Research on black-and-white image processing method of smart car camera

In view of the images collection and processing problems of the smart car camera, the paper introduces a method which deals with field and line synchronization signal separation and binarization processing of the video signal collected from track fields, and which is capable to extract and position black border trajectory images effectively. According to the experiment results of the method, the camera images can be collected and processed effectively, and the accurate image information can be provided for the smart cars to travel along the track. The method has the advantages of being easy to use, strong adaptability, ideal performance and high practical value. On the basis of advantages the method is of high practical value in smart car races.

Flying Freely in a Black-and-White World——Young photographer Wen Hengmin

Foreign tourists to Beijing aspire to do three things -?climb the Great Wall, eat Beijing roast duck and visit the Panjiayuan flea market. On weekends, the Panjiayuan market attracts thousands of shoppers, both Chinese and foreign. In one corner a unique stand sells pictures. Displayed on one wall and grouped on a table are dozens of black-and-white photographs of folk customs in simple but elegant frames, just like at a photographic exhibition. Many people -

Black-and-White Bundles of Joy

Panda cubs pose with sponsors of the Wolong Giant Panda Protection and Research Center in southwest China’s Sichuan Province before they were moved outdoors in early February.The 18 weanling coddles, all about six months old, will live together in a garden at the Wolong center for half a year before they are separated. They will then be trained and selected for an experimental program designed to release captive-bredpandas to the wild. The Wolong center saw births of 19 panda cubs in 12 deliveries last year, with 17 survivals, a historical record. In addition, it saved and bred a cub delivered by a wild panda last August. Giant pandas, only found in China, are known as “living fossils” and about 1,590 still live in the wilds of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces.Currently, about 200 pandas are being bred in captivity worldwide, over half of which are living at the Wolong center.

Characteristics of night-time sleeping places selected by golden monkeys(Rhinopithecus bieti)in the Samage Forest,Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve,China

We examined the criteria for sleeping place selection in a social band of Rhinopithecus bieti(black-and-white snubnosed or golden monkeys)living in the mountainous Samage Forest,Baima Snow Mountain Nature Reserve,Yunnan,China.We performed principal component analysis and found that slope aspect,tree height and trunk diameter were likely key variables influencing selection of sleeping places.Sleeping sites were preferentially located in mixed deciduous/conifer forest.The monkeys slept exclusively in evergreen trees,of which 82%were conifers(mostly Picea likiangensis and Tsuga dumosa)and 18%evergreen oaks(Cyclobalanopsis oxyodon and Quercus spp.).Sleeping trees were tall(mean 30.5 m),had high boles(mean 18.4 m),large diameters(mean 62.6 cm)and large crown areas(mean 57.9 m^(2)).A comparative analysis of phytological and architectural features between trees in“sleeping site plots”(n=18)and trees in“non-sleeping-site plots”(n=66)revealed that diameter,crown surface area and tree height were significantly(P<0.01)larger in the former compared with the latter.All investigated roosting sites were situated on steep mountain slopes.Valleys and mountain ridges were avoided.We also detected re-use of roosting sites on several occasions,but not on consecutive nights.It is most likely that a mix of factors(stability of trees,access to food,unit cohesion,monitoring potential)explains the pattern of sleeping site preference,but predation at night seems to be only slightly important.Climate appears to have a profound influence on patterns of sleeping site selection in the monkeys’harsh temperate habitat.This is demonstrated by the monkeys’preference for mixed forest at medium elevations over montane fir forest at high elevations and slopes instead of ridges,with reduced exposure to wind and precipitation inherent in the former.We also emphasize the possibly substantial role that non-environmental factors(the nature of social organization and socio-behavioral strategies)play in determining sleeping site use in R.bieti and other primates.

Taste responsiveness to two steviol glycosides in three species of nonhuman primates

Primates have been found to differ widely in their taste perception and studies suggest that a coevolution between plant species bearing a certain taste substance and primate species feeding on these plants may contribute to such between-species differences. Considering that only platyrrhine primates, but not catarrhine or prosimian primates, share an evolutionary history with the neotrop- ical plant Stevia rebaudiana, we assessed whether members of these three primate taxa differ in their ability to perceive and/or in their sensitivity to its two quantitatively predominant sweet- tasting substances. We found that not only neotropical black-handed spider monkeys, but also paleotropical black-and-white ruffed lemurs and Western chimpanzees are clearly able to perceive stevioside and rebaudioside A. Using a two-bottle preference test of short duration, we found that Ateles geoffroyi preferred concentrations as low as 0.05 mM stevioside and 0.01 mM rebaudioside A over tap water. Taste preference thresholds of Pan troglodytes were similar to those of the spider monkeys, with 0.05 mM for stevioside and 0.03 mM for rebaudioside A, whereas Varecia variegata was slightly less sensitive with a threshold value of 0.1 mM for both substances. Thus, all three primate species are, similar to human subjects, clearly more sensitive to both steviol glycosides compared to sucrose. Only the spider monkeys displayed concentration-response curves with both stevioside and rebaudioside A which can best be described as an inverted U-shaped function sug- gesting that Ateles geoffroyi, similar to human subjects, may perceive a bitter side taste at higher concentrations of these substances. Taken together, the results of the present study do not support the notion that a co-evolution between plant and primate species may account for between-species differences in taste perception of steviol glycosides.