News consumption of political stories not enough to retain political knowledge Public release date: 25-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathan Hurst hurstn@missouri.edu 573-882-6217 University of Missouri-Columbia
Teens must think about and discuss politics to learn, MU study finds
A strong democracy depends on smart voters who choose their leaders based on their knowledge of important political issues. One of the ways that Americans learn about politics is by following the news. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism have found that simply following the news is not enough.
A panel survey involving more than 1,200 teenagers from 12 to 17 years of age found that adolescents learn more about politics when they think and talk about what they read or watch on the news. Edson Tandoc, a doctoral student at MU, found that adolescents who spend more time thinking and talking about the news with their peers and relatives tend to know more about political developments in the country.
"This is important because an individual's political identity begins long before one is eligible to vote," Tandoc said. "Our political identity is not shaped overnight and so it is important to start molding our future voters while they are still young."
Tandoc and his adviser, Esther Thorson, a professor and associate dean for graduate studies and research in the MU School of Journalism, analyzed two surveys conducted six months apart. The first survey, conducted six months before the 2008 presidential elections, asked teenagers how frequently they followed the news, how much they thought about the news, and how often they discussed political news with their peers and relatives. The second survey conducted right after the elections asked the same teenagers several questions about politics to measure their levels of political knowledge.
What Tandoc found is that news consumption does not directly lead to political knowledge. Instead, news consumption leads to thinking about the news which then leads to engagement in discussions about the news, which finally ends with political learning.
"Engaging teenagers in the political process is vital for the future of democracy," Tandoc said. "Our study shows that if parents and educators want to increase political knowledge and action among younger generations, it is important to involve them in discussions about what they are reading in the news. Just giving them a story to read is not enough. Teenagers need to be able to think through and talk about political issues in order to retain knowledge about them."
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Tandoc and Thorson presented the results of their study during the Association for Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Chicago last month.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
News consumption of political stories not enough to retain political knowledge Public release date: 25-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Nathan Hurst hurstn@missouri.edu 573-882-6217 University of Missouri-Columbia
Teens must think about and discuss politics to learn, MU study finds
A strong democracy depends on smart voters who choose their leaders based on their knowledge of important political issues. One of the ways that Americans learn about politics is by following the news. Now, researchers from the University of Missouri School of Journalism have found that simply following the news is not enough.
A panel survey involving more than 1,200 teenagers from 12 to 17 years of age found that adolescents learn more about politics when they think and talk about what they read or watch on the news. Edson Tandoc, a doctoral student at MU, found that adolescents who spend more time thinking and talking about the news with their peers and relatives tend to know more about political developments in the country.
"This is important because an individual's political identity begins long before one is eligible to vote," Tandoc said. "Our political identity is not shaped overnight and so it is important to start molding our future voters while they are still young."
Tandoc and his adviser, Esther Thorson, a professor and associate dean for graduate studies and research in the MU School of Journalism, analyzed two surveys conducted six months apart. The first survey, conducted six months before the 2008 presidential elections, asked teenagers how frequently they followed the news, how much they thought about the news, and how often they discussed political news with their peers and relatives. The second survey conducted right after the elections asked the same teenagers several questions about politics to measure their levels of political knowledge.
What Tandoc found is that news consumption does not directly lead to political knowledge. Instead, news consumption leads to thinking about the news which then leads to engagement in discussions about the news, which finally ends with political learning.
"Engaging teenagers in the political process is vital for the future of democracy," Tandoc said. "Our study shows that if parents and educators want to increase political knowledge and action among younger generations, it is important to involve them in discussions about what they are reading in the news. Just giving them a story to read is not enough. Teenagers need to be able to think through and talk about political issues in order to retain knowledge about them."
###
Tandoc and Thorson presented the results of their study during the Association for Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) conference in Chicago last month.
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Women who underwent genital cutting as young girls may be at increased risk of physical, sexual or emotional abuse from their husband, a study of women in Mali suggests. The study, of nearly 7,900 women, found that 22 percent of those with genital mutilation said they'd been physically abused by a husband or male partner. That compared with 12 percent of women who'd never been subjected to the procedure. It's estimated that more than 130 million women worldwide have undergone genital mutilation, also known as female "circumcision. ...
Remember how before Anderson Silva beat Chael Sonnen at UFC 148, Sonnen said he wanted Silva's wife to make him a steak, and then after the fight, Silva invited Sonnen to a a barbecue? Well, the barbecue happened, but Sonnen didn't show.
Silva says it wasn't just some hamburgers on the grill affair, but a true Brazilian gaucho barbecue. Sonnen now has his sights on UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and he's forgotten all about his pal Andy.
?Numerous persons who invest significant amounts of money when purchasing a phone and who want to make sure that their favorite gadget will remain without a scratch choose to also buy cell phone covers designed to protect their phones against scratches, falls etc. For these purposes, they usually shop with a provider of cell phone accessories that features products for all possible brands of cell phones.
The demand for cell phone covers has registered a sharp increase during the past couple of years, in the context of the appearance of all sorts of smart phones, iPads and iPhones on the market. Brands such as Apple, Samsung, Blackberry and Huawei welcome fans of smart phones with communication devices designed at the highest quality parameters, whuch cost lots of money and which are usually kept in cell phone covers in order to be better protected. By using durable cell phone covers that perfectly fit their phone, individuals will no longer have to worry about the safety of their precious gadgets.
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All in all, persons who are looking for high quality cell phone covers and other cell phone accessories that will enable them to use their mobile phones in a variety of exciting ways are recommended to consider shopping on the Internet, where they are likely to find a multitude of mobile phone accessories for virtually every cell phone brand. ?
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A new partnership is helping America's veterans secure free personalized financial education & guidance while seeking affordable VA loans and a path to home ownership.
"We are happy to partner with VeteransPlus empowering our fellow veterans with access to unbiased financial education, counseling, and advice," said Grant Moon, OIF Veteran and President of VA Loan Captain, Inc. ( https://www.valoancaptain.com/ ). "This partnership ensures America's veterans have a place to turn if they aren't immediately eligible for a VA Home Loan, or if they're simply looking for basic financial planning and education services tailored exclusively to their needs."
More than 27 million military veterans are eligible ( http://bit.ly/SE8Dzs ) for VA home loan benefits and that number is expected to rise as service members continue to return from Afghanistan and Iraq. With multiple deployments common, many veterans return to a financial situation vastly different from when they first shipped out.
Veterans are often eager to use their VA Home Loan Benefits, but some don't qualify due to their credit scores or financial circumstances. Until now millions of veterans were forced to turn to for profit credit repair or financial services for help.
The partnership between VA Loan Captain & VeteransPlus helps servicemembers meet eligibility requirements while also providing a range of financial education and counseling programs designed by veterans for veterans. Programs include one-on-one counseling and education to include Budgeting, Credit Score, Debt Management, Mortgages and Credit Cards. All interested veterans receive practical financial solutions tailored to real life circumstances of current & former military personnel.
VA Loan Captain, Inc. (VALC) exclusively serves current and former military members and their families. VALC is the first VA Loan education and consulting company to partner with affiliate lenders committed to making a $200 charitable contribution to a participating veteran non-profit with every VA loan closed.
VeteransPlus has provided financial education and counseling to more than 150,000 Servicemembers, veterans and survivors since 2008.
"The professional counselors at VeteransPlus are honored to team up with VA Loan Captain. Through this exclusive partnership Veterans receive assistance in getting the most out of their VA Home Loan benefits while also receiving financial counseling and education that will help them afford the home they have purchased or plan to purchase, " said John Pickens, Executive Director of VeteransPlus. "We're proud to join VA Loan Captain to help the men and women who have worn our nation's uniform gain the financial freedoms they sacrificed to defend."
For more information, please visit: https://www.valoancaptain.com/finance/
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Contact: Ronald R. Magas phone: (203) 445-8981 Email Contact
Increase Web Traffic Through SEO Internet Marketing ? Internet Marketing Blog Tools
If you want to find out tips on how to do SEO Internet marketing so that you can use its full potential, then read this article. This will give you some insights on how to drive maximum traffic to your website by utilizing Internet marketing blog tools.
It is the main aim of SEO marketing to increase the traffic in one?s website. Web traffic is very important when you place your products and services over the Internet for advertising and promotion. An online entrepreneur will never sell and earn more profits without considering the increase in web traffic. It is customary in online marketing to create your own website so that you can have a place where to promote the products or the services that the business is offering.
However, the promotion and advertising should not stop there. It should also be part of the scheme to advertise the website itself so that it will gain popularity on the Internet. One way to do is by submitting the link of your website to several bookmarking sites. By doing this, you can be assured that, in one way or another, you gain the web traffic that you have always been wanting to have.
This is what we call SEO Internet marketing ? ensuring that your website is getting the high ranks in major search engines like Google and Yahoo. Once your website is able to achieve, you can expert better visibility on the Internet which is prerequisite earning more income from sales and profits.
Another effective means for SEO marketing is using Internet marketing blog tools. When you use this type of scheme you need to be ready with your articles. You can start by searching for blogsites that have topics related to your business niche. Once you have already registered to a number of these sites, then its time to conceptualize some topics for writing.
Make sure that the topics for your blog posts are very relevant to your business. Write them in such a way that it is in good quality. This is because most of the search engine operators or managers will base its rankings for your website on the contents of the articles. So make the contents very informative and substantial. Plus, the articles should not contain inconsistencies in grammar and spelling.
When you submit these articles in the blogsites in your list, make sure to include tags and keywords. These two elements in Internet marketing are very important because these can drive so much traffic t your website like crazy. Note that when people search for information on the Internet, they will always use tags and keywords in search engines.
The main thing that you should not neglect are backlinks. Post your articles in blogsites with the backlinks of your website. Select a keyword from your article and make it as anchor text for your backlinks. Without this backlinks there will be no way for the readers to visit your website which means less traffic. This is why every article posted in the blogsites should have these links. It is even recommended that you submit more articles in more sites. By doing this you will more better chances of having an increase web traffic that will lead to more profits. Blogging is only one tool that you can use for SEO Internet marketing.
Mathematics and fine art: Digitizing paintings through image processingPublic release date: 25-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karthika Muthukumaraswamy karthika@siam.org 267-350-6383 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Philadelphia September 25, 2012The current trend to digitize everything is not lost on fine art. Documenting, distributing, conserving, storing and restoring paintings require that digital copies be made. The Google Art Project, which brings art from galleries around the world to online audiences, was launched in early 2011 for precisely these reasons. Google's project has been a complex undertaking, however, carried out under carefully controlled settings using state-of-the-art equipment and requiring rigorous postproduction work.
In a paper published this month in the SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences, authors Gloria Haro, Antoni Buades and Jean-Michel Morel propose a far simpler technique that can achieve reliable reproductions of paintings using fusion of photographs taken from different angles through statistical methods. The simple photographic procedure eliminates the need for sophisticated illumination and acquisition requirements. The postproduction process, while intensive, is fully automated.
The fusion of multiple images of a painting from well-chosen angles can eliminate glare, highlights and motion blur. Robust statistical methods reduce noise and compensate for optical distortion, thus addressing the problem of uncontrolled illumination and destructive reflection that tends to be seen in many digitized paintings.
One of the main advantages of the method described is that image fusion obviates the need for a high-performance camera. "This article demonstrates the possibility of acquiring a good quality image of a painting from amateur snapshots taken in bursts from different angles, in normal museum illumination," says senior author Jean-Michel Morel. "The photographing procedure is simple and can be done with a commercial hand-held camera by an amateur photographer." Thus, paintings can be digitized even under poor light conditions, and this includes museum pieces that may be protected by glass screens that reflect light from other objects in the room.
The only requirement is for the photographer to take as many shots from as many angles as possible, making sure that no particular detail is affected by glare in a majority of the photographs. "This acquisition is then followed by an intensive (but fully automatic) post-production chain, whose mathematical and algorithmic definition is precisely the object of the article," author Morel explains.
First, each series of images taken from the same position at the same instanttermed "bursts"is fused to get single views with little noise and motion blur. A weighted average is used to obtain the sharpest possible image. Fusion of multiple images taken from the same position allows removal of noise and compression artifacts, while permitting emphasis of details. This is called burst denoising.
Highlightsregions of an image where extreme brightness causes information to be lostcan also be removed using photographs taken from various viewpoints. Finally, Poisson editing, a technique which allows seamless blending of images, and robust gradient statistics are used to fuse all final views from each burst. This brings images taken from different angles containing many reflections, highlights and shadows, into one final frontal-view image.
Fusion of images also does away with the need for controlled illumination, which is absolutely necessary in the case of single photograph techniques as used in the Google Project. The authors point out that with a single photograph it is much harder to eliminate glare and reflectance noise, which they find evident in white saturated regions caused by reflections in some photographs in Google's database. The image processing chain described in this paper takes the best advantage of a group of photographs and can work with as few as three. "The image fusion algorithm described in the paper can be applied to a video of the painting as well, though it would be very slow. An extension of the technique to video therefore requires a technological effort," Morel explains.
Likening photography of a painting to viewing it at a museum (several walkarounds are needed to find an optimal viewing position), the authors assert that a quality image of a painting with a complete view cannot be obtained by a single photograph, or even multiple photographs taken from the same position, regardless of the capabilities of a camera.
Once an image clear of imperfections caused by setup and illumination is obtained, color mapping, contrast, and other subjective features are left to photographers and artists. As the authors explain, "There is no absolute definition of a "good" photograph of a painting. This is an artistic question that goes beyond the scope of image processing as a technique."
The methods described in the paper could potentially be used in image restoration. In addition, these methods can be applied to 3-D objects, though the process is slow and success cannot be guaranteed. Future research will be directed toward better digitization of three-dimensional art using these techniques. "The digital recreation of 3D pieces of art is the subject of very active research to resolve its obviously more complex issues," Morel says.
###
This paper describes just one of many uses for the highly versatile field of image processing. View a video overview of image processing from SIAM's Annual Meeting:
Math behind Visual Effects and Image Processing: http://y2u.be/hie_52HxL68
About the authors:
Dr. Gloria Haro is a postdoctoral researcher at Dept. Tecnologies de la Informaci i les Comunicacions (DTIC) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Antoni Buades is a postdoctoral researcher at Department de Mathmatiques e Informatica, Universitat de les Illes Balears, in Balears, Spain and MAP5 (CNRS Universit Paris-Descartes). Dr. Jean-Michel Morel is a professor at the Centre de Mathmatiques et de Leurs Applications (CMLA) at Ecole Normale Suprieure de Cachan in Cachan, France.
Source article:
Photographing Paintings by Image Fusion
Gloria Haro, Antoni Buades and Jean-Michel Morel, SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences, 5(3), 1055?. (Online publish date: September 13, 2012)
[Reporters are free to use this text as long as they acknowledge SIAM]
About SIAM
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an international society of over 14,000 individual members, including applied and computational mathematicians and computer scientists, as well as other scientists and engineers. Members from 85 countries are researchers, educators, students, and practitioners in industry, government, laboratories, and academia. The Society, which also includes nearly 500 academic and corporate institutional members, serves and advances the disciplines of applied mathematics and computational science by publishing a variety of books and prestigious peer-reviewed research journals, by conducting conferences, and by hosting activity groups in various areas of mathematics. SIAM provides many opportunities for students including regional sections and student chapters. Further information is available at www.siam.org.
[Reporters are free to use this text as long as they acknowledge SIAM]
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Mathematics and fine art: Digitizing paintings through image processingPublic release date: 25-Sep-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Karthika Muthukumaraswamy karthika@siam.org 267-350-6383 Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics
Philadelphia September 25, 2012The current trend to digitize everything is not lost on fine art. Documenting, distributing, conserving, storing and restoring paintings require that digital copies be made. The Google Art Project, which brings art from galleries around the world to online audiences, was launched in early 2011 for precisely these reasons. Google's project has been a complex undertaking, however, carried out under carefully controlled settings using state-of-the-art equipment and requiring rigorous postproduction work.
In a paper published this month in the SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences, authors Gloria Haro, Antoni Buades and Jean-Michel Morel propose a far simpler technique that can achieve reliable reproductions of paintings using fusion of photographs taken from different angles through statistical methods. The simple photographic procedure eliminates the need for sophisticated illumination and acquisition requirements. The postproduction process, while intensive, is fully automated.
The fusion of multiple images of a painting from well-chosen angles can eliminate glare, highlights and motion blur. Robust statistical methods reduce noise and compensate for optical distortion, thus addressing the problem of uncontrolled illumination and destructive reflection that tends to be seen in many digitized paintings.
One of the main advantages of the method described is that image fusion obviates the need for a high-performance camera. "This article demonstrates the possibility of acquiring a good quality image of a painting from amateur snapshots taken in bursts from different angles, in normal museum illumination," says senior author Jean-Michel Morel. "The photographing procedure is simple and can be done with a commercial hand-held camera by an amateur photographer." Thus, paintings can be digitized even under poor light conditions, and this includes museum pieces that may be protected by glass screens that reflect light from other objects in the room.
The only requirement is for the photographer to take as many shots from as many angles as possible, making sure that no particular detail is affected by glare in a majority of the photographs. "This acquisition is then followed by an intensive (but fully automatic) post-production chain, whose mathematical and algorithmic definition is precisely the object of the article," author Morel explains.
First, each series of images taken from the same position at the same instanttermed "bursts"is fused to get single views with little noise and motion blur. A weighted average is used to obtain the sharpest possible image. Fusion of multiple images taken from the same position allows removal of noise and compression artifacts, while permitting emphasis of details. This is called burst denoising.
Highlightsregions of an image where extreme brightness causes information to be lostcan also be removed using photographs taken from various viewpoints. Finally, Poisson editing, a technique which allows seamless blending of images, and robust gradient statistics are used to fuse all final views from each burst. This brings images taken from different angles containing many reflections, highlights and shadows, into one final frontal-view image.
Fusion of images also does away with the need for controlled illumination, which is absolutely necessary in the case of single photograph techniques as used in the Google Project. The authors point out that with a single photograph it is much harder to eliminate glare and reflectance noise, which they find evident in white saturated regions caused by reflections in some photographs in Google's database. The image processing chain described in this paper takes the best advantage of a group of photographs and can work with as few as three. "The image fusion algorithm described in the paper can be applied to a video of the painting as well, though it would be very slow. An extension of the technique to video therefore requires a technological effort," Morel explains.
Likening photography of a painting to viewing it at a museum (several walkarounds are needed to find an optimal viewing position), the authors assert that a quality image of a painting with a complete view cannot be obtained by a single photograph, or even multiple photographs taken from the same position, regardless of the capabilities of a camera.
Once an image clear of imperfections caused by setup and illumination is obtained, color mapping, contrast, and other subjective features are left to photographers and artists. As the authors explain, "There is no absolute definition of a "good" photograph of a painting. This is an artistic question that goes beyond the scope of image processing as a technique."
The methods described in the paper could potentially be used in image restoration. In addition, these methods can be applied to 3-D objects, though the process is slow and success cannot be guaranteed. Future research will be directed toward better digitization of three-dimensional art using these techniques. "The digital recreation of 3D pieces of art is the subject of very active research to resolve its obviously more complex issues," Morel says.
###
This paper describes just one of many uses for the highly versatile field of image processing. View a video overview of image processing from SIAM's Annual Meeting:
Math behind Visual Effects and Image Processing: http://y2u.be/hie_52HxL68
About the authors:
Dr. Gloria Haro is a postdoctoral researcher at Dept. Tecnologies de la Informaci i les Comunicacions (DTIC) at Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain. Dr. Antoni Buades is a postdoctoral researcher at Department de Mathmatiques e Informatica, Universitat de les Illes Balears, in Balears, Spain and MAP5 (CNRS Universit Paris-Descartes). Dr. Jean-Michel Morel is a professor at the Centre de Mathmatiques et de Leurs Applications (CMLA) at Ecole Normale Suprieure de Cachan in Cachan, France.
Source article:
Photographing Paintings by Image Fusion
Gloria Haro, Antoni Buades and Jean-Michel Morel, SIAM Journal on Imaging Sciences, 5(3), 1055?. (Online publish date: September 13, 2012)
[Reporters are free to use this text as long as they acknowledge SIAM]
About SIAM
The Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is an international society of over 14,000 individual members, including applied and computational mathematicians and computer scientists, as well as other scientists and engineers. Members from 85 countries are researchers, educators, students, and practitioners in industry, government, laboratories, and academia. The Society, which also includes nearly 500 academic and corporate institutional members, serves and advances the disciplines of applied mathematics and computational science by publishing a variety of books and prestigious peer-reviewed research journals, by conducting conferences, and by hosting activity groups in various areas of mathematics. SIAM provides many opportunities for students including regional sections and student chapters. Further information is available at www.siam.org.
[Reporters are free to use this text as long as they acknowledge SIAM]
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
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Public release date: 25-Sep-2012
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