zoning for a flea market-type establishment. In Monday night's city council meeting, residents spoke out against the requested rezoning, saying that a nearby furniture store often displays its wares outside the store near the curb. Norcross resident Faye McFarland objected to the rezoning because she said the builder did not do certain things he was supposed to do. She also said another furniture store would be an unsightly addition to that section of Beaver Ruin Road. A relatively new 90-home subdivision is located right next to the parcel of land in question. The city's planning and zoning board recommended denial of the C-1 zoning, because it does not dovetail with the 2030 Comprehensive Plan for that area. According to city planner Howard Koontz, the proposed furniture store/flea market is not the "highest and best use" of the property. Councilman Keith Shewbert said Monday that, "This is what we've been fighting on Buford Highway and Mitchell Street. This is certainly not something you'd want behind your house." City to hold hearings on millage rate Council members voted to uphold Finance Director Rudolph Smith's recommendation to hold the tax millage rate at 6.027. Three public hearings are required before the action is official, and the last of the three will be held at the Sept. 1 city council meeting. Shewbert said during the discussion that the city of Norcross consistently has one of the highest millage rates in the county, and that he would like to see an effort to decrease spending across the board. Blasting required at Lillian Webb field, College Street properties Council members voted to approve a loan to the Downtown Development Authority to fund blasting required at two DDA-owned College Street properties. Rock has been discovered on these parcels that can not be removed by less invasive meth-ods.The land is not under contract yet, but city manager Warren Hutmacher said existing structures at nearby Lillian Webb field could be damaged if blasting is delayed. The loan will be a 3-year, no-interest transaction. Rock has also been found underground at Lillian Webb field, and an additional $66,565 is required to blast it out of the ground. City officials will attempt to recover some of the additional cost from the geo-tech firm that performed initial on-site boring but did not identify the rock before construction began. Underground pipe and retaining walls have already been built and could sustain damage resulting from the blasting. "We're not sure if anyone is responsible at this point," Hutmacher said. However, a DDA attorney is looking into the matter.
More like this story
- Norcross neighborhood will not get park ( May 9, 2007 )
- 20-year veteran of Norcross Police Department recognized for service ( August 7, 2007 )
- Norcross mayor Webb gives workers praise in state of the city ( March 6, 2007 )
- Webb bashes property tax reform bill ( October 3, 2007 )
- Norcross may end alcohol buffers
Move would end protective zone near churches ( September 23, 2007 )


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Water (Aqua)' Glycerin' Allantoin' Panthenol' Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract' Chamomilla Recutita (Matricaria) Flower Extract' Organic Camellia Sinensis (Green Tea) Leaf Extract (.1%)' Haematococcus Pluvialis (Astaxanthin' BioAstin®) Extract' Symphytum Officinale (Comfrey) Leaf Extract' Organic Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Extract (.1%)' Rosa Canina (Rosehips) Fruit Extract' Carica Papaya (Papaya) Fruit Extract' Salix Alba (Willow) Bark Extract' Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary Leaf) Extract' Pinus Pinaster (Pycnogenol®) Bark Extract' Lavandula Officinalis (Lavender) Essential Oil' Potassium Sorbate' Phenoxyethanol' Ethylhexylglycerin.
After thoroughly cleansing and drying your skin' apply a small amount of Age-Defying Toner onto a soft pad. Apply to the entire face and throat in smooth upward strokes' concentrating on areas of congestion and oiliness.
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I just started using Age Defying Toner by Derma E, however, a few friends of mine have been using it for a quite some time and they love it. I've been using it for 4 days now, every day, once a day and I noticed it keeps my skin hydrated and moisturized. I love it!!! It also smells great; has this not overpowering very pleasant lavender scent. Recommend!!!
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The Blues (Cautiously) Extend Ken Hitchcock's Contract
Categories: Blues
|Courtesy St. Louis Blues
Although the terms of the contract are a little surprising.
Hitchcock's now under contract through the end of the 2013-2014 season, with an option that could be picked up for the following season. Really, winning the Jack Adams and leading an underperforming team past the 100 point mark for the first time in a decade only garners a one-year contract?
In the modern NHL, that's as good as it gets. Teams won't tie themselves to a coach for any great length of time. This time last year, Hitchcock was out of coaching after being unceremoniously dumped by the Columbus Blue Jackets (after signing a three-year extension, mind you); this year he's the best coach in the league.
And lest we forget, three other Blues coaches have won the Jack Adams: Red Berenson (1981), Brian Sutter (1991) and Joel Quenneville (2000). Berenson was gone at the end of the 1982 season; Sutter was fired at the end of the '92 season; Quenneville held on through 2004.
What we're saying is that history indicates a Blues head coach who wins the Jack Adams award is more often than not gone at the end of the following season. Good luck, Hitch.
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Gear Review
Good product, one caveat
I have been using the Fawesome the past few weeks in temps ranging from 4 to 14 Celsius (40-57 F). I have used it in the cold wind and also in a warm-ish rain and all in between. It is quite versatile, I like it for warmer rainy days because it will keep my core mostly dry and warm but I won't overheat like I would in a rain jacket, even something breathable from eVent fabric. I can vary my base layer and jersey selection for the temp and use the Fawesome as the outer membrane.
I also have the Isterico, and it is a good product but much more thermal and a little less water resistant. If I could only choose one I would choose the Fawesome.
The fit is snug, I am 6' and 170 lbs with a 38" chest and the Large gives me a perfectly snug race fit. The only blemish is, as another reviewer points out, the arm holes are cut just a little too large and I have a bit of material flapping on the upper back part of my shoulders. I still gave it 5 stars though, just because it is so incredibly versatile.
View More Details on Castelli Fawesome Vest


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The Ohio LinuxFest 2014 will take place at the Greater Columbus Convention Center, in downtown arena-district Columbus, Ohio.
Our events will be taking place at the "D-pod" toward the north end of the convention center (so called because the rooms start with D) and the Drury Inn and Suites, which is connected to the convention center.
Greater Columbus Convention Center
The convention center street address is:
Greater Columbus Convention Center
400 North High Street
Columbus, OH 43215
Please refer to the convention center map for building details. Activities that will be taking place in the Greater Columbus Convention Center include:
- Friday, October 24
- Our professional training program: OLFI
- The general sessions known as "Early Penguins"
- Expo setup
- Keynote by Alex Bandar
- Happy Hour
- Screening of "The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin"
- Birds of a Feather Sessions (BoFs)
- Saturday, October 25
- Keynotes and main track presentations
- Career Track presentations
- Open Source Solutions Stage presentations
- Exhibitor Expo
- Certification testing
- After-party
Drury Inn and Suites Convention Center
The rest of the action will be at the Drury Inn and Suites, which is one of our hotels, and under the same roof as the Greater Columbus Convention Center. There is only one meeting room in the entire venue and it is just off the lobby. Just ask for "the meeting room" and you will be right there.
Drury Inn and Suites
88 E Nationwide Blvd
Columbus, OH 43215
Activities hosted at the Drury Inn and Suites include:
- Thursday night volunteer and VIP welcome
- Friday Dinner with the Keynotes
- Sunday Certification testing
- Sunday Diverse Inclusive Open Source Workshop
Port Columbus Airport (CMH) is about a 15-minute drive from the Greater Columbus Convention Center and the Drury. While none of our hotels offer a free shuttle service, they recommend Central Ohio Taxi at 614-221-2222.
See the Greater Columbus Convention Center directions page or the brief directions below for how to reach the venue and hotel:
|from Port Columbus airport
|I-670 West, Exit "4-B" to the Columbus Convention Center
|from Cleveland
|I-71 South to West on I-670 "109-A" to Exit "4-B" to the Columbus Convention Center or I-71 South to Spring Street Exit; West on Spring Street to Fourth Street; North on Fourth Street to Nationwide Boulevard.
|from Cincinnati
|I-71 North to I-70 East to Fourth Street Exit; North on Fourth Street to Nationwide Boulevard.
|from Indianapolis
|I-70 East to Fourth Street Exit; North on Fourth Street to Nationwide Boulevard.
|from Wheeling
|I-70 West to Fourth Street Exit; North on Fourth Street to Nationwide Boulevard.
Parking in the Arena District is mostly paid. The image below shows garages near the convention center.
Public Transportation
Local buses are available from the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). Normal bus fare is $2.00, express fare $2.75; transfers are free by request. You also have the option of riding the free CBUS circulator, outlined below:


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BIGBOI SPEAKS OUT !!!!! Outkast Tour
So by now we've all heard about the reuion tour of the infamous hip-hop duo OUTKAST. Niether of the members spoke out until now!!!!! 1/2 of the group BigBoi says he's ready to kill it with his brother 3 stackz.
Rich Homie Quan Feat. Young Thug - Get The Fuck Out My Face (Official Video)
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