text:
- Research
- Open Access
Object permanence and the development of attention capacity in preterm and term infants: an eye-tracking study
© The Author(s). 2017
- Received: 30 March 2017
- Accepted: 19 September 2017
- Published: 2 October 2017
The relationship between premature birth and early cognitive function as measured by eye-tracking data remains unexplored. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of prematurity on the development of object permanence and attention capacity using eye-tracking measures.
We prospectively studied very low birth weight (VLBW < 1500 g) preterm infants who were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea and visited a follow-up clinic. Using eye-tracking measures, object permanence was assessed in 15 VLBW preterm and 10 term infants at a corrected age of 6–10 months, and attention capacity was measured in 26 VLBW preterm and 18 term children who were age-matched for the corrected age of 6–10 or18 months.
No differences were found in chronologic age (corrected age for prematurity), sex, or maternal education between the study groups. The VLBW preterm infants had lower scores than term infants on eye-tracking measures of object permanence than the term infants did at 6–10 months (P = 0.042). The VLBW preterm infants had a shorter referential gaze than the term infants did at 6–10 months (P = 0.038); moreover, the length of referential gaze of the VLBW preterm infants was significantly lower at 6–10 months than at 18 months (P = 0.047), possibly indicating a delayed trajectory of attention development.
The VLBW preterm infants have different attention capacities and object permanence developmental markers than term infants at the corrected age of 6–10 months.
- Neurodevelopmental outcome
- Infant
- Premature
- Cognition
- Eye-tracking
With recent advances in neonatology, obstetrics, and neonatal care, the survival rate of preterm infants has significantly increased. Several studies have reported that, despite the absence of structural brain injuries, very low birth weight (VLBW < 1500 g) infants are at greater risk of cognitive impairment involving object permanence, attention deficit, language delay, memory/learning problems and academic performance than term infants [1–3]. Therefore, it is important to provide interventions as early as possible to guide cognitive development [4].
Visual tracking is one of the first basic behaviours to develop attention and communication during cognitive process. Eye-tracking can be used to assess a nonbiased information about gaze direction in response to visual stimuli in infants [5]. Eye tracking research is a good tool to measure visual attention, gaze following, preference, and memory. However, few studies regarding the analysis of eye movement have reported the use of eye tracking in this pre-verbal infant population [6–9]. Since a direct gaze at a specific object during communication involves both referential intention and social interaction, it has been investigated as a marker of cognitive development [8, 10]. In particular, object permanence is a critical cognitive process that requires the ability to pay attention to the object and maintain visual memory, and is considered an early stage of working memory development [11–14]. Eye-tracking technology provides reliable insights into the gaze by assessing the duration of fixation at an area of interest. A few studies have used visual tracking as a predictor of neurodevelopment in infancy, but studies on object permanence and attention in preterm infants during infancy are scarce [15, 16]. The aim of this study was to compare object permanence and attention capacity in response to visual stimuli using eye-tracking in term infants and VLBW preterm infants without major disabilities.
Study population
Neonatal risk factors in VLBW preterm infants
Prenatal and neonatal data were based on medical records, including gestational age (GA), birth weight, delivery mode and sex. Small for gestational age, maternal chorioamnionitis, prenatal steroid use, bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD, ≥ moderate), retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and intraventricular haemorrhage I-II were recorded for VLBW preterm infants. Chorioamnionitis was defined by histologic chorioamnionitis or umbilical cord vasculitis of grade 2 or greater, according to the grading system suggested by Salafia et al. [17]. The diagnosis and severity of BPD were determined by assessing the need for supplementary oxygen at 28 days of age and 36 weeks postmenstrual age, the infants breathing air had mild BPD, those who needed <30% supplementary oxygen had moderate BPD, and those needing >30% supplementary oxygen and/or continuous positive airway pressure or a ventilator were defined as having severe BPD [18]. IVH was classified according to Volpe. [19]. Maternal education was categorized as high (more than 10 years), middle (6 to 10 years) or low (less than 6 years), based on the number of years of post-elementary education.
Eye-tracking assessment
We designed the experimental tasks to induce attention and object permanence based on previous reports, using a modification of the methods of de Jong et al. and Lowe et al. [1, 9]. The tasks consisted of watching 3 video clips in which an actress presented different stimuli involving 2 cups and a yogurt bottle.
Prior to starting the three tasks, cartoon images of toys with sound effects were used to draw the infants' attention to the screen. The root mean square (RMS) of the noise of the eye-tracking signals is a measure of data quality. There was no significant difference between the RMS noise in the VLBW preterm and term groups, indicating that the quality of the eye-tracking data was amenable to statistical analysis (Wilk's Λ = 0.93, F8,190 = 1.88, P = 0.07).
Task 2: Advanced object permanence test (Fig. 3b). The actress picks up the yogurt bottle. She initially hides it under the left cup. A few second later, she hides it under the other cup, saying "I am hiding it again." Here, there is no reversal of the two cups, only a change in the location of the yogurt bottle. The infant needs to employ a higher level of cognitive capability to simultaneously manage two hiding steps (i.e., the yogurt bottle under the left cup, and the yogurt bottle under the right cup) and object permanence (i.e., while they observe that the yogurt bottle is moving from the left cup to the right cup) as they retrieve where the hidden object is. Each stimulus was displayed for 10 s. Two stimuli were administered to each child (two trials per task).
Task 3: Attention test (Fig. 3c). The stimulus video shows the actress's face for 1 s; then she lifts a yogurt bottle to shoulder height and shifts her gaze to the bottle with a verbal indication ("Let's look at this. It is a yummy yogurt"). Gaze direction was not altered in referring to the object. The stimulus is displayed for 4 s. Two stimuli were administered to each child (two trials per task).
Analysis of the eye-tracking data
For analysis, we developed several areas of interest (AOIs) representing the primary analytic regions where the infants looked and how they responded to the various stimuli. In general, all of the AOIs were rectangular areas that covered the movement of a special object used as the stimulus.
Object permanence test: In Task 1, the left cup was the only AOI. The left cup hiding the yogurt bottle moved to the right position where the right cup was originally located. To analyze the infants' gaze and object choice followed by basic object permanence, we assessed the infants' gaze shift at the left cup while the yogurt bottle was hiding, and after moving the left cup. Hence, the infant was considered to have basic object permanence if he or she maintained the gaze on the left cup even after the cup was moved. In Task 2, the stimuli consisted of two types of object permanence: i) the yogurt bottle is hidden under the left cup (then, the actress lifts the left cup and hides the yogurt bottle under the right cup, saying "I am hiding it again"), ii) the yogurt bottle is hidden under the right cup. The accuracy of all gaze shifts was scored by (the number of accurate gaze shifts)/(the total number of trials). The maximum object permanence score was 2, and the minimum score was 0.
Attention test: The yogurt bottle was the main AOI, starting from the actress saying "Let's look at this. It is a yummy yogurt." The distractor was the actress's face, another AOI. The analysis of Task 3 involved checking how well our participants paid attention to the referential object, the yogurt bottle. To analyze the infants' referential gaze, we assessed the looking time of the target objects by quantifying sustained attention after attention shifted. We calculated the relative proportion of the former (looking time at the yogurt bottle/looking time at both the face and the yogurt bottle). The categorical definition of 'sustained attention' was that the infants had to shift their eyes and consistently fix on the target for at least 0.33 s [20].
Statistical analysis
All the analyses were carried out with SPSS 22 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA.). We checked data for normal distribution. Data were analyzed for normality of distribution using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Continuous measures were summarized and analyzed using parametric statistics. Normally distributed variables are presented as mean ± SD, and non–normally distributed variables as median value and range. The proportions of looking time, and gaze shift scores, were compared by t-tests or Mann-Whitney U tests in order to identify differences in attention performance and object permanence between VLBW preterm and term infants. A multivariate linear regression analysis was conducted to determine risk factors associated with attention in the VLBW preterm groups. Because looking time during the attention test is a continuous measure, a logistic regression model using the categorical definition of attention was used to compare attention function in VLBW preterm infants with different medical morbidities, while controlling for gestational age, sex, and adjusted age at testing P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Clinical characteristics of the study infants
Preterm infants (n = 26)
Term infants (n = 18)
Perinatal characteristic
Gestational age, wk
28.92 ± 3.89
38.66 ± 1.32
Birth weight (g)
989.04 ± 320.77
3108.88 ± 503.29
Cesarean section, n (%)
21 (80)
11 (61)
Male gender, n (%)
14 (54)
13 (72)
Small for gestational age, n (%)
9 (34)
Chorioamnionitis, n (%)
11 (42)
Prenatal steroid use, n (%)
21 (81)
BPD ≥ moderate, n (%)
8 (31)
ROP, grade I-II, n (%)
13 (50)
Intraventricular hemorrhage
Grade I, n (%)
4 (15)
Grade II, n (%)
2 (7)
Socio-demographic characteristics
Maternal age, years
35.30 ± 3.36
35.44 ± 3.20
Maternal education, n (%)
18 (69)
13 (72)
8 (31)
5 (28)
Follow-up characteristic
6–10 month clinic, months
8.72 ± 1.95 (n = 10)
8.57 ± 1.95 (n = 9)
16–20 month clinic, months
17.34 ± 2.31 (n = 16)
16.67 ± 1.03 (n = 9)
BINS scores of the patients
6–10 month
11.20 ± 0.63 (n = 10)
11.50 ± 0.75 (n = 9)
16–20 months
10.75 ± 0 .70 (n = 16)
10.66 ± 0.77 (n = 9)
Differences in object permanence between preterm and term infants
Preterm infants
Term infants
Basic object performance
0.400 ± 0.699
0.222 ± 0.441
Advanced object performance
0.400 ± 0.5164
1.111 ± 0.782
There were no significant differences in looking time within 0.33 s, in the attention performance for target fixation in infants after controlling for gestational age, sex, and adjusted age at testing (data not shown).
We compared eye-tracking data for object permanence at a corrected age of 6–10 months in low-risk VLBW preterm infants with data for term infants at age 6–10 months. The VLBW preterm infants exhibited significantly lower object permanence, suggesting that even "healthy" preterm infants follow a delayed cognitive processes than term infants. Prospective and follow-up studies have shown that VLBW preterm infants are at risk of cognitive dysfunction [3]. In the development of cognitive functioning, object permanence may be an early diagnostic marker of neurodevelopment and a critical item for assessing early working memory capacity in preterm children. Object permanence mediates the ability to both pay selective attention to information and inhibit interfering information. Lowe et al. [9] showed that higher object permanence scores were significantly related to higher cognitive and language scores on the Bayley Scales-III at 18–22 months of age in preterm infants, after controlling for socio-economic status and preterm morbidities.
Using an eye-tracking system, we compared VLBW preterm infants and term infants with respect to gaze, that is, time spent looking at a target object when they shifted their attention in the direction of the referent. Term infants spent significantly longer looking at the referential object than the VLBW preterm infants. Furthermore, referential gaze representing shared attention elicited a significantly longer looking time in the term infants than the VLBW preterm infants at 6–10 months of age, while in the VLBW preterm infants referential gaze and looking time were longer at 16–20 months than at 6–10 months of corrected age.
These findings point to a different developmental trajectory of the orienting attention system in VLBW preterm infants and, in line with previous studies, suggest that VLBW preterm infants are predisposed to language impairment and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder later in life despite having no major disabilities [2, 10, 21]. Follow-up neurodevelopmental assessments and screening in children born prematurely ought to be encouraged, not only to decrease the deleterious consequences of prematurity, but also to achieve optimal development. Recent studies have focused on cognition and executive functioning in children born VLBW preterm infants [22–24]. For example, Johnson et al. [25] suggested that newborn infants have an innate preference for looking at face-like stimuli, with specific attention given to the eye region very soon after birth through a process of subcortical face processing. Gaze- following occurs between 6 and 12 months of age, while referential gaze is a more advanced cognitive achievement that emerges between 12 and 18 months [7]. However, the age at which infants begin to engage in referential gaze is related with individual differences in this skill between 6 and 18 months [20, 26]. Morales et al. [27] reported that infants as young as 6 months start to respond to referential gaze, which was related to subsequent language development. In the present study, referential gaze with looking time on the referent target was measured as early as 6 months, before they fully develop subsequent performance of joint attention. There is considerable evidence to support the idea that referential gaze is critical for the later development of communication in infants [6, 28, 29]. In the present study, referential gaze as a milestone of the development of social cognition was less advanced in VLBW preterm infants than term infants even at the early ages of 6–10 months and 16–20 months.
Telford et al. [16] demonstrated that VLBW preterm infants have shorter attention spans in response to social stimuli of increasing complexity than healthy term controls at a median age of 7 months, pointing to atypical attentional control. De Jong et al. [1] studied the development of the attention capacity of 123 VLBW preterm infants at 18 months using eye-tracking, and compared it to that of 101 term children. The VLBW preterm infants had lower orienting and alerting attention abilities at 18 months, suggesting that they are at increased risk of attention problems at school age. However, our findings differ from those of several other studies that suggested that early visual experience after preterm birth accelerated infants' visual and attentional development by speeding up maturational processes [30, 31]. Future research should address whether increased visual activity in response to additional visual stimuli in the extrauterine environment can affect early and/or later maturational processes. The present study is tested with widely used standard range of age groups from infants at 6–10 months or 16–20 months, which may not be an exact indicator of the extent of children's performance with variations. However, we assessed eye-tracking data based on previous studies that have also analyzed neurodevelopmental outcome from preterm infants in those age span [9, 15, 16].
Whether the cognitive differences seen in preterm infants were the result of an altered brain microstructure or disrupted cortical network during brain development is unclear. Different aspects of early visual function mature at different times and are probably related to different underlying subcortical and cortical mechanisms. There are a few reasons why preterm infants and term infants might shift gaze to a particular object differently. Previous studies demonstrated that preterm children with intraventricular hemorrhage І-ІІ and BPD tended to have lower object permanence scores and shorter attention span [9, 32, 33]. Pel et al. [34] suggested that children born extremely preterm may have delays in response times to specific visual properties in processing visual information, suggesting deficits in neuronal connectivity in visual pathways at a microstructural level. The visual processing problem related to preterm birth might also influence our eye-tracking result, even though these infants had no ophthalmological impairments or structural brain damage on conventional MRI. None of the VLBW preterm infants in the present study had intraventricular hemorrhage ІІІ-ІV or periventricular leukomalacia, but 8 of the 26 preterm infants had moderate to severe BPD. However, logistic regression analysis revealed that the VLBW preterm infants' attention performance was not associated with neonatal factors in clinically stable VLBW preterm infants due to a large number of covariates and small number of groups. Our data were not collected with a longitudinal design and the number of infants in each subgroup subdivided by postmenstrual age was too small to be amenable to statistical analysis. Additional studies with a larger cohort would help to better define early visual functioning in VLBW preterm infants.
The result of our study lead us to consider that healthy VLBW preterm infants might have additional risks of later problems in social and attentional areas. We suggest that a structured assessment of cognitive functioning could be added to clinical practice to detect early deficits in object permanence and referential gaze although these children develop normally in the early years.
We would like to acknowledge all of our colleagues of the Hanyang Inclusive Clinic for Developmental Disorders in Hanyang University College of Medicine. The authors gratefully acknowledge President Dong-Hyun Ahn of the Hanyang Inclusive Clinic for Developmental Disorders in Hanyang University College of Medicine for his frank suggestions and helpful discussions. The authors gratefully acknowledge Chairman Il-Kewon Kim of the Korea Special Therapeutic Education Center of Anyang, Republic of Korea.
With the unconditioned contribution of the Hanyang Inclusive Clinic for Developmental Disorders in Hanyang University College of Medicine. This study was supported by the research fund of Hanyang University (HY-2015).
Availability of data and materials
Reproducible materials described in the manuscript, including databases and all relevant raw data, are freely available to any scientist wishing to use them.
Authors' contributions
HR and HJL drafted the manuscript and made substantial contributions to design of this sudy. GH and JC participated in its design and performed the analysis of eye-tracking data. HP and MJK collected the data and participated in the statistical analysis. HJL contributed to the clinical assessment, helped to draft the manuscript and revised the final draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Ethics approval and consent to participate
The study was approved by the Hanyang University Hospital Institutional Review Board (No. 20141226). The informed consent was obtained from the patients' parents, after full explanation of the purpose and nature of all procedures used.
Consent for publication
Not applicable
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
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text:
Your body lies upon the sheet of paper and words so sweet. I can't say the words, so I wrote you into my verse.
Now, you'll live through the ages. I can feel your pulse in the pages.
-Bastille, Poet
I come back to haunt you. Memories will taunt you, and I will try to love you. It's not like I'm above you.
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All you want is someone onto whom you can cling. Your mother warned of strangers and the dangers they may bring. Your dreams and memories are blurring into one. The scenes which hold the waking world slowly come undone.
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I came here for sanctuary, away from the winds and the sounds of the city. I came here to get some peace, way down deep where the shadows are heavy.
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I can't help but think of you in these four walls. My thoughts seem to wander to some distant century when everyone we know is six feet under.
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When our lives are over and all that remains are our skulls and bones, let's take it to the grave and hold me in your arms, hold me in your arms. I'll be buried here with you and I'll hold in these hands all that remains.
-Bastille, Skulls
I don't want to rest in peace, I'd rather be the ghost that annoys you. I hope you can make me laugh six feet down when we're bored of each other.
-Bastille, Skulls
How am I gonna get myself back home? I am lost…
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Look, if you take me apart, you'll find half of me is you. But half of me is asking me to start anew. You look the same but I don't recognize you. I look at you dead in the face, I can't find you. Don't like the way we always talk in the past tense. Can't explain the presence till you work out what the past meant.
-Bastille (feat. Kate Tempest & Jay Brown), Forever Ever
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-Bastille (feat. Kate Tempest & Jay Brown), Forever Ever
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-Bastille (feat. Ella & Erika), Free
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-Bastille (feat. Ella & Erika), Free
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-Bastille, Requiem For Blue Jeans
I've been thinkin' 'bout you. Do you think about me still? Do ya, do ya? Or do you not think so far ahead?
'Cause I've been thinkin' 'bout forever…
-Bastille, Thinkin' Ahead

subset: commoncrawl


text:
- Research
- Open Access
Design and implementation of a real time and train less eye state recognition system
- Mohammad Dehnavi1Email author and
- Mohammad Eshghi1
© Dehnavi and Eshghi; licensee Springer. 2012
- Received: 22 May 2011
- Accepted: 15 February 2012
- Published: 15 February 2012
Eye state recognition is one of the main stages of many image processing systems such as driver drowsiness detection system and closed-eye photo correction. Driver drowsiness is one of the main causes in the road accidents around the world. In these circumstances, a fast and accurate driver drowsiness detection system can prevent these accidents. In this article, we proposed a fast algorithm for determining the state of an eye, based on the difference between iris/pupil color and white area of the eye. In the proposed method, vertical projection is used to determine the eye state. This method is suitable for hardware implementation to be used in a fast and online drowsiness detection system. The proposed method, along with other needed preprocessing stages, is implemented on Field Programmable Gate Array chips. The results show that the proposed low-complex algorithm has sufficient speed and accuracy, to be used in real-world conditions.
- eye state
- pupil
- iris
- drowsiness
- vertical projection
All over the world and every day, driver's fatigue and drowsiness have caused many car accidents. In fact, drowsiness is the case of about 20% of all car accidents in the world [1, 2]. As a result, an electronic device to control the driver's awareness is needed. This device should monitor and detect the driver's drowsiness online and activate an alarm system immediately.
In recent years, many researches on these systems have been done and their results are reported [3–12]. One of these methods is to monitor the movement of the vehicle to detect drowsiness of the driver [3]. This method depends very much to the type of vehicle and the condition of road. Another method is to process the electrocardiogram (ECG) signals of driver [4]. In this system, some ECG probes are needed to be connected to the driver, which are disturbing the driver. There are other methods based on processing of the image of driver's face and eye. Some of methods in this category are to process the image of driver and to monitor his/her eye blinking [5–11]. In these systems, the face process, eye region detection process, and eye state recognition process are performed.
In order to determine state of an eye, authors of [5] propose a method based on combination of projection and the geometry feature of iris and pupil. Authors of [6, 7] use the fact that the iris and pupil are darker than skin and white part of the eye. Authors of [11] proposed an algorithm based on the cascade AdaBoost classifier. In [12], a gray level image of an eye is converted to a binary image, using a predetermined threshold. Then, based on the number of black and white pixels of this binary image, state of the eye is determined.
The algorithm presented in [8] used the Hough Transform to detect the iris and to determine openness of the eye. Authors of [13] used three steps to recognize the eyes' state. In the first step, the circular Hough transform is used to detect the circle of an iris in the image of an open eye. If this circle is not found then in the second step, the direction of the image of upper eyelid is obtained to determine whether it is below of the line between two corners of an eye, to detect a closed eye. If a closed or open eye is not determined in the first two steps, then in the third step, the standard deviation of distance between upper and lower eyelids is obtained and is compared to a threshold to determine the eye state.
Some researches are based on the projection of the image, to determine the state of an eye. In [9], the vertical projection of the image of both eyes is used. In [10], horizontal projection image of an eye is used to determine the interval between eyebrows and eyelids and to recognize the state of an eye. In [14], the horizontal projection of the image of a face is calculated to determine state of an eye.
Some works also are based on "Supported Vector Machine" (SVM) classifier. In [15], the SVM classifier is used to detect state of the eye. Authors of [16] used SVM classifier and Gabor filter to extract eye characteristic.
In the above methods, the authors used some conditions which make some difficulties in the eye state recognition. For example, the algorithm presented in [5] has many stages which make it slow. As a result, this method cannot be used in a real-time system. Conditions such as light from different angles, dark eyelashes, eyebrows image located in eye block, and glasses decrease the accuracy of algorithms presented in [6, 7].
Since Hough transform has a massive calculation, the algorithm proposed in [8] is also slow. Algorithm in [9], in addition to higher computation, has a high sensitivity to light radiation. Some factors such as difference interval between eyebrow and eyelid, changes of environment light, and the color of eyebrow and eyelash highly affect the accuracy of the proposed algorithm in [10]. Algorithms in [11, 15, 16] have a training phase and also their hardware implementation is complicated. Determining the threshold of algorithm presented in [12] is difficult and this algorithm is very sensitive to the light condition. Algorithm in [13] has also many stages and hardly can be implemented on a hardware platform. The accuracy of the algorithm proposed in [14] is not enough to be used in driver's situation.
In this article, a new algorithm to recognize the state of an eye, without constraints of the previous methods, is proposed. This algorithm has less sensitivity to the light conditions than other algorithms, with no need to a training phase. In order to verify the correctness of the proposed algorithm, a computer simulation is developed. In order to check and compare the speed of the proposed algorithm, we implemented it on a Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) hardware platform. The results show a fast performance and acceptable accuracy for the proposed train less eye state recognition algorithm.
The rest of this article is organized as follows. In Section 2, our real-time algorithm to determine an open or closed eye is described. The computer simulation results of the proposed algorithm are provided in Section 3. In Section 4, the design of hardware implementation of the proposed algorithm is presented. The result of this hardware implementation is provided in Section 5. Comparisons between our algorithm and others are presented in Section 6. In Section 7, the conclusion of article is presented.
Real-time eye state recognition
In a driver drowsiness detection system based on image processing, first the location of the face in the image is determined. Then, place of eyes are determined and finally the image of an eye is processed to recognize the state of the eye. The overall driver drowsiness detection system is shown in Figure 1. In this article, it is assumed that the face detection and localization of eyes are performed with one of the methods presented in [17–22]. Our proposed algorithm recognizes the state of eyes to determine the driver drowsiness.
As shown in Figure 2a, the image of an open human eye has three different areas, pupil/iris in the middle and two white parts in the left and right sides. However, in the image of a closed eye, these areas are not discriminated. The effect of this observation in the projection vector is the basis of our proposed algorithm to determine the state of the eye. As shown in Figure 2b, the projection vector of an eye in the open state has three areas. The projection vector of the pupil and iris area has less gray values than two other white areas. As a result, the projection vector has a local minimum in its middle, belongs to pupil area, and two local maximums, belong to two white parts of the eye.
The method which searches for these local minimum and maximums in the projection vector is as follows. First, we add AFlen/2 zeros to left and right sides of projection vector, to generate the zero padded projection vector (ZPPV), with a length of ZPlen = PVlen + AFlen. Then, the local maximums and minimums of this vector are obtained. The local minimums that are located between the two maximums are classified in different groups. Each minimum and two adjacent maximums form a group. In each group, the minimum is occurred at X min of zero padded projection vector with a value of Y min. In each group, also the smallest maximum is at X smax of zero padded projection vector with a value of Y smax. If at least one group in the ZPPV of the image satisfies the both following conditions then the eye is open, otherwise it is closed.
The ratio stated in condition-1 is based on the difference between the color of the pupil (black) and the white area of an eye. This difference varies when the state of an eye is changing from an open state to a closed state. That is, when an open eye is going to be closed it passes different steps. Condition-1 verifies that an eye is open when this ratio is greater than a threshold value. In the other hand, in the relaxed and open eye, such as driving situation, the pupil almost in the center of eye, Condition-2 checked this condition to validate the openness of the eye.
As an example, consider image of an open eye, as shown in Figure 2a. Figure 2b is its projection vector and Figure 2c shows the smoothed and ZPPV of this image. Based on our experiments the threshold of Condition-1 is considered to be θ = 0.05. Figure 2c is satisfied both conditions of an open eye, therefore it belongs to an open eye.
Simulation results
Results of computer simulation in The Caltech Frontal Face Database
Number of corrects
Number of incorrect
Accuracy (%)
Open eye
Close eye
Results of computer simulation in SBU database [25]
Number of corrects
Number of incorrect
Accuracy (%)
Open eye
Close eye
Hardware implementation design
The address of IMAGE_RAM is generated through IMAGE_RAM_ADRESS register/counter, a ring counter which counts from 0 to 11151 (Figure 6b). The address of PV_RAM is also generated by PV_RAM_ADRESS1, a ring counter which counts from 0 to 135.
When the projection vector is completed, PV_C flag is set; and then smoothing unit starts its process, as shown in Figure 6b. For implementation of smoothing unit, we use the following procedure:
In smoothing procedure, we need to divide the summation of projection vector data which are overlap with smoothing filter to the length of the smoothing filter, AFlen. To simplify the hardware implementation of this procedure we approximate the AFlen with the nearest number of 2 k , less than AFlen. In the other word, if 2 k < AFlen < 2k+1then the denominator consider to be 2 k . Dividing a number by 2 k is a k-bit shift to the right. In our simulation, for example, since AFlen = 19, we considered k = 4 and instead of division in averaging procedure, we shift the result 4 bits to the right.
In Max/Min searching unit, the local maximum and minimum of smoothed vector, generated through smoothing unit, are obtained. The input to this unit is the arrays of smoothed vector which is generated at each step. In order to find the local minimum and maximums of the smoothed projection vector, we used the following method.
In this method, each element of smoothed vector, d i , is compared to the previous element, di-1. If d i ≥ di-1then a '1' is shifted into a 9-bit shift register. This shift register always contains the result of the last nine comparisons. If this shift register has a pattern equal to "000001111" then it indicates a maximum in the smoothed vector. If this shift register has a pattern equal to "111100000" then it indicate a minimum in the smoothed vector. Otherwise, there is neither a minimum nor a maximum in this part of the vector.
Last unit of this system is the condition checking unit. In this unit, conditions of maximums and minimums are checked, concurrently. In each step of type checking, three successive bits of type register is selected. If these three bits have a pattern of "101" then a minimum exist between two maximums. We called this minimum in this group as Y min. The index of this minimum in ZPPV is called X min. Also in each group one of the maximum is less than the other which we called it Y smax.
If X min in Equation (4) is between (54,81), then Condition-2 is satisfied.
This procedure is repeated for all frames and PV_RAM is cleared when the process of one frame is completed. Therefore, data are overwritten on PV_RAM, when IMAGE_RAM_ADDRESS points to the first column of IMAGE_RAM. Control circuit controls the flow of data. When the first row of IMAGE_RAM is read then the inputs of the adder are connected to IMAGE_RAM and '0'. When the other rows of IMAGE_RAM are read then the inputs of the adder are connected to IMAGE_RAM and port B of PV_RAM. Figure 6b shows this operation.
The total needed clock cycles to complete an eye state recognition in an 11152 pixels image is 11310 clocks, 11153 clocks to obtain projection vector, 137 clocks to obtain smoothed data; and 20 clocks to check the conditions.
Hardware implementation result
FPGA is a platform to implement hardware in the gate level abstraction. Since the designs are executed in parallel, speed of the FPGA implementation of any system is higher than speed of its software implementation. Furthermore, FPGAs are reconfigurable device, minimizing time-to-market, and simplifying verification and debugging [17]. So, FPGA is one of the best platforms to implement a real time such as driver drowsiness system.
FPGA resource requirements to implementation proposed algorithm result
Logic utilization
Utilization (%)
Number of slices
Number of slice flip flops
Number of 4 input LUTs
Number of BRAMs
A computer simulation is developed to evaluate the proposed algorithm. The results show that a good balance between speed and accuracy obtained in our research, compared to other articles. An FPGA implementation also is presented to obtain a high speed. The FPGA implementation result shows that the proposed algorithm and its implementation method have a high speed and accuracy. Therefore, our proposed system can be used in real-time applications.
In this article, an algorithm to determine the state of an eye by using its image was presented. In our algorithm, we used the fact that the pupil and iris are darker than white part of the eye. We used the vertical projection to distinguish the state of the eye. The proposed method performed well in different light and eye color conditions. A computer simulation showed that the proposed algorithm has 89% accuracy.
Hardware design and implementation of the proposed algorithm were also presented. In this design, the algorithm is partitioned into five units and in each unit, the parallel and pipeline architectures were used. This implementation used 4% of the XC3SD3400A FPGA of Spartan 3-A DSP family. Result of this hardware implementation showed a fast architecture, i.e., the total time to process the image of an eye with 136 × 82 pixels in this system is 136 μs. This is a hardware implementation of an eye state recognition for real time.
Authors' Affiliations
- Drowsy Driving[http://dimartinilaw.com/motor_vehicle_accidents/car_accidents/drowsy_driving/]
- Newsinferno news site[http://www.newsinferno.com/accident/drowsy-driving-behind-1-in-6-fatal-traffic-accidents]
- Boyraz P, Hansen JHL: Active accident avoidance case study: integrating drowsiness monitoring system with lateral control and speed regulation in passenger vehicles. IEEE International Conference on Vehicular Electronics and Safety, ICVES 2008 2008, 293-298.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
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- Tabrizi PR, Zoroofi RA: Drowsiness detection based on brightness and numeral features of eye image. Fifth International Conference on Intelligent Information Hiding and Multimedia Signal Processing, 2009. IIH-MSP'09 2009, 1310-1313.Google Scholar
- Horng WB, Chen CY: Improved driver fatigue detection system based on eye tracking and dynamic template matching ICS. 2008, 11-2.Google Scholar
- Wen-Bing H, Chih-Yuan C, Yi C, Chun-Hai F: Driver fatigue detection based on eye tracking and dynamic template matching. In Proceeding of the 2004 IEEE International Conference on Networking, Sensing & Control. Taipei, Taiwan; 2004.Google Scholar
- D'Orazio T, Leo M, Guaragnella C, Distante A: A visual approach for driver inattention detection. Pattern Recogn 2007, 40: 2341-2355. 10.1016/j.patcog.2007.01.018View ArticleGoogle Scholar
- Zhang Z, Zhang J-S: Driver fatigue detection based intelligent vehicle control. Paper presented at The 18th IEEE International Conference on Pattern Recognition 2006.Google Scholar
- Devi MS, Bajaj PR: Driver fatigue detection based on eye tracking. First International Conference on Emerging Trends in Engineering and Technology 2008, 649-652.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
- Liu Z, Ai H: Automatic eye state recognition and closed-eye photo correction. 19th International Conference on Pattern Recognition 2008, 1-4.Google Scholar
- Wu J, Chen T: Development of a drowsiness warning system based on the fuzzy logic images analysis. Expert Syst Appl 2008, 34(2):1556-1561. 10.1016/j.eswa.2007.01.019View ArticleGoogle Scholar
- Lei Y, Yuan M, Song X, Liu X, Ouyang J: Recognition of eye states in real time video. International Conference on Computer Engineering and Technology, ICCET'09 2009, 554-559.Google Scholar
- Hong T, Qin H, Sun Q: An improved real time eye state identification system in driver drowsiness detection. IEEE International Conference on Control and Automation 2007, 0: 1449-1453.Google Scholar
- Wu Y-S, Lee T-W, Wu Q-Z, Liu H-S: An eye state recognition method for drowsiness detection. IEEE 71st Vehicular Technology Conference 2010, 1-5.Google Scholar
- Flores MJ, Armingol JM, de la Escalera A: Driver drowsiness warning system using visual information for both diurnal and nocturnal illumination conditions. EURASIP J Adv Signal Process 2010, 2010: 1-20.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
- Viola P, Jones M: Rapid object detection using a boosted cascade of simple features. Proceedings of the 2001 IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition, CVPR 2001 2001, 1: I-511-I-518.Google Scholar
- Smach F, Atri M, Mitéran J, Abid M: Design of a neural networks classifier for face detection. Eng Technol 2005, 124-127.Google Scholar
- Huang C, Ai H, Li Y, Lao S: High-performance rotation invariant multiview face detection. IEEE Trans Pattern Anal Mach Intell 2007, 29(4):671-686.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
- Jin Z, Lou Z, Yang J, Sun Q: Face detection using template matching and skin-color information. Neurocomputing 2006, 636-645.Google Scholar
- Jie Y, Xufeng L, Yitan Z, Zhonglong Z: A face detection and recognition system in color image series. Math Comput Simulat 2008, 77(5-6):531-539. 10.1016/j.matcom.2007.11.020View ArticleGoogle Scholar
- Zhang P: A video-based face detection and recognition system using cascade face verification modules. In Proc of the 2008 37th IEEE Applied Imagery Pattern Recognition Workshop. Washington DC; 2008:1-8.View ArticleGoogle Scholar
- Vezhnevets V, Degtiareva A: Robust and accurate eye contour extraction. In Proc Graphicon-2003. Moscow, Russia; 2003:81-84.Google Scholar
- Caltech vision lab[http://www.vision.caltech.edu/html-files/archive.html]. Accessed 20 July 2011
- Eye SBU database[http://faculties.sbu.ac.ir/~eshghi/sbu-database-9008/one_eye.rar]
- Xilinx co[http://www.xilinx.com]. Accessed 2 May 2011


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Connecticut Dog Bites: Dogs Can Attack Those They Know
Recently in New Britain, a woman was placed under arrest after her dog attacked four family members. Dog bites can happen more often over the winter season. During these months, we keep our celebrations indoors; and that typically includes Fido, too.
In the state of Connecticut, the dog bite law is strict liability. This means that when the dog you care for harms another, you are responsible for the injuries. There are very few exceptions.
Dogs show their stress in their behavior by licking their lips, pulling back ears, whites of the eyes showing. growling/barking, turning their head/body away, stiff body and resisting following their owner's commands.
As people are indoors celebrating, our dogs might be getting stressed out. Here are a few ways to keep everyone safe.
- Keep children supervised. Children love dogs, but dogs don't always love them back, mostly because of their unpredictable movements.
- Stick to their diet. Avoid feeding Fido anything other than his normal diet. When dogs eat foods outside of their routine diet, it can cause them not to feel well and become irritable.
- Turn down the volume. Extra noise in their home can cause dogs to stress and become less tolerant.
- Eyes open. Children are not the only ones who do not understand that a dog needs space. Adults often miss a dog's signals and don't realize the dog needs time alone.
If you or a family member suffered a dog bite, contact our firm immediately.


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The first to take-off of the U.S.S. Hornet on April 18, 1942, is the last to land.
German WWII Mini Submarine in Action
The Marder was a German miniature submarine developed from the Neger. The craft was 8.3 metres long and unlike the Neger included a flooding tank in the nose allowing it to dive. Another improvement was the dome through which the pilot viewed the outside world that also served as the craft's entrance and exit was made openable from the inside. Maximum diving depth was about 25 metres. The submarine's first operations took place on the night of August 2, 1944, when Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine's Small Battle Units made their largest effort of the war. 58 human torpedoes of the Neger-type and 22 Linse vessels were launched against allied shipping off Normandy as part of a combined operation with Negers and explosive Linse boats. One Royal Navy destroyer escort, HMS Quorn (L66) was sunk by a human torpedo along with one mineweeper, the HMS Gairsay and one Landing Craft by the German motor-boats; at a cost of 41 Neger and 22 Linsen craft. Read more at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marder_(submarine)


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Spoon Fed No. 5
Sunday 16 December 2012
at Spike Island
Flamingo Inn :: Paula Benvegnu
Love, Loss and Renewal :: Fiona Campbell
WINNER The Light Box Series: Wednesday Windows :: The Parlour Showrooms
Installation at Limbo Art Centre, Margate :: Christopher Box
Gummo the Musical :: Table Scraps and Bristol Diving School
As a special holiday treat, friend of Spoon Fed Justin Searle also read an excerpt from Chris Radant's hilarious essay "Home for the Holidays".
We are inspired by and part of the international Sunday Soup network. Spoon Fed is produced by the Collect and it is a Guttural Olympiad legacy project.
Spoon Fed No. 5 is generously supported by Mark's Bread, Bristol Sweet Mart and Spike Island.


text: What could be the reason of Crypto Market rebound? 261 viewsApril 23, 2018Business & Economy 0 leo richard125 April 23, 2018 0 Comments As everyone observed cryptocurrency market rebound, what could be the reason behind it? Rajesh Kumar Changed status to publish April 24, 2018 0 Answers ActiveVotedNewestOldest Register or Login


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ScrewFit : combining localization and description of protein secondary structure
A simple and efficient method is presented to describe the secondary structure of proteins in terms of orientational distances between consecutive peptide planes and local helix parameters. The method uses quaternion-based superposition fits of the protein peptide planes in conjunction with Chasles' theorem, which states that any rigid-body displacement can be described by a screw motion. The helix parameters are derived from the best superposition of consecutive peptide planes and the 'worst' fit is used to define the orientational distance. Applications are shown for standard secondary-structure motifs of peptide chains for several proteins belonging to different fold classes and for a description of structural changes in lysozyme under hydrostatic pressure. In the latter case, published reference data obtained by X-ray crystallo- graphy and by structural NMR measurements are used.
Calligari, P., "ScrewFit : combining localization and description of protein secondary structure", Acta Crystallographica Section D, D62, 302–311.
Authors: Kneller
Coders: Calligari
Last update07/29/2015
Dendrodendritic Inhibition and Simulated Odor Responses in a Detailed Olfactory Bulb Network Model
In the olfactory bulb, both the spatial distribution and the temporal structure of neuronal activity appear to be important for processing odor information, but it is currently impossible to measure both of these simultaneously with high resolution and in all layers of the bulb. We have developed a biologically realistic model of the mammalian olfactory bulb, incorporating the mitral and granule cells and the dendrodendritic synapses between them, which allows us to observe the network behavior in detail. The cell models were based on previously published work. The attributes of the synapses were obtained from the literature. The pattern of synaptic connections was based on the limited experimental data in the literature on the statistics of connections between neurons in the bulb. The results of simulation experiments with electrical stimulation agree closely in most details with published experimental data. This gives confidence that the model is capturing features of network interactions in the real olfactory bulb. The model predicts that the time course of dendrodendritic inhibition is dependent on the network connectivity as well as on the intrinsic parameters of the synapses. In response to simulated odor stimulation, strongly activated mitral cells tend to suppress neighboring cells, the mitral cells readily synchronize their firing, and increasing the stimulus intensity increases the degree of synchronization. Preliminary experiments suggest that slow temporal changes in the degree of synchronization are more useful in distinguishing between very similar odorants than is the spatial distribution of mean firing rate.
Davison, A., "Dendrodendritic Inhibition and Simulated Odor Responses in a Detailed Olfactory Bulb Network Model", Journal of Neurophysiology, 90, 1921-1935.
Authors: Davison
Coders: Davison
Last update10/08/2012
Generic allometric models including height best estimate forest biomass and carbon stocks in Indonesia
The choice of an appropriate allometric model is a critical step in reducing uncertainties in forest biomass stock estimates. With large greenhouse gases emissions due to deforestation, a systematic assessment and comparison of the models available in Indonesia is crucial for accurate assessments of forest carbon stocks and implementing REDD+ projects. In the present study, we compared the ability of two regional and two generic (pantropical) allometric models to estimate biomass at both tree and plot levels. We showed that regional models had lower performance in estimating tree biomass, with greater bias (-31 to 8 %) and higher AIC (177 to 204), compared to generic models (bias: -2 to 2 %; AIC: 57 to 67). At the plot level, the regional models underestimated biomass stocks by 0 – 40 % compared to the best generic model. The error in plot biomass stocks associated to models relying solely upon DBH ranged between -5 to +15 %. The integration of tree height estimated regionally resulted in an overestimate of 5 – 10 % in unmanaged forests. Despite the difficulty to accurately assess tree heights in tropical forests, integrating all or part of them in biomass assessment can reduce uncertainties.
Rutishauser, E., "Generic allometric models including height best estimate forest biomass and carbon stocks in Indonesia", Forest Ecology and Management, 307, 219–225.
Authors: Rutishauser
Coders: Rutishauser
Last update08/21/2013
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Although SEO (especially ecommerce SEO) is no short-term endeavor, there are some vital tips and strategies that you can absorb and implement rather quickly. Some SEO tips may take time to come to fruition, whereas others can lend to fast outcomes. Among this list of ten, we're sure that you'll find a few opportunities. Check out these quick SEO tips for ecommerce sites and online retailers below.
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Matt Syroczynski was released by Norfolk of the AHL today and will be back in Fort Wayne tonight. In 18 games with the Admirals he scored four goals and six points ith
They put Blair Stayzer on 30-day IR retroactive to Friday. He has a concussion and he's at least two or three weeks away from being ablet o get into it agian. we're going to give him plenty of time to get over that. Nagging shoulder injury.
He called me this morning at home. I'm going to pick h im up at the airport tonight. He seemed pretty excited about coming back.
It's good use for the Komets. We can use his offense and size, It wil be a big jolt in the arm for all of us.


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Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I want to give a little ad time to this band from a wedding I shot on May 17 at Amelia Island Plantation. They are called "Last to Leave" and they rocked! They played all types of music and totally knew how to keep a wedding reception going. Their website is www.last2leave.com. Tell Ryan I sent you....
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In person at 6910 Preston Highway Louisville KY weekdays from 9:00am till 3:00pm


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"Old Nick is enough for them!" said he. "He doesn't need me to complete his infernal orchestra."
We may well believe that these strange apparitions frequently furnished a text for the evening stories. Jack Ryan was ending the evening with one of these. His auditors, transported into the phantom world, were worked up into a state of mind which would believe anything.
All at once shouts were heard outside. Jack Ryan stopped short in the middle of his story, and all rushed out of the barn. The night was pitchy dark. Squalls of wind and rain swept along the beach. Two or three fishermen, their backs against a rock, the better to resist the wind, were shouting at the top of their voices.
Jack Ryan and his companions ran up to them. The
shouts were, however, not for the inhabitants of the farm, but to warn men who, without being aware of it, were going to destruction. A dark, confused mass appeared some way out at sea. It was a vessel whose position could be seen by her lights, for she carried a white one on her foremast, a green on the starboard side, and a red on the outside. She was evidently running straight on the rocks.
"A ship in distress?" said Ryan.
"Ay," answered one of the fishermen, "and now they want to tack, but it's too late!"
"Do they want to run ashore?" said another.
"It seems so," responded one of the fishermen, "unless he has been misled by some--"
The man was interrupted by a yell from Jack. Could the crew have heard it? At any rate, it was too late for them to beat back from the line of breakers which gleamed white in the darkness.
But it was not, as might be supposed, a last effort of Ryan's to warn the doomed ship. He now had his back to the sea. His companions turned also, and gazed at a spot situated about half a mile inland. It was Dundonald Castle. A long flame twisted and bent under the gale, on the summit of the old tower.
"The Fire-Maiden!" cried the superstitious men in terror.
Clearly, it needed a good strong imagination to find any human likeness in that flame. Waving in the wind like a luminous flag, it seemed sometimes to fly round the tower, as if it was just going out, and a moment after it was seen again dancing on its blue point.
"The Fire-Maiden! the Fire-Maiden!" cried the terrified fishermen and peasants.
All was then explained. The ship, having lost her reckoning in the fog, had taken this flame on the top of Dundonald Castle for the Irvine light. She thought herself at the entrance of the Firth, ten miles to the north, when she was really running on a shore which offered no refuge.
What could be done to save her, if there was still time? It was too late. A frightful crash was heard above the tumult of the elements. The vessel had struck. The white line of surf was broken for an instant; she heeled over on her side and lay among the rocks.
At the same time, by a strange coincidence, the long flame disappeared, as if it had been swept away by a violent gust. Earth, sea, and sky were plunged in complete darkness.
"The Fire-Maiden!" shouted Ryan, for the last time, as the apparition, which he and his companions believed supernatural, disappeared. But then the courage of these superstitious Scotchmen, which had failed before a fancied danger, returned in face of a real one, which they were ready to brave in order to save their fellow-creatures. The tempest did not deter them. As heroic as they had before been credulous, fastening ropes round their waists, they rushed into the waves to the aid of those on the wreck.
Happily, they succeeded in their endeavors, although some--and bold Jack Ryan was among the number--were severely wounded on the rocks. But the captain of the vessel and the eight sailors who composed his crew were hauled up, safe and sound, on the beach.
The ship was the Norwegian brig MOTALA, laden with timber, and bound for Glasgow. Of the MOTALA herself nothing remained but a few spars, washed up by the waves, and dashed among the rocks on the beach.


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Once your application has been accepted, you will be given access to our affiliate resource center where you will find creative materials and links to help you market our hotel properties.


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PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pleasantville High School boys' cross country team won its third straight Section I championship Saturday.
The top seven runners on the team through the season qualified for sectionals.
Members of the team are Will Blasdell, Dylan Bronkema, Drew Dorflinger, Robert Feeney, Aidan McDermott, Declan McDermott and JC Yahia.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


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[all photography (c) Jeroen Musch ]
architects Bureau SLA have connected two houses for the The National Glass Museum in Leerdam, Netherlands, with four overlapping bridges to create a continuous gallery. the combination between traditional architecture style with glass and modern geometry (box) create some interesting dynamics here… let's take a look:
✚ steel-frame bridges are cladded in polycarbonate and wrapped in aluminum mesh.
[all photography (c) Jeroen Musch]
✚ the bridges provide connection between existing buildings AND also serve as exhibition space.
✚ when it glows in the dark, just like another piece of glass work…
[all photography (c) Jeroen Musch]


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|Main | News and Events | The Group | Beavers | Wolf Cubs | Scouts | Senior Scouts | Legal
'The Website' or 'This Website' will hereafter refer to the Hyper-Text, it being included, any images and scripts within the realms of the http://www.1stearleyb-pscoutgroup.org.uk/ domain
'The website' aims to cater for both existing members of the group and to those seeking to join the group in addition to promoting Scouting around the world.
This site tracks visitor hits and records information including but not limited to: the browser used to view 'this website' and the type of operating system used. The aforementioned information is purely used to ascertain and assess how many people visit 'the website' and to find trends in user hits. No personal details are held by this method and users cannot be personally identified.
If e-mail is sent using the contact us page, then a name and a valid e-mail address will be required for the form to validate. The details may be kept for future reference if so decided that future contact is required. The submitted information will only be used in relation to the enquiry, and will not be sold to third-parties.
Parts of 'this website' make use of cookies.
The aforesaid privacy statement covers only 'this website'. First Earley B-PSA Scout Group accepts no responsibility for the content of any links directed thither. Third-party websites include but may not be limited to the following:
Any views and opinions that appear herein do not necessarily represent the views of the First Earley B-PSA Scout Group or the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
Any photographs that appear herein are copyright of members and leaders by whom they were taken, and may not be used against the First Earley B-PSA Scout Group or the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
All the content of this website is hereby copyright First Earley B-PSA Scout Group and the design of this website is copyright of First Earley B-PSA Scout Group.
Pages and content © 1st Earley B-P Scout Group | Disclaimer and Privacy Policy | Contact 1st Earley B-P Scout Group | Sitemap


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Funerals in the Frost
Funerals in the Frost
When I heard the word for the first time, I had no idea how to spell it: "Scythians". That's pronounced "Sith-ians" (the first syllable rhyming with "myth"). They were an ancient tribe of nomads who ruled the land of Scythia, an empire that stretched from the Black Sea through Siberia to the borders of China.
That was more than two thousand years ago. The Chinese are still here, but the Scythians disappeared as a distinct tribe long ago, absorbed into the other peoples who surrounded them. They didn't build permanent houses, only tents of felt and cloth, and had no written language, so you might think that we'd know little about them today. As a new exhibition in the British Museum shows otherwise. The Scythians did build permanent tombs and they filled those tombs with everything that the buried person might need in the afterlife, from weapons and clothing to food and jewellery.
In fact, you could say that they held funerals in the frost, because the ground in which they dug their tombs is permamently frozen. The cold has held everything in preservation, from the bodies of the dead to the food buried with them. Archaeologists can study what the Scythians looked like and even analyse their diet, which was based on milk, cheese and other products from their herds of cattle. Archaeologists can also study what the Scythians thought like, because despite their lack of a written language, they were skilled craftsmen and created many beautiful pieces of art. The tombs have yielded golden belt-buckles carved with warriors with long hair and flowing robes or wild animals from the region.
They've also yielded solid examples of what ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about the Scythians' leisure activities. He said that the nomads used braziers set on tripods to heat stones in a felt tent, then threw hemp seeds onto the braziers and breathed in the mind-altering vapour that then filled the air. All of these things – braziers, tripods and stones – can be seen in the exhibition at the British Museum.
So can something else that Herodotus didn't write about: the tattoos with which the Scythians covered their chests, legs and upper arms. These tattoos were covered by clothing, so outsiders didn't see them, but the permafrost has preserved bodies so well that their tattoos are clearly visible today, many centuries later. Both men and women bore them and the exhibition includes a tattooed piece of skin from a Scythian warrior. It displays a tiger baring its claws: hunting was obviously an important part of Scythian life and must have been a supreme test of skill, daring and courage, not to mention useful training for the wars that the Scythians continually waged.
They were feared and respected by everyone who came into contact with them, whether fellow nomads or settled peoples like the Greeks. They even get a mention in the Bible, when St Paul is describing how all people are equal in Jesus Christ: not just the Greeks and the Jews, but even the wild and dangerous Scythians. Then the tides of history swept over these proud and fierce nomads, washing away their empire and their distinct identity, so that today only their tombs and a few references in ancient literature bear witness to the greatness that was Scythia.


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Nantucket Estate Sales is holding a one day sale this Saturday from 10-3!
9 BACK ST. (Between Pleasant & Orange) ESTATE SALE this Sat. 20th. 10-3. Rain/shine. Couches, upholstered chairs & lovely headboards, window treatments, artwork, dishes, linens, kitchen items, side tables, wing back chairs,marble coffee table, mirrors, HP photo printer, many decorative items, frames, tools, gardening items & much more. All in excellent condition. CASH & CARRY. A … Continued


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Sunday 24 November 2019 Holy Trinity Church, Knaresborough
The Nidderdale Messiah was conceived in 2004
Since the first Nidderdale Messiah in November 2004 at Ripley, more and more of you have come either to sing or to listen to Handel's masterpiece. Through the generosity of donors, advertisers and sponsors, between us we have raised thousands of pounds for charities to facilitate their work. Thus we can take heart that so many with both mental and physical problems, supported by carers and all those who work so diligently on their behalf with no thought of recognition or reward, have benefited.
Each year we have the opportunity to enjoy a talented group of soloists and musicians, most of whom are distinguished figures in their musical fields. They all care enough about Nidderdale Messiah and its aims to offer their services free. All those that help in the organisation in areas such as ticketing, publicity, website, printing, stewarding, raffle, advertising and sponsorship also offer their services free. Thus after donation to the host church and sundry essential small expenses, which may include soloists' travel expenses, all the monies raised go to the nominated charity. We and the charity that benefits each year are indeed most fortunate in this respect and we offer everyone who participates our profound thanks.
Clearly the day could not be successful without a seriously competent Musical Director to knock us into shape in 90 minutes. David Andrews continues as conductor for 2018. He is a highly experienced violinist, organist and conductor, and no stranger to fund-raising. .
We are delighted to welcome Adrian Selway as our organist again this year. Adrian is known to many around Harrogate as an organist, teacher and adjudicator.
As the Nidderdale Messiah has grown, the need for a formal management organisation has been keenly felt. Our organising committee are all volunteers and many have been regular participants in the event and organising team. All can be contacted via email at email@example.com or via the details on the Contacts page.
We are all looking forward to offering you a warm welcome once again in November.
Jane Burniston


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5 Gorgeous venues to help you reduce decor costs
You may love the idea of an intimate dinner in an outdoor barn or the thought of waves lapping your feet as you say your vows, but often these spaces come as they are – meaning you're left with the additional costs of decorating your chosen venue too. If you're working on a tight budget or prefer having a fully kitted venue from the get-go, check out these beautiful spaces around the country.
1 Planet Restaurant & Bar, Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel
Opulent is the only word that can describe this luxe eatery situated at the Belmond Mount Nelson Hotel in Cape Town. Dotted with a number of majestic arches and boasting an intricately carved ceiling and large windows, it's a well-lit space for a lunch-time fête. When the sun goes down, the room transforms into a nocturnal haven with sparkling light fixtures and a crystal-studded floor. Your guests will enjoy the warmth from the marble fireplace at the bar area, an ideal spot for welcome drinks.
Contact +27 21 483 1000, [email protected], belmond.com
2 La Maison and La Grange, Morells Boutique Estate
Morrells Boutique Estate is a chic French-inspired sanctuary in the heart of Johannesburg boasting not one but two amazing venues that are perfect for your European-style wedding. Experience an escape to the town of Provence at La Maison, which plays home to a piano room, cigar lounge, chapel, rose garden and olive grove. Prefer a more relaxed vibe? La Grange's quaint bistro sports eclectic furnishings and is perfect for coffee catch-ups when you slip away from the dance floor.
Contact +27 11 476 9495, [email protected], morrells.co.za
3 The Venue, Casa Labia
Feel like royalty at this gorgeous Muizenberg mansion that was once the seaside residence of the Italian plenipotentiary Count Natale Labia. Intricate wallpaper and stately chandeliers add to the grandeur of its interior while the estate also houses an art gallery so guests can indulge in a spot of culture while celebrating your union.
Contact +27 21 788 6068, [email protected], casalabia.co.za
4 The Pearl Room, The Oyster Box
An all-white zone decked out in glistening mirrors, the Pearl Room is every minimalist's dream venue. Sleek lines and metallic touches form an eye-catching impact that will transport you into a snow-white world not unreminiscent of Elsa's snow palace in Frozen – without the chill!
Contact +27 31 514 5000, [email protected], oysterboxhotel.com
5 Forest Lodge Boma, Grootbos Nature Reserve
If you've been yearning to have your nuptials beneath a canopy of greenery, Grootbos Nature Reserve's Forest Lodge Boa is an utopian reception site. Paraffin lanterns and cotton linen keep it simple while braziers add a touch of warmth and radiance to this enchanted forest setting.
Contact +27 28 384 8053, grootbos.com
Photography Courtesy images


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Date(s) - 11/17/2018
10:00 am - 11:00 am
Indiana State Museum
Small Wonders is a monthly program that invites parents, grandparents and caregivers to bring their little ones to learn, play and discover in the museum. This program is for 3- to 5-year-olds and an adult.
Cost is $9 for members and $12 for non-members. Reservations can be made online by finding the event date at indianamuseum.org/calendar or by calling (317) 232-1637. Learn more on our website: http://bit.ly/2ORYq0Q
SEPTEMBER – Artful Play: This month, your child will become a musician as he or she takes part in interactive musical storytelling, makes an instrument, explores sound waves and more. Registration is required by Sept. 9 for the Sept 12 program or by Sept. 12 for the Sept. 15 program.
OCTOBER – Playing with Patterns: This month, little ones will build with toy bricks and make their own artwork using blocks and paint, among other activities. Registration is required by Oct. 7 for the Oct. 10 program or Oct. 10 for the Oct. 13 program.
NOVEMBER – Matter Mysteries: Solid or Liquid: This month, your little one will get messy as they explore different states of matter, including a mysterious substance called "oobleck" and conduct experiments. Registration is required by Nov. 11 for the Nov. 14 program or Nov. 14 for the Nov. 17 program.
We do our best to provide the most relevant and timely information to our readers, but please confirm dates, times, and availability before attending an event. Events are posted on IWK from information found on, but not limited to, attraction sites, government city sites; as well as submissions from individual attractions, press releases and PR firms. All events are subject to change without notice and Indy with Kids cannot be held responsible.


text: The inner court of king Roger's palace. The general character of the architecture suggests through its ornamentation that the palace was constructed at the command of the caliphs by builders from the East. However, here and there can already be felt the iron hand of the mighty conquerors from the North. The eastern softness and the nearly feminine elegance of the elaborately waving multicolored arabesques, the yellow and blue majolica, the richest rugs, form a strange harmony with the granite arches and columns and the huge bronze double doors at the entrance. Here and there glisten marvelous mosaics, the work of artists from Byzantium, depicting mysterious gardens full of unknown wonders and fantastic birds. In the back, a marble fountain murmurs quietly, its basin overflowing in the richness of flowers brought from all parts of the world. The courtyard is surrounded with a two-story inner gallery supported on light columns with fantastic capitals. At the back, in the middle, the main entrance, huge bronze double doors; next to them, a small door hung with carpets.


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Valentine's Day massacre may finally bring change
After decades of cheering on the NRA as a 'family friendly' organisation, it seems the latest mass killing could finally be the catalyst for a sea change in public opinion
The courage and eloquence of high school students who, having survived a massacre, spoke truth to power and faced down the duplicity and casual cruelty of political leaders and gun lobbyists has been written about elsewhere.
Independent journalism every day
With digital access you can read The Business Post whenever, wherever, and however you want.
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- Videos and podcasts from some of the industry's most respected journalists such as Michael Brennan, Susan Mitchell and Ian Guider.
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text:
Here you can find all the legal stuff (…if you're really into that stuff….)
Privacy Policy GreenTeaParadise.com
Disclaimer GreenTeaParadise.com
If you got here by mistake and want to continue reading about green tea, just go from legal page to the HOME page!
You can also go straight to:
green tea and HEALTH | green tea RECIPES | green tea FACTS | green tea INGREDIENTS | green tea PRODUCT | green tea FAT burner | green tea BAG brands.


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Topics in the 60's
Sports in the 60's
Throughout the sixties there were many great athletes who made an impact on the sports world. The two most knows names that
made it big in the sixies were Muhamad Ali and Wilt Chamberlain.
Muhamad Ali was a world famos heavyweight boxer. Also known as Cassis Clay Jr. Over Muhamad Ali's career he had a 56-5 record
with 37 knockouts and 19 successful title defenses. He became a boxer in 1960. He was a 10 time heavyweight world champ. Muhamad
Ali was very poor and had a hard time growing up.
Another great athlete was Wilt Chamberlain. Wilt Chamberlain was a famous basketball player. He played for the 76ers. Many
people viewed Wilt as the greatest basketball player who ever played. Many people also called him the "unstoppable force."
He was the only person ever to score over 4000 points in a single season. He also holds many other records and has been inducted
into the basketball hall of fame. When he retired he led the NBA league with a career total 34,419 points.
There were many different athlkete during the 1960's. They were never half as good as Wilt Chamberlain or Muhamad Ali.


text: Let the Blue Beach Villas & Apartments be your Home for your Special Event. We are creative and want you to be creative as well! Come and use our space next to the pool for your Wedding or Birthday party etc. We can arrange catering supplies and Live Music or Dj exclusively for you.


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29 Sep Nayland Outside the Classroom: Trades Academy at NMIT
This year 40 Nayland College students from Years 12 and 13 are enrolled in the Top of the South Trades Academy programme, hosted by the Nelson-Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT). These students spend one day each week studying a trades course, on-site at NMIT, while completing their NCEA studies at Nayland College for the remainder of the week.
The programme offers a huge variety of opportunities in a hands-on learning environment. Morin, a student in the carpentry stream, values the workshop aspect of the course the most. "It's really practical. I'm making useful things, gifts for my family," she explains. She also appreciates the tertiary environment. "The tutors are great. They treat you like an adult."
Morin will continue her studies with a pre-apprenticeship carpentry course at NMIT in 2016. She recommends the course to senior students who are looking for something different.


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Download Stats Point to Apple Store Success
July 31, 2008
Apple began providing registered software developers daily download statistics this week that point to the "game changing†success of the AppStore distribution model.
Eliza Block, the part-time developer behind a popular iPhone crossword application shared a few days worth of her statistics with 9to5Mac that highlight the revenue opportunity for iPhone application developers.
Block's 2Across app, which sells for $5.99 and has lately been listed as an Apple "Staff Favorite†on the iTunes AppStore, earned her nearly $2000 a day in the last week of July.
While there's no way to predict whether hers or any other application can sustain that kind of momentum, the news should be enough to send many a coder scurrying to get up-to-speed with Objective C.


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( 5.0 Average / 1 Rating )
If you're going to use a nice and probably expensive keyboard and mouse, be nice to them.
A big mouse-pad (desk-pad, really) is being really nice.
Mine still looks good after several months. It cleans easily with a microfibre cloth and the sewn hem gives it s smart, premium look. Despite it's size, it's not intrusive and it feels good under your wrists.
One of the least costly components of my 'rig', but a bit like salt on garlic bread, this transcends the experience to a higher plane.


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Locksmith Service in Pikesville, MD
Phone Number :
(888) 532-1751
A locksmith company which is established few years from now is devoted in providing services suited for people who are encountering problems with their lock/ key. We do not impose additional payment on our emergency locksmith services. This is to provide assistance to clients who are in a hassle and emergency situation. Our company will surely bring high quality services and remedies for automobile, commercial and residential locks. They had gone through complete training course to mold their skills and abilities. Our customer services respond immediately so that we can help you out in selecting the best services that you need.
Our customers are residential, commercial, and car owners. We try our best to give you the most satisfying services. Absolutely free of extra charges for all services done at night, weekends and holidays. Rest assured that all of your dilemma will be resolved and be genuinely satisfied with our excellent services.
Call our local hotline if you are in dire need of locksmith service. We offer free cost assessment on the service you need to avail.


text: If you've ever thought of getting away from it all, you're not alone. But now there is a whole movement of people who are really doing it – finding ways to live off grid, sustainably, being happy with a small space of their own. Meet some of the people who are doing it… A homemade tiny home This video shows […] Read more »