Sitka Spruce Quality Estimation using Neural Networks
This paper describes an automated classifier for the 
identification of good wood and knotty wood from 
computer tomography (CT) images of logs. Such a 
system is intended to allow better assessment of saw 
logs before being cut into timber. We describe a new empirical model for the growth of Sitka Spruce (Picea 
Stichensis (Bong, Carr)) whose operation is adapted to 
Irish conditions. The use of Hopfield networks for 2D 
cross-section image reconstruction from CT data 
obtained from the model is investigated. We also used 
a multi-layer feedforward neural network trained with 
fast-backpropagation to identify good wood from 
knotty wood. The Hopfield approach to image 
reconstruction was seen as being unsuitable for 
application with the wood industry. However, the use 
of a feedforward neural network for wood classification produced very promising results when trained on our tree model. It is expected that results from real wood data would be even more accurate.
A new technique for the real-time recovery of Fabry-Perot line profiles
A new analogue technique is proposed as a method of obtaining Fabry-Perot line profiles using an imaging photon detector. The technique employs the principle of replacing software with hardware, which increases speed and in this case removes problems due to quantisation errors. A further advantage of the system is that it allows the profile to be observed as the integration proceeds, something which was not possible using the digitised x and y coordinates. The ability to obtain the profile in real-time is of importance when recording from a light source whose intensity varies with time.
Tourism in the Amazon: identifying challenges and finding solutions
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the tourism sector in the Amazon regions of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname and then discuss the manner in which tourism activity assists the protection of the Amazon rainforests. The paper also describes the manner in which the first World Hospitality and Tourism Themes Roundtable on Tourism in the Amazon is organized in 2009.Design/methodology/approach – Teams of researchers from the Ministries of Tourism, the private sector and academia in the Member Countries of Treaty for Amazon Cooperation collaborated to address, in ten‐page papers, the question “Does sustainable tourism offer solutions for the protection of the Amazon rainforest?”Findings – The paper provides valuable information on the current state of tourism policy and practice in the Amazon Member Countries. It also articulates the challenges that attend the development of sustainable tourism as a mechanism for the protection of the Amazon.Practical...