Search results for: spatial resolution

Authors: Madeleine Anthonisen, M. Hussain Sangji, G. Monserratt Lopez-Ayon, Margaret Magdesian, Peter Grutter

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Advances in micromanipulation techniques and real-time particle tracking with nanometer resolution have enabled biological force measurements at scales relevant to neuron mechanics. An approach to precisely control and maneuver neurite-tethered polystyrene beads is presented. Analogous to an Atomic Force Microscope (AFM), this multi-purpose platform is a force sensor with imaging acquisition and manipulation capabilities. A mechanical probe composed of a micropipette with its tip fixed to a functionalized bead is used to incite the formation of a neurite in a sample of rat hippocampal neurons while simultaneously measuring the tension in said neurite as the sample is pulled away from the beaded tip. With optical imaging methods, a force resolution of 12 pN is achieved. Moreover, the advantages of this technique over alternatives such as AFM, namely ease of manipulation which ultimately allows higher throughput investigation of the mechanical properties of neurons, is demonstrated.

Keywords: axonal growth, axonal guidance, force probe, pipette micromanipulation, neurite tension, neuron mechanics

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Authors: Daleesha M. Viswanathan, Sumam Mary Idicula

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Dynamic hand gestures are an intrinsic component in sign language communication. Extracting spatial temporal features of the hand gesture trajectory plays an important role in a dynamic gesture recognition system. Finding a discrete feature descriptor for the motion trajectory based on the orientation feature is the main concern of this paper. Kalman filter algorithm and Hidden Markov Models (HMM) models are incorporated with this recognition system for hand trajectory tracking and for spatial temporal classification, respectively.

Keywords: orientation features, discrete feature vector, HMM., Indian sign language

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Authors: Milad Kurdi, Hadi Farhadian, Teymour Eslamkish

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This study examined the hydro-geochemistry of Qare-Sou catchment and Gorgan Gulf in order to determine the spatial distribution of major ions. In this regard, six hydrometer stations in the catchment and four stations in Gorgan Gulf were chosen and the samples were collected. Results of spatial and temporal distribution of major ions have shown similar variation trends for calcium, magnesium, and bicarbonate ions. Also, the spatial trend of chloride, sulfate, sodium and potassium ions were same as Electrical Conductivity (EC) and Total Dissolved Solid (TDS). In Nahar Khoran station, the concentrations of ions were more than other stations which may be related to human activities and the role of geology. The Siah Ab station’s ions showed high concentration which is may be related to the station’s close proximity to Gorgan Gulf and the return of water to Qare-Sou River. In order to determine the interaction of water and rock, the Gibbs diagram was used and the results showed that water of the river falls in the rock range and it is affected more by weathering and reaction between water and stone and less by evaporation and crystallization. Assessment of the quality of river water by using graphic methods indicated that the type of water in this area is Ca-HCO₃-Mg. Major ions concentration in Qare-Sou in the universal average was more than but not more than the allowed limit by the World Health Organization and China Standard Organization. A comparison of ions concentration in Gorgan Gulf, seas and oceans showed that the pH in Gorgan Gulf was more than the other seas but in Gorgan Gulf the concentration of anion and cation was less than other seas.

Keywords: hydro-geochemistry, Qare-Sou river, Gorgan gulf, major ions, Gibbs diagram, water quality, graphical methods

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Authors: Rominkumar Busa, Shahira K. C., Lijiya A.

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Text recognition is an important area in computer vision which deals with detecting and recognising text from an image. The Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is a saturated area these days and with very good text recognition accuracy. However the same OCR methods when applied on text with small font sizes like the text data of chart images, the recognition rate is less than 30%. In this work, aims to extract small text in images using the deep learning model, CRNN with CTC loss. The text recognition accuracy is found to improve by applying image enhancement by super resolution prior to CRNN model. We also observe the text recognition rate further increases by 18% by applying the proposed method, which involves super resolution and character segmentation followed by CRNN with CTC loss. The efficiency of the proposed method shows that further pre-processing on chart image text and other small text images will improve the accuracy further, thereby helping text extraction from chart images.

Keywords: small text extraction, OCR, scene text recognition, CRNN

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Authors: Pengwei Qiao, Sucai Yang, Wenxia Wei

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Soil pollution has become an important issue in China. Accurate spatial distribution prediction of pollutants with interpolation methods is the basis for soil remediation in the site. However, a relatively strong variability of pollutants would decrease the prediction accuracy. Theoretically, partition interpolation can result in accurate prediction results. In order to verify the applicability of partition interpolation for a site, benzo (b) fluoranthene (BbF) in four soil layers was adopted as the research object in this paper. IDW (inverse distance weighting)-, RBF (radial basis function)-and OK (ordinary kriging)-based partition interpolation accuracies were evaluated, and their influential factors were analyzed; then, the uncertainty and applicability of partition interpolation were determined. Three conclusions were drawn. (1) The prediction error of partitioned interpolation decreased by 70% compared to unpartitioned interpolation. (2) Partition interpolation reduced the impact of high CV (coefficient of variation) and high concentration value on the prediction accuracy. (3) The prediction accuracy of IDW-based partition interpolation was higher than that of RBF- and OK-based partition interpolation, and it was suitable for the identification of highly polluted areas at a contaminated site. These results provide a useful method to obtain relatively accurate spatial distribution information of pollutants and to identify highly polluted areas, which is important for soil pollution remediation in the site.

Keywords: accuracy, applicability, partition interpolation, site, soil pollution, uncertainty

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Authors: Hee Sun (Sunny) Choi, Gerhard Bruyns, Wang Zhang, Sky Cheng, Saijal Sharma

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The main focus of this paper is to propose a comprehensive framework for the cognitive measurement and modelling of the built environment. This will involve exploring and measuring neural mechanisms. The aim is to create a foundation for further studies in this field that are consistent and rigorous. Additionally, this framework will facilitate collaboration with cognitive neuroscientists by establishing a shared conceptual basis. The goal of this research is to develop a human-centric approach for urban design that is scientific and measurable, producing a set of urban design guidelines that incorporate cognitive measurement and modelling. By doing so, the broader intention is to design urban spaces that prioritize human needs and well-being, making them more liveable.

Keywords: vertical urbanism, human centric design, spatial cognition and psychology, vertical urban design guidelines

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Authors: R. Sumalatha, M. V. Subramanyam

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In medical image processing the quality of the image is degraded in the presence of noise. Especially in ultra sound imaging and Magnetic resonance imaging the data was corrupted by signal dependent noise known as salt and pepper noise. Removal of noise from the medical images is a critical issue for researchers. In this paper, a new type of technique Adaptive Spatial Mask Filter (ASMF) has been proposed. The proposed filter is used to increase the quality of MRI and ultra sound images. Experimental results show that the proposed filter outperforms the implementation of mean, median, adaptive median filters in terms of MSE and PSNR.

Keywords: salt and pepper noise, ASMF, PSNR, MSE

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Authors: Fangjing Zhou, Wen Chen, Brian J. Hall, Yu Wang, Carl Latkin, Li Ling, Joseph D. Tucker

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Background: Economic and social reforms designed to open China to the world has been successful, but also appear to have rapidly laid the foundation for the reemergence of STIs since 1980s. Changes in sexual behaviors, relationships, and norms among Chinese contributed to the STIs epidemic. As the massive population moved during the last 30 years, early coital debut, multiple sexual partnerships, and unprotected sex have increased within the general population. Our objectives were to assess associations between residences location, sexual risk behaviors and sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among adults living in Guangzhou, China. Methods: Stratified cluster sampling followed a two-step process was used to select populations aged 18-59 years in Guangzhou, China. Spatial methods including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) were utilized to identify 1400 coordinates with latitude and longitude. Face-to-face household interviews were conducted to collect self-report data on sexual risk behaviors and diagnosed STIs. Kulldorff’s spatial scan statistic was implemented to identify and detect spatial distribution and clusters of sexual risk behaviors and STIs. The presence and location of statistically significant clusters were mapped in the study areas using ArcGIS software. Results: In this study, 1215 of 1400 households attempted surveys, with 368 refusals, resulting in a sample of 751 completed surveys. The prevalence of self-reported sexual risk behaviors was between 5.1% and 50.0%. The self-reported lifetime prevalence of diagnosed STIs was 7.06%. Anal intercourse clustered in an area located along the border within the rural-urban continuum (p=0.001). High rate clusters for alcohol or other drugs using before sex (p=0.008) and migrants who lived in Guangzhou less than one year (p=0.007) overlapped this cluster. Excess cases for sex without a condom (p=0.031) overlapped the cluster for college students (p<0.001). Conclusions: Short-term migrants and college students reported greater sexual risk behaviors. Programs to increase safer sex within these communities to reduce the risk of STIs are warranted in Guangzhou. Spatial analysis identified geographical clusters of sexual risk behaviors, which is critical for optimizing surveillance and targeting control measures for these locations in the future.

Keywords: cluster analysis, migrant, sexual risk behaviors, spatial distribution

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Authors: Qais H. Alsafasfeh

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The aim of this paper is to provide a forecast of the peak demand for the next 15 years for electrical distribution companies. The proposed methodology provides both the peak demand and its location for the next 15 years. This paper describes the Spatial Load Forecasting model used, the information provided by electrical distribution company in Jordan, the workflow followed, the parameters used and the assumptions made to run the model. The aim of this paper is to provide a forecast of the peak demand for the next 15 years for electrical distribution companies. The proposed methodology provides both the peak demand and its location for the next 15 years. This paper describes the Spatial Load Forecasting model used, the information provided by electrical distribution company in Jordan, the workflow followed, the parameters used and the assumptions made to run the model.

Keywords: load forecast, peak demand, spatial load, electrical distribution

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Authors: Asadollah Bahrami

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In the present study, spectral radiative entropy generation is analyzed in a furnace filled with a mixture of H₂O, CO₂ and soot at radiative equilibrium. For the angular and spatial discretization of the radiative transfer equation and radiative entropy generation equations, the discrete ordinates method and the finite volume method are used, respectively. Spectral radiative properties are obtained using the correlated-k (CK) non-gray model with updated parameters based on the HITEMP2010 high-resolution database. In order to evaluate the effects of the location of the heat source, boundary condition and wall emissivity on radiative entropy generation, five cases are considered with different conditions. The spectral and total radiative entropy generation in the system are calculated for all cases and the effects of mentioned parameters on radiative entropy generation are attentively analyzed and finally, the optimum condition is especially presented. The most important results can be stated as follows: Results demonstrate that the wall emissivity has a considerable effect on the radiative entropy generation. Also, irreversible radiative transfer at the wall with lower temperatures is the main source of radiative entropy generation in the furnaces. In addition, the effect of the location of the heat source on total radiative entropy generation is less than other factors. Eventually, it can be said that characterizing the effective parameters of radiative entropy generation provides an approach to minimizing the radiative entropy generation and enhancing the furnace's performance practicality.

Keywords: spectral radiative entropy generation, non-gray medium, correlated k(CK) model, heat source

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Authors: Bola M. Tunde-Awe

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The study investigated the influence of teacher’s non-verbal communication on secondary school students’ learning outcomes in English language. The study was a survey research. Participants were three hundred Senior Secondary School II students randomly selected from ten schools in Akoko South West Local Government Area of Ondo State, Nigeria. The instrument used for data collection was a questionnaire containing twenty items on a four-point Likert scale which measured teacher’s use of three types of non-verbal communication modes: body movement, eye contact and spatial distance. The data collected was analysed using simple percentage. Findings revealed that teacher’s use of these non-verbal communication modes enhanced learners’ learning outcomes in English language: a total of 271 (90.33%) participants affirmed that teacher’s body language influenced their learning of English; 224 (74.66%) maintained the same stand for eye contact; while 202 (67.33%) affirmed that teacher’s spatial distance had positive influence. Consequent upon these findings, it was recommended that teachers of English language should constantly utilize non-verbal communication in their instructional delivery. Also, non-verbal communication modes should be included in teacher education programme to equip prospective pre-service teachers with the art of non-verbal communication.

Keywords: non-verbal communication, body language, eye contact, spatial distance, learning outcomes

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Authors: Omer Altaf, Liam Wotherspoon, Rolando Orense

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The Wairau Plains are located in the northeast of the South Island of New Zealand, with alluvial deposits of fine-grained silts and sands combined with low-lying topography suggesting the presence of liquefiable deposits over significant portions of the region. Liquefaction manifestations were observed in past earthquakes, including the 1848 Marlborough and 1855 Wairarapa earthquakes, and more recently during the 2013 Lake Grassmere and 2016 Kaikōura earthquakes. Therefore, a good understanding of the deposits that may be susceptible to liquefaction is important for land use planning in the region and to allow developers and asset owners to appropriately address their risk. For this purpose, multiple approaches have been employed to develop regional-scale maps showing the liquefaction vulnerability categories for the region. After applying semi-qualitative criteria linked to geologic age and deposit type, the higher resolution surface mapping of geomorphologic characteristics encompassing the Wairau River and the Opaoa River was used for screening. A detailed basin geologic model developed for groundwater modelling was analysed to provide a higher level of resolution than the surface-geology based classification. This is used to identify the thickness of near-surface gravel deposits, providing an improved understanding of the presence or lack of potentially non-liquefiable crust deposits. This paper describes the methodology adopted for this project and focuses on the influence of geomorphic characteristics and analysis of the detailed geologic basin model on the liquefaction classification of the Lower Wairau Plains.

Keywords: liquefaction, earthquake, cone penetration test, mapping, liquefaction-induced damage

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Authors: Babawale Akin Adeyemi, Esan Temitayo, Adeyemi Olabisi Omowumi

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The paper analyzed waste disposal system in Akure, Ondo State using GIS techniques. Specifically, the study identified the spatial distribution of collection points and existing dumpsite; evaluated the accessibility of waste collection points and their proximity to each other with the view of enhancing better performance of the waste disposal system. Data for the study were obtained from both primary and secondary sources. Primary data were obtained through the administration of questionnaire. From field survey, 35 collection points were identified in the study area. 10 questionnaires were administered around each collection point making a total of 350 questionnaires for the study. Also, co-ordinates of each collection point were captured using a hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver which was used to analyze the spatial distribution of collection points. Secondary data used include administrative map collected from Akure South Local Government Secretariat. Data collected was analyzed using the GIS analytical tools which is neighborhood function. The result revealed that collection points were found in all parts of Akure with the highest concentration around the central business district. The study also showed that 80% of the collection points enjoyed efficient waste service while the remaining 20% does not. The study further revealed that most collection points in the core of the city were in close proximity to each other. In conclusion, the paper revealed the capability of Geographic Information System (GIS) as a technique in management of waste collection and disposal technique. The application of Geographic Information System (GIS) in the evaluation of the solid waste management in Akure is highly invaluable for the state waste management board which could also be beneficial to other states in developing a modern day solid waste management system. Further study on solid waste management is also recommended especially for updating of information on both spatial and non-spatial data.

Keywords: assessment, geospatial, system, waste disposal

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Authors: Nur Nadhirah Rusyda Rosnan, Nursuhaili Najwa Masrol, Nurul Fatiha MD Nor, Mohammad Zafrullah Mohammad Salim, Sim Choon Cheak

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Accurate inventories of oil palm planted areas are crucial for plantation management as this would impact the overall economy and production of oil. One of the technological advancements in the oil palm industry is semi-automated palm counting, which is replacing conventional manual palm counting via digitizing aerial imagery. Most of the semi-automated palm counting method that has been developed was limited to mature palms due to their ideal canopy size represented by satellite image. Therefore, immature palms were often left out since the size of the canopy is barely visible from satellite images. In this paper, an approach using a morphological filter and high-resolution satellite image is proposed to detect immature palm trees. This approach makes it possible to count the number of immature oil palm trees. The method begins with an erosion filter with an appropriate window size of 3m onto the high-resolution satellite image. The eroded image was further segmented using watershed segmentation to delineate immature palm tree regions. Then, local minimum detection was used because it is hypothesized that immature oil palm trees are located at the local minimum within an oil palm field setting in a grayscale image. The detection points generated from the local minimum are displaced to the center of the immature oil palm region and thinned. Only one detection point is left that represents a tree. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated on three subsets with slopes ranging from 0 to 20° and different planting designs, i.e., straight and terrace. The proposed method was able to achieve up to more than 90% accuracy when compared with the ground truth, with an overall F-measure score of up to 0.91.

Keywords: immature palm count, oil palm, precision agriculture, remote sensing

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Authors: Nima Shafaghi, Gunay Anlaş, C. Can Aydiner

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A realistic understanding of martensitic phase transition under complex stress states is key for accurately describing the mechanical behavior of shape memory alloys (SMAs). Particularly regarding the sharply changing stress fields at the tip of a crack, the size, nature and shape of transformed zones are of great interest. There is significant variation among various analytical models in their predictions of the size and shape of the transformation zone. As the fully transformed region remains inside a very small boundary at the tip of the crack, experimental validation requires microscopic resolution. Here, the crack tip vicinity of NiTi compact tension specimen has been monitored in situ with microscopic image correlation with 20x magnification. With nominal 15 micrometer grains and 0.2 micrometer per pixel optical resolution, the strains at the crack tip are mapped with intra-grain detail. The transformation regions are then deduced using an equivalent strain formulation.

Keywords: digital image correlation, fracture, martensitic phase transition, mode I, NiTi, transformation zone

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Authors: Endeshaw Assefa Derso, Maria Gabriella Campolo, Angela Alibrandi

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Objectives:Early childhood malnutrition can have long-term and irreversible effects on a child's health and development. This study uses the Bayesian method with spatial variation to investigate the flexible trends of metrical covariates and to identify communities at high risk of injury. Methods: Cross-sectional data on underweight are collected from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). The Bayesian geo-additive model is performed. Appropriate prior distributions were provided for scall parameters in the models, and the inference is entirely Bayesian, using Monte Carlo Markov chain (MCMC) stimulation. Results: The results show that metrical covariates like child age, maternal body mass index (BMI), and maternal age affect a child's underweight non-linearly. Lower and higher maternal BMI seem to have a significant impact on the child’s high underweight. There was also a significant spatial heterogeneity, and based on IDW interpolation of predictive values, the western, central, and eastern parts of the country are hotspot areas. Conclusion: Socio-demographic and community- based programs development should be considered compressively in Ethiopian policy to combat childhood underweight malnutrition.

Keywords: bayesX, Ethiopia, malnutrition, MCMC, semi-parametric bayesian analysis, spatial distribution, P- splines

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Authors: J. S. Bedi, J. P. S. Gill, R. S. Aulakh, Prabhjit Kaur

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The present study was undertaken to monitor organochlorine, organophosphate and synthetic pyrethroid pesticide residues in butter and ghee samples collected from six different districts of Punjab. The estimation of pesticide residues was done by multiple residue analytical technique using gas chromatography equipped with GC-ECD and GC-FTD. The confirmation of residues was done on gas chromatography mass spectrometry in both SIM and Scan mode. Results indicated the presence of HCH and pp DDE as predominant contaminant in both butter and ghee even after their ban/restriction on usage in India. Residues of HCH were detected in 25.5 and 23.2 % samples of butter and ghee, respectively, while residues of pp DDE were recorded in 29.3 and 25.0 % butter and ghee samples, respectively. More importantly, the presence of endosulfan, cypermethrin, fenvalerate, deltamethrin and chlorpyrifos was observed in few butter and ghee samples indicating the serious concerns. The spatial variation of pesticide residues occurrence indicated the cotton belt of Punjab as most affected.

Keywords: butter, ghee, pesticides residues, Punjab

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Authors: Berhanu Keno Terfa

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Flash floods are among the most dangerous natural disasters that pose a significant threat to human existence. They occur frequently and can cause extensive damage to homes, infrastructure, and ecosystems while also claiming lives. Although flash floods can happen anywhere in the world, their impact is particularly severe in developing countries due to limited financial resources, inadequate drainage systems, substandard housing options, lack of early warning systems, and insufficient preparedness. To address these challenges, a comprehensive study has been undertaken to analyze and map flood inundation using Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques by considering various factors that contribute to flash flood resilience and developing effective mitigation strategies. Key factors considered in the analysis include slope, drainage density, elevation, Curve Number, rainfall patterns, land-use/cover classes, and soil data. These variables were computed using ArcGIS software platforms, and data from the Sentinel-2 satellite image (with a 10-meter resolution) were utilized for land-use/cover classification. Additionally, slope, elevation, and drainage density data were generated from the 12.5-meter resolution of the ALOS Palsar DEM, while other relevant data were obtained from the Ethiopian Meteorological Institute. By integrating and regularizing the collected data through GIS and employing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) technique, the study successfully delineated flash flood hazard zones (FFHs) and generated a suitable land map for urban agriculture. The FFH model identified four levels of risk in Bishoftu City: very high (2106.4 ha), high (10464.4 ha), moderate (1444.44 ha), and low (0.52 ha), accounting for 15.02%, 74.7%, 10.1%, and 0.004% of the total area, respectively. The results underscore the vulnerability of many residential areas in Bishoftu City, particularly the central areas that have been previously developed. Accurate spatial representation of flood-prone areas and potential agricultural zones is crucial for designing effective flood mitigation and agricultural production plans. The findings of this study emphasize the importance of flood risk mapping in raising public awareness, demonstrating vulnerability, strengthening financial resilience, protecting the environment, and informing policy decisions. Given the susceptibility of Bishoftu City to flash floods, it is recommended that the municipality prioritize urban agriculture adaptation, proper settlement planning, and drainage network design.

Keywords: remote sensing, flush flood hazards, Bishoftu, GIS.

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Authors: Hiroki Takiguchi, Masahiro Furuya, Takahiro Arai

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In order to quantitatively comprehend thermal flow for some industrial applications such as nuclear and chemical reactors, detailed measurements for temperature and abundance (concentration) of materials at high temporal and spatial resolution are required. Additionally, rigorous evaluation of the size effect is also important for practical realization. This paper introduces a real-time spectroscopic imaging method in micro scale field, which visualizes temperature and concentration distribution of a liquid or mix liquids with near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region. This imaging principle is based on absorption of pre-selected narrow band from absorption spectrum peak or its dependence property of target liquid in NIR region. For example, water has a positive temperature sensitivity in the wavelength at 1905 nm, therefore the temperature of water can be measured using the wavelength band. In the experiment, the real-time imaging observation of concentration distribution in micro channel was demonstrated to investigate the applicability of micro-scale diffusion coefficient and temperature measurement technique using this proposed method. The effect of thermal diffusion and binary mutual diffusion was evaluated with the time-series visualizations of concentration distribution.

Keywords: near-infrared spectroscopic imaging, micro fluid channel, concentration distribution, diffusion phenomenon

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Authors: Lianxue Shi

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Riverside Street has the dual characteristics of street space and waterfront space, which is not only a vital place for residents to travel and communicate but also a high-frequency space for people's leisure and entertainment. However, under the development of cities and towns pursuing efficiency, riverfront streets appear to have a variety of problems, such as a lack of multifunctionality, insufficient facilities, and loss of characteristics, which fail to meet the needs of various groups of people, and their inclusiveness is facing a great challenge. It is, therefore, evident that the optimization of riverfront street space from an inclusivity perspective is important to the establishment of a human-centered, high-quality urban space. Therefore, this article starts by exploring the interactive relationship between inclusive design and street space. Based on the analysis of the characteristics of the riverfront street space and people's needs, it proposes the four inclusive design orientations of natural inclusion, group inclusion, spatial inclusion, and social inclusion. It then constructs a design framework for the inclusive optimization of riverfront street space, aiming to create streets that are “safe and accessible, diverse and shared, distinctive and friendly, green and sustainable.” Riverfront streets in Wansheng District, Chongqing, are selected as a practice case, and specific strategies are put forward in four aspects: the creation of an accessible slow-traffic system, the provision of diversified functional services, the reshaping of emotional bonds and the integration of ecological spaces.

Keywords: inclusiveness design, riverfront street, spatial optimization, street spaces

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Authors: Mannan Malik Muhammad Naeem, Jeong Myung Yung

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Functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has a favorable position in non-invasive brain imaging techniques. The concentration change of oxygenated hemoglobin and de-oxygenated hemoglobin during particular cognitive activity is the basis for this neuro-imaging modality. Two wavelengths of near-infrared light can be used with modified Beer-Lambert law to explain the indirect status of neuronal activity inside brain. The temporal resolution of fNIRS is very good for real-time brain computer-interface applications. The portability, low cost and an acceptable temporal resolution of fNIRS put it on a better position in neuro-imaging modalities. In this study, an optimization model for impulse response function has been used to estimate/predict initial dip using fNIRS data. In addition, the activity strength parameter related to motor based cognitive task has been analyzed. We found an initial dip that remains around 200-300 millisecond and better localize neural activity.

Keywords: fNIRS, brain-computer interface, optimization algorithm, adaptive signal processing

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Authors: Hamideh Marefat, Eskandar Samadi

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This study examined the effect of semantics on processing ambiguous sentences containing Relative Clauses (RCs) preceded by a complex Determiner Phrase (DP) by Persian-speaking learners of L2 English with different proficiency and Working Memory Capacities (WMCs). The semantic relationship studied was one between the subject of the main clause and one of the DPs in the complex DP to see if, as predicted by Spreading Activation Model, priming one of the DPs through this semantic manipulation affects the L2ers’ preference. The results of a task using Rapid Serial Visual Processing (time-controlled paradigm) showed that manipulation of the relationship between the subject of the main clause and one of the DPs in the complex DP preceding RC has no effect on the choice of the antecedent; rather, the L2ers' processing is guided by the phrase structure information. Moreover, while proficiency did not have any effect on the participants’ preferences, WMC brought about a difference in their preferences, with a DP1 preference by those with a low WMC. This finding supports the chunking hypothesis and the predicate proximity principle, which is the strategy also used by monolingual Persian speakers.

Keywords: semantics, relative clause processing, ambiguity resolution, proficiency, working memory capacity

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Authors: Andra Costache, Rădiţa Alexe

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The analysis of the spatial disparities of social marginalization is a requirement in the present-day socio-economic and political context of Romania, an East-European state, member of the European Union since 2007, at present faced with the imperatives of the growth of its territorial cohesion. The main objective of this article is to develop a methodology for the assessment of social marginalization, in order to understand the intensity of the marginalization phenomenon at different spatial scales. The article proposes a social marginalization index (SMI), calculated through the integration of ten indicators relevant for the two components of social marginalization: the material component and the symbolical component. The results highlighted a strong connection between the total degree of social marginalization and the dependence on social benefits, unemployment rate, non-inclusion in the compulsory education, criminality rate, and the type of pension insurance.

Keywords: Romania, social marginalization index, territorial disparities, EU

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Authors: Muhammad G. Almatar, Mohammad A. Alnasrallah

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This research focuses on the study of three main issues: 1) The temporal analysis of leukemia for a period of six years (2006-2012), 2) spatial analysis by investigating this phenomenon in the Kuwaiti society spatially in the residential areas within the six governorates, 3) the use of Geographic Information System technology in investigating the hypothesis of the research and its variables using the linear regression, to show the pattern of linear relationship. The study depends on utilizing the map to understand the distribution of blood cancer in Kuwait. Several geodatabases were created for the number of patients and air pollution. Spatial interpolation models were used to generate layers of air pollution in the study area. These geodatabases were tested over the past six years to reach the conclusion: Is there a relationship with significant significance between the two main variables of the study: blood cancer and air pollution? This study is the first to our best knowledge. As far as the researchers know, the distribution of this disease has not been studied geographically at the level of regions in Kuwait within six years and in specific areas as described above. This study investigates the concentration of this type of disease. The study found that there is no relationship of significant value between the two variables studied, and this may be due to the nature of the disease, which are often hereditary. On the other hand, this study has reached a number of suggestions and recommendations that may be useful to decision-makers and interested in the study of leukemia in Kuwait by focusing on the study of genetic diseases, which may be a cause of leukemia rather than air pollution.

Keywords: Kuwait, GIS, cancer, geography

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Authors: Amit Kumar

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Accurate identification of deteriorated air quality regions is very helpful in devising better environmental practices and mitigation efforts. In the present study, an attempt has been made to identify the air pollutant dispersion patterns especially NOX due to vehicular and industrial sources over a rapidly developing urban city, Visakhapatnam (17°42’ N, 83°20’ E), India, during April 2009. Using the emission factors of different vehicles as well as the industry, a high resolution 1 km x 1 km gridded emission inventory has been developed for Visakhapatnam city. A dispersion model AERMOD with explicit representation of planetary boundary layer (PBL) dynamics and offline coupled through a developed coupler mechanism with a high resolution mesoscale model WRF-ARW resolution for simulating the dispersion patterns of NOX is used in the work. The meteorological as well as PBL parameters obtained by employing two PBL schemes viz., non-local Yonsei University (YSU) and local Mellor-Yamada-Janjic (MYJ) of WRF-ARW model, which are reasonably representing the boundary layer parameters are considered for integrating AERMOD. Significantly different dispersion patterns of NOX have been noticed between summer and winter months. The simulated NOX concentration is validated with available six monitoring stations of Central Pollution Control Board, India. Statistical analysis of model evaluated concentrations with the observations reveals that WRF-ARW of YSU scheme with AERMOD has shown better performance. The deteriorated air quality locations are identified over Visakhapatnam based on the validated model simulations of NOX concentrations. The present study advocates the utility of tNumerical Simulation of Air Pollutant Using Coupled AERMOD-WRF Modeling System over Visakhapatnam: A Case Studyhe developed gridded emission inventory of NOX with coupled WRF-AERMOD modeling system for air quality assessment over the study region.

Keywords: WRF-ARW, AERMOD, planetary boundary layer, air quality

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Authors: Sebastian Oportus, Fabrizio Alvarez

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3D digitalization of heritage objects is widely used nowadays. However, the most advanced 3D scanners in the market that capture topology and texture at the same time, and are specifically made for this purpose, don’t deliver the accuracy that is needed for scientific research. In the last three years, we have developed a method that combines the use of Metrologic grade laser scans, that allows us to work with a high accuracy topology up to 15 times more precise and combine this mesh with a texture obtained from high definition photogrammetry with up to 100 times more pixel concentrations. The result is an accurate digitalization that promotes heritage preservation, scientific study, high detail reproduction, and digital restoration, among others. In Chile, we have already performed 478 digitalizations of high-value heritage pieces and compared the results with up to five different digitalization methods; the results obtained show a considerable better dimensional accuracy and texture resolution. We know the importance of high precision and resolution for academics and museology; that’s why our proposal is to set a worldwide standard using this open source methodology.

Keywords: 3D digitalization, digital heritage, heritage preservation, digital restauration, heritage reproduction

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Authors: Yen-Jong Chen, Jei-An Su

Abstract:

Public use facilities provide the basic infrastructure supporting the needs of urban sustainable development. These facilities include roads (streets), parking areas, green spaces, public schools, and city parks. However, how to acquire land with the proper location and size still remains uncertain in a capitalist economy where land is largely privately owned, such as in cities in Taiwan. The issue concerning the proper acquisition of reserved land for local public facilities (RLPF) policies has been continuously debated by the Taiwanese government for more than 30 years. Lately, the government has been re-evaluating projects connected with existing RLPF policies from the viewpoints of the needs of local residents, including the living environments of older adults. This challenging task includes addressing the requests of official bureau administrators, citizens whose property rights and current use status are affected, and other stakeholders, along with the means of development. To simplify the decision to acquire or release public land, we selected only public facilities that are needed for living in the local community, including parks, green spaces, plaza squares, and land for kindergartens, schools, and local stadiums. This study categorized these spaces as the community’s “leisure public facilities” (LPF). By constructing an accessibility index of the services of such multi-function facilities, we computed and produced a GIS map of spatial buffer zones for each LPF. Through these procedures, the service needs provided by each LPF were clearly identified. We then used spatial buffer zone envelope mapping to evaluate these service areas. The results obtained can help decide which RLPF should be acquired or released so that community services can be maximized under a limited budget.

Keywords: urban public facilities, community demand, accessibility, spatial buffer zone, Taiwan

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Authors: Jiao F. Huang, Shi Chen, Shu C. Duan, Gang H. Wang

Abstract:

Due to its complex spatial structure as well as dynamic temporal evolution, an analytic solution of an X-pinch process is out of question, and numerical simulation becomes an important tool in X-pinch studies. Intrinsically, simulations of X-pinch are three-dimensional (3D) because of the specific structure of its load. Furthermore, in order to resolve both its μm-scales and ns-durations, fine spatial mesh grid and short time steps are usually adopted. The resulting large computational scales make the parallelization of codes a vital problem to be solved if any practical simulations are to be carried out. In this work, we report OpenMP parallelization of our 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code FOI-PERFECT. Results of test runs confirm that computational efficiency has been improved after parallelization, and both the sequential and parallel versions give the same physical results under the same initial conditions.

Keywords: MHD simulation, OpenMP, parallelization, X-pinch

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Authors: Sinchul Back, Sun Ho Kim, Jennifer LaPrade, Ilju Seong

Abstract:

Due to the advantage of using the Internet, cybercriminals can reach target(s) without border controls. Prior research on criminology and crime science has largely been void of empirical studies on journey-to-cybercrime and crime opportunity. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand more about cyber offender spatial decision making associated with crime opportunity factors (i.e., co-offending, offender-stranger). Data utilized in this study were derived from 306 U.S. Federal court cases of cybercrime. The findings of this study indicated that there was a positive relationship between co-offending and journey-to-cybercrime, whereas there was no link between offender-stranger and journey-to-cybercrime. Also, the results showed that there was no relationship between cybercriminal sex, age, and journey-to-cybercrime. The policy implications and limitations of this study are discussed.

Keywords: co-offending, crime opportunity, journey-to-cybercrime, offender-stranger

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Authors: Abbasali Abouei Mehrizi, Hao Wang

Abstract:

The thin film region is so important in heat transfer process due to its low thermal resistance. On the other hand, the dynamic contact angle is crucial boundary condition in numerical simulations. While different modeling contains different assumption of the microscopic contact angle, none of them has experimental evidence for their assumption, and the contact line movement mechanism still remains vague. The experimental investigation in complete wetting is more popular than partial wetting, especially in nanoscale resolution when there is sharp variation in thin film profile in partial wetting. In the present study, an experimental investigation of water film morphology near the triple phase contact line during the condensation is performed. The state-of-the-art tapping-mode atomic force microscopy (TM-AFM) was used to get the high-resolution film profile goes down to 2 nm from the contact line. The droplet was put in saturated chamber. The pristine silicon wafer was used as a smooth substrate. The substrate was heated by PI film heater. So the chamber would be over saturated by droplet evaporation. By turning off the heater, water vapor gradually started condensing on the droplet and the droplet advanced. The advancing speed was less than 20 nm/s. The dominant results indicate that in contrast to nonvolatile liquid, the film profile goes down straightly to the surface till 2 nm from the substrate. However, small bending has been observed below 20 nm, occasionally. So, it can be claimed that for the low condensation rate the microscopic contact angle equals to the optically detectable macroscopic contact angle. This result can be used to simplify the heat transfer modeling in partial wetting. The experimental result of the equality of microscopic and macroscopic contact angle can be used as a solid evidence for using this boundary condition in numerical simulation.

Keywords: advancing, condensation, microscopic contact angle, partial wetting

Procedia PDF Downloads 288