On shape detection in noisy images with particular reference to ultrasonography

We discuss the detection of a connected shape in a noisy image. Two types of image are considered: in the first a degraded outline of the shape is visible, while in the second the data are a corrupted version of the shape itself. In the first type the shape is defined by a thin outline of pixels with records that are different from those at pixels inside and outside the shape, while in the second type the shape is defined by its edge and pixels inside and outside the shape have different records. Our motivation is the identification of cross-sectional head shapes in ultrasound images of human fetuses. We describe and discuss a new approach to detecting shapes in images of the first type that uses a specially designed filter function that iteratively identifies the outline pixels of the head. We then suggest a way based on the cascade algorithm introduced by Jubb and Jennison (1991) of improving and considerably increasing the speed of a method proposed by Storvik (1994) for detecting edges in images of the second type.     

AN EXAMINATION OF THE INDIRECT PRODUCTIVITY GAINS FROM QUALITY IMPROVEMENT

Recent theoretical work suggests that quality-improvement activities can yield significant indirect effects through process improvements and reduced factory congestion and confusion, benefits that are overlooked or hidden in most management accounting or cost of quality systems. Using time series data from two consumer durables manufacturing plants, I estimate the indirect productivity gains from quality improvement. The evidence from the plants indicates that the indirect effects from improved quality are at least two to three times the direct benefits attributable to lower scrap, rework, and inventory holding costs. An important implication of these findings is that companies that justify investments and measure performance based only on the direct costs of poor quality will motivate managers to make suboptimal decisions regarding quality-improvement activities.     

Canadian fertility trends: a further test of the Easterlin Hypothesis

Selon Richard Easterlin, le taux de fertilite d'une cohorte est inversement proportionnel a sa taille relative. C'est principalement aux Etats-Unis qu'on a trouve des donnees
peut-itre pas a ce pays. En general, il semble qu'au Canada les taux de fertilite relatifs de grosses cohortes sont plus Pleves que ceux de cohortes plus petites, et ceci malgre le fait que les taux de fertilite ont diminue pour toutes les cohortes au cours des dernieres annees. Lorsque I'on examine la taille relative des cohortes en contrdant les effets d'ige et de periode, la relation entre la taille de la cohorte et son taux de fertilitP disparait completernent ce qui reduit plus encore la validite de I'hypothPse de Easterlin
Richard Easterlin has argued that the fertility rate of a cohort is inversely related to the relative size of that cohort. Evidence to support this proposition has been derived primarily from studies in the United States. A breakdown of Canadian fertility trends to decompose age, period and cohort effects suggests that Easterlin's hypothesis may not hold for the Canadian situation. Overall, larger Canadian cohorts appear to have higher relative fertility rates than do smaller cohorts, despite the fact that fertility rates have declined across all cohorts in recent years. Focusing on relative cohort size, and controlling for age and period effects, the relationship between cohort size and fertility disappears completely further minimizing the validity of the Easterlin Hypothesis. supportant cette these. Une analyse de la fertilite au Canada, qui distingue entre les effets d'ige, de periode et de cohorte indique que I'hypothese de Easterlin ne s'applique     

Strange Meeting: Marxism, Psychoanalysis and Social Work

Summary It is suggested that the polarity between Marxism and psychoanalysisis one factor hindering the development of social work's professionalidentity. The first section of the article suggests ways inwhich a dialogue between the two perspectives might be established.In the second section such a dialogue is applied to a numberof central concepts in social work theory and practice.     

UNOBSERVABLE INDIVIDUAL EFFECTS, MARRIAGE AND THE EARNINGS OF YOUNG MEN

While there is compelling evidence that married men earn more than unmarried men, the source of this premium remains unsettled. Using panel data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Young Men, we show that much of the premium normally attributed to marriage is associated with unobservable individual effects that are correlated with marital status and wages. To the extent there is a gain, it is purely an intercept shift and no more than 5% to 7%. Our findings cast doubt on the interpretation that marriage enhances productivity through specialization.     

Engendering a Therapeutic Ethos: Modernity, Masculinity & Nervousness

This article considers discourses of nervousness as an important historical dimension of the therapeutic turn. By tracing an emerging therapeutic sensibility through Australian medical literature and the popular print media of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it provides an Antipodean perspective on the discursive and cultural terrain receptive to Freudian ideas and psychology, which were central to the ascendancy of a psychotherapeutic ethos. Through a particular focus on concerns about nervous men, the article explores how perceived problems of nervousness destabilized masculine ideals and helped engender a greater concern with personal distress, factors significant for the florescence of therapeutic culture.