Search results for: lip localization

Authors: Janusz Bedkowski, Grzegorz Kisala, Michal Wlasiuk, Piotr Pokorski

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Ground-truth data is essential for VO (Visual Odometry) and SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) quantitative evaluation using e.g. ATE (Absolute Trajectory Error) and RPE (Relative Pose Error). Many open-access data sets provide raw and ground-truth data for benchmark purposes. The issue appears when one would like to validate Visual Odometry and/or SLAM approaches on data captured using the device for which the algorithm is targeted for example mobile phone and disseminate data for other researchers. For this reason, we propose an open source, open hardware groundtruth system that provides an accurate and precise trajectory with a 3D point cloud. It is based on LiDAR Livox Mid-360 with a non-repetitive scanning pattern, on-board Raspberry Pi 4B computer, battery and software for off-line calculations (camera to LiDAR calibration, LiDAR odometry, SLAM, georeferencing). We show how this system can be used for the evaluation of various the state of the art algorithms (Stella SLAM, ORB SLAM3, DSO) in typical indoor monocular VO/SLAM.

Keywords: SLAM, ground truth, navigation, LiDAR, visual odometry, mapping

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Authors: Getaneh Berie Tarekegn

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A precise localization system is crucial for many artificial intelligence Internet of Things (AI-IoT) applications in the era of smart cities. Their applications include traffic monitoring, emergency alarming, environmental monitoring, location-based advertising, intelligent transportation, and smart health care. The most common method for providing continuous positioning services in outdoor environments is by using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Due to nonline-of-sight, multipath, and weather conditions, GNSS systems do not perform well in dense urban, urban, and suburban areas.This paper proposes a generative AI-based positioning scheme for large-scale wireless settings using fingerprinting techniques. In this article, we presented a novel semi-supervised deep convolutional generative adversarial network (S-DCGAN)-based radio map construction method for real-time device localization. We also employed a reliable signal fingerprint feature extraction method with t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), which extracts dominant features while eliminating noise from hybrid WLAN and long-term evolution (LTE) fingerprints. The proposed scheme reduced the workload of site surveying required to build the fingerprint database by up to 78.5% and significantly improved positioning accuracy. The results show that the average positioning error of GAILoc is less than 39 cm, and more than 90% of the errors are less than 82 cm. That is, numerical results proved that, in comparison to traditional methods, the proposed SRCLoc method can significantly improve positioning performance and reduce radio map construction costs.

Keywords: location-aware services, feature extraction technique, generative adversarial network, long short-term memory, support vector machine

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Authors: Getaneh Berie Tarekegn

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A precise localization system is crucial for many artificial intelligence Internet of Things (AI-IoT) applications in the era of smart cities. Their applications include traffic monitoring, emergency alarming, environmental monitoring, location-based advertising, intelligent transportation, and smart health care. The most common method for providing continuous positioning services in outdoor environments is by using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). Due to nonline-of-sight, multipath, and weather conditions, GNSS systems do not perform well in dense urban, urban, and suburban areas.This paper proposes a generative AI-based positioning scheme for large-scale wireless settings using fingerprinting techniques. In this article, we presented a novel semi-supervised deep convolutional generative adversarial network (S-DCGAN)-based radio map construction method for real-time device localization. We also employed a reliable signal fingerprint feature extraction method with t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE), which extracts dominant features while eliminating noise from hybrid WLAN and long-term evolution (LTE) fingerprints. The proposed scheme reduced the workload of site surveying required to build the fingerprint database by up to 78.5% and significantly improved positioning accuracy. The results show that the average positioning error of GAILoc is less than 39 cm, and more than 90% of the errors are less than 82 cm. That is, numerical results proved that, in comparison to traditional methods, the proposed SRCLoc method can significantly improve positioning performance and reduce radio map construction costs.

Keywords: location-aware services, feature extraction technique, generative adversarial network, long short-term memory, support vector machine

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Authors: Aysun Sezer

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Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is one of the advanced diagnostic tools for evaluating shoulder pathologies. Proton Density (PD)-weighted MRI sequences prove highly effective in detecting edema. However, they are deficient in the anatomical identification of bones due to a trauma-induced decrease in signal-to-noise ratio and blur in the traumatized cortices. Computer-based diagnostic systems require precise segmentation, identification, and localization of anatomical regions in medical imagery. Deep learning-based object detection algorithms exhibit remarkable proficiency in real-time object identification and localization. In this study, the YOLOv8 model was employed to detect humeral head and scapular regions in 665 axial PD-weighted MR images. The YOLOv8 configuration achieved an overall success rate of 99.60% and 89.90% for detecting the humeral head and scapula, respectively, with an intersection over union (IoU) of 0.5. Our findings indicate a significant promise of employing YOLOv8-based detection for the humerus and scapula regions, particularly in the context of PD-weighted images affected by both noise and intensity inhomogeneity.

Keywords: YOLOv8, object detection, humerus, scapula, IRM

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Authors: Ionut Vintu, Stefan Laible, Ruth Schulz

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Agricultural robotics has been developing steadily over recent years, with the goal of reducing and even eliminating pesticides used in crops and to increase productivity by taking over human labor. The majority of crops are arranged in rows. The first step towards autonomous robots, capable of driving in fields and performing crop-handling tasks, is for robots to robustly detect the rows of plants. Recent work done towards autonomous driving between plant rows offers big robotic platforms equipped with various expensive sensors as a solution to this problem. These platforms need to be driven over the rows of plants. This approach lacks flexibility and scalability when it comes to the height of plants or distance between rows. This paper proposes instead an algorithm that makes use of cheaper sensors and has a higher variability. The main application is in tree nurseries. Here, plant height can range from a few centimeters to a few meters. Moreover, trees are often removed, leading to gaps within the plant rows. The core idea is to combine row detection algorithms with graph-based localization methods as they are used in SLAM. Nodes in the graph represent the estimated pose of the robot, and the edges embed constraints between these poses or between the robot and certain landmarks. This setup aims to improve individual plant detection and deal with exception handling, like row gaps, which are falsely detected as an end of rows. Four methods were developed for detecting row structures in the fields, all using a point cloud acquired with a 3D LiDAR as an input. Comparing the field coverage and number of damaged plants, the method that uses a local map around the robot proved to perform the best, with 68% covered rows and 25% damaged plants. This method is further used and combined with a graph-based localization algorithm, which uses the local map features to estimate the robot’s position inside the greater field. Testing the upgraded algorithm in a variety of simulated fields shows that the additional information obtained from localization provides a boost in performance over methods that rely purely on perception to navigate. The final algorithm achieved a row coverage of 80% and an accuracy of 27% damaged plants. Future work would focus on achieving a perfect score of 100% covered rows and 0% damaged plants. The main challenges that the algorithm needs to overcome are fields where the height of the plants is too small for the plants to be detected and fields where it is hard to distinguish between individual plants when they are overlapping. The method was also tested on a real robot in a small field with artificial plants. The tests were performed using a small robot platform equipped with wheel encoders, an IMU and an FX10 3D LiDAR. Over ten runs, the system achieved 100% coverage and 0% damaged plants. The framework built within the scope of this work can be further used to integrate data from additional sensors, with the goal of achieving even better results.

Keywords: 3D LiDAR, agricultural robots, graph-based localization, row detection

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Authors: Endri Rama, Genci Capi, Shigenori Kawahara

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The mobile robot ability to navigate autonomously in its environment is very important. Even though the advances in technology, robot self-localization and goal directed navigation in complex environments are still challenging tasks. In this article, we propose a novel method for robot navigation based on rat’s brain signals (Local Field Potentials). It has been well known that rats accurately and rapidly navigate in a complex space by localizing themselves in reference to the surrounding environmental cues. As the first step to incorporate the rat’s navigation strategy into the robot control, we analyzed the rats’ strategies while it navigates in a multiple Y-maze, and recorded Local Field Potentials (LFPs) simultaneously from three brain regions. Next, we processed the LFPs, and the extracted features were used as an input in the artificial neural network to predict the rat’s next location, especially in the decision-making moment, in Y-junctions. We developed an algorithm by which the robot learned to imitate the rat’s decision-making by mapping the rat’s brain signals into its own actions. Finally, the robot learned to integrate the internal states as well as external sensors in order to localize and navigate in the complex environment.

Keywords: brain-machine interface, decision-making, mobile robot, neural network

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Authors: Ondrej Lufinka, Jan Kaderabek, Juraj Prstek, Jiri Skala, Kamil Kosturik

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This paper deals with the problem of using Autonomous Robotic Platforms (ARP) for the ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) testing in automotive. There are different possibilities of the testing already in development, and lately, the autonomous robotic platforms are beginning to be used more and more widely. Autonomous Robotic Platform discussed in this paper explores the hardware and software design possibilities related to the field of embedded systems. The paper focuses on its chapters on the introduction of the problem in general; then, it describes the proposed prototype concept and its principles from the embedded HW and SW point of view. It talks about the key features that can be used for the innovation of these platforms (e.g., modularity, omnidirectional movement, common and non-traditional sensors used for localization, synchronization of more platforms and cars together, or safety mechanisms). In the end, the future possible development of the project is discussed as well.

Keywords: advanced driver assistance systems, ADAS, autonomous robotic platform, embedded systems, hardware, localization, modularity, multiple robots synchronization, omnidirectional movement, safety mechanisms, software

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Authors: Jeng-Shin Sheu, Qi-Xun Zheng

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This paper mainly discusses a method of separating speech when using a microphone array without knowing the number and direction of sound sources. In recent years, there have been many studies on the method of separating signals by using masking, but most of the separation methods must be operated under the condition of a known number of sound sources. Such methods cannot be used for real-time applications. In our method, this paper uses Circular-Integrated-Cross-Spectrum to estimate the statistical histogram distribution of the direction of arrival (DOA) to obtain the number of sound sources and sound in the mixed-signal Source direction. In calculating the relevant parameters of the ring integrated cross-spectrum, the phase (Phase of the Cross-Power Spectrum) and phase rotation factors (Phase Rotation Factors) calculated by the cross power spectrum of each microphone pair are used. In the part of separating speech, it uses the DOA weighting and shielding separation method to calculate the sound source direction (DOA) according to each T-F unit (time-frequency point). The weight corresponding to each T-F unit can be used to strengthen the intensity of each sound source from the T-F unit and reduce the influence of the remaining sound sources, thereby achieving voice separation.

Keywords: real-time, spectrum analysis, sound source localization, sound source separation

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Authors: Ching-Pin Tseng

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Cultural heritages are tangible and intangible catalysts for recollecting collective memories and cultural signification. Through visiting the heritage and with the aid of exhibition and visual indications, the visitor may visually and spatially grasp some fragments of the stories and occurrences of the site. However, there may be some discrepancies between the narration of historical happenings that occurred at the place and the spatial exhibition of the historic monument. Narratives of collective events may not be revealed merely by physical relics or objects. In order to build up a connection between the past and the present, the paper thus intends to discuss what means can engender vitalizations within cultural heritages. As the preservation of cultural heritages has been a universal consensus and common interests, its association with modern lives has also been an important issue. The paper will explore some site-specific theatres held in the art festivals in the south of Taiwan so as to examine the correlation between site-specific performances and the conservation of historic monuments. In the light of Victor Hugo’s argument that the place where events happened before can be silent characters for representing the reality of art and for impressing the spectator, this paper argues that site-specific theatres may bring vitality into tangible cultural heritages. At the end of this paper, the notion of localization will be utilized to examine the spatial setting and the materiality of scenic design in relation to the site-specific theatres within cultural heritages.

Keywords: site-specificity, cultural heritage, localization, materiality

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Authors: A. Khan, H. Mahmood

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In Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (UWSNs), sensor nodes close to water surface (final destination) are often preferred for selection as forwarders. However, their frequent selection makes them depleted of their limited battery power. In consequence, these nodes die during early stage of network operation and create energy holes where forwarders are not available for packets forwarding. These holes severely affect network throughput. As a result, system performance significantly degrades. In this paper, a routing protocol is proposed to avoid energy holes during packets forwarding. The proposed protocol does not require the conventional position information (localization) of holes to avoid them. Localization is cumbersome; energy is inefficient and difficult to achieve in underwater environment where sensor nodes change their positions with water currents. Forwarders with the lowest water pressure level and the maximum number of neighbors are preferred to forward packets. These two parameters together minimize packet drop by following the paths where maximum forwarders are available. To avoid interference along the paths with the maximum forwarders, a packet holding time is defined for each forwarder. Simulation results reveal superior performance of the proposed scheme than the counterpart technique.

Keywords: energy holes, interference, routing, underwater

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Authors: Somaye Zare

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The critical beam radius is a significant factor that predicts the behavior of the laser beam in the plasma, so if the laser beam radius is adequately greater in comparison to it, the beam will experience stable focusing on the plasma; otherwise, the beam will diverge after entering into the plasma. In this work, considering the paraxial approximation and moment theories, the localization of a relativistic laser beam in thermal quantum plasma is investigated. Using the dielectric function obtained in the quantum hydrodynamic model, the mathematical equation for the laser beam width parameter is attained and solved numerically by the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The results demonstrate that the stouter focusing effect is occurred in the moment theory compared to the paraxial approximation. Besides, similar to the two theories, with increasing Fermi temperature, plasma density, and laser intensity, the oscillation rate of the beam width parameter growths and focusing length reduces which means improving the focusing effect. Furthermore, it is understood that behaviors of the critical laser radius are different in the two theories, in the paraxial approximation, the critical radius after a minimum value is enhanced with increasing laser intensity, but in the moment theory, with increasing laser intensity, the critical radius decreases until it becomes independent of the laser intensity.

Keywords: laser localization, quantum plasma, paraxial approximation, moment theory, quantum hydrodynamic model

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Authors: Balgaisha G. Mukanova, Yelbek B. Utepov, Aida G. Nazarova, Alisher Z. Imanov

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The problem of identifying local noise sources on a construction site using a sensor system is considered. Mathematical modeling of detected signals on sensors was carried out, considering signal decay and signal delay time between the source and detector. Recordings of noises produced by construction tools were used as a dependence of noise on time. Synthetic sensor data was constructed based on these data, and a model of the propagation of acoustic waves from a point source in the three-dimensional space was applied. All sensors and sources are assumed to be located in the same plane. A source localization method is checked based on the signal time delay between two adjacent detectors and plotting the direction of the source. Based on the two direct lines' crossline, the noise source's position is determined. Cases of one dominant source and the case of two sources in the presence of several other sources of lower intensity are considered. The number of detectors varies from three to eight detectors. The intensity of the noise field in the assessed area is plotted. The signal of a two-second duration is considered. The source is located for subsequent parts of the signal with a duration above 0.04 sec; the final result is obtained by computing the average value.

Keywords: acoustic model, direction of arrival, inverse source problem, sound localization, urban noises

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Authors: Wilayat Ali, Li Sheng, Waleed Ahmed

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The ability of the robot to make simultaneously map of the environment and localize itself with respect to that environment is the most important element of mobile robots. To solve SLAM many algorithms could be utilized to build up the SLAM process and SLAM is a developing area in Robotics research. Robot Operating System (ROS) is one of the frameworks which provide multiple algorithm nodes to work with and provide a transmission layer to robots. Manyof these algorithms extensively in use are Hector SLAM, Gmapping and Cartographer SLAM. This paper describes a ROS-based Simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) library Google Cartographer mapping, which is open-source algorithm. The algorithm was applied to create a map using laser and pose data from 2d Lidar that was placed on a mobile robot. The model robot uses the gazebo package and simulated in Rviz. Our research work's primary goal is to obtain mapping through Cartographer SLAM algorithm in a static indoor environment. From our research, it is shown that for indoor environments cartographer is an applicable algorithm to generate 2d maps with LIDAR placed on mobile robot because it uses both odometry and poses estimation. The algorithm has been evaluated and maps are constructed against the SLAM algorithms presented by Turtlebot2 in the static indoor environment.

Keywords: SLAM, ROS, navigation, localization and mapping, gazebo, Rviz, Turtlebot2, slam algorithms, 2d indoor environment, cartographer

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Authors: Yahya Al Nahdi

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Even though efforts to increase the participation of nationals in the workforce have been in place for more than a decade in the Sultanate of Oman, the results are not impressive. Citizens’ workforce participation – it is argued in the literature – is hindered by institutional, as well as attitudinal concerns. The purpose of this study was to determine barriers to Omanization (employment of Omani nationals) in the private sector as perceived by the senior managers in government and private sector. Data were collected predominantly through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with managers who directly deal with Omanization policies from both the public and private sector. Results from the data analysis have shown that the majority of participants acknowledged a work preference in the movement (public sector). The private sector employees' compensation and benefits package was perceived to be less attractive than that offered in the government (public sector). The negative perceptions (stereotypes) shared by expatriates regarding work attitudes and competencies of citizens in the local labour market was also overwhelmingly perceived as a major hindrance. Furthermore, institutional issues such as, ineffectiveness of rules and regulation regarding Omanization, inappropriate quota system and lack of public awareness towards private sector’s jobs, are also perceived problematic to successful Omanization. Finally, results from the data analysis were used in recommending strategies for potential consideration in the pursuit of a successful Omanization programme.

Keywords: localization, job security, labour force structure, Omanization, private sector, public sector

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Authors: Arunava Chakrabarti

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A one-dimensional chain of magnetic atoms, representative of a quantum gas in an artificial quasi-periodic potential and modeled by the well-known Aubry-Andre function and its variants are studied in respect of its capability of working as a spin filter for arbitrary spins. The basic formulation is explained in terms of a perfectly periodic chain first, where it is shown that a definite correlation between the spin S of the incoming particles and the magnetic moment h of the substrate atoms can open up a gap in the energy spectrum. This is crucial for a spin filtering action. The simple one-dimensional chain is shown to be equivalent to a 2S+1 strand ladder network. This equivalence is exploited to work out the condition for the opening of gaps. The formulation is then applied for a one-dimensional chain with quasi-periodic variation in the site potentials, the magnetic moments and their orientations following an Aubry-Andre modulation and its variants. In addition, we show that a certain correlation between the system parameters can generate absolutely continuous bands in such systems populated by Bloch like extended wave functions only, signaling the possibility of a metal-insulator transition. This is a case of correlated disorder (a deterministic one), and the results provide a non-trivial variation to the famous Anderson localization problem. We have worked within a tight binding formalism and have presented explicit results for the spin half, spin one, three halves and spin five half particles incident on the magnetic chain to explain our scheme and the central results.

Keywords: Aubry-Andre model, correlated disorder, localization, spin filter

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Authors: Priya Saha, Sourav Dey Roy Jr., Debotosh Bhattacharjee, Mita Nasipuri, Barin Kumar De, Mrinal Kanti Bhowmik

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Biometric face recognition technology (FRT) has gained a lot of attention due to its extensive variety of applications in both security and non-security perspectives. It has come into view to provide a secure solution in identification and verification of person identity. Although other biometric based methods like fingerprint scans, iris scans are available, FRT is verified as an efficient technology for its user-friendliness and contact freeness. Accurate facial feature localization plays an important role for many facial analysis applications including biometrics and emotion recognition. But, there are certain factors, which make facial feature localization a challenging task. On human face, expressions can be seen from the subtle movements of facial muscles and influenced by internal emotional states. These non-rigid facial movements cause noticeable alterations in locations of facial landmarks, their usual shapes, which sometimes create occlusions in facial feature areas making face recognition as a difficult problem. The paper proposes a new hybrid based technique for automatic landmark detection in both neutral and expressive frontal and near frontal face images. The method uses the concept of thresholding, sequential searching and other image processing techniques for locating the landmark points on the face. Also, a Graphical User Interface (GUI) based software is designed that could automatically detect 16 landmark points around eyes, nose and mouth that are mostly affected by the changes in facial muscles. The proposed system has been tested on widely used JAFFE and Cohn Kanade database. Also, the system is tested on DeitY-TU face database which is created in the Biometrics Laboratory of Tripura University under the research project funded by Department of Electronics & Information Technology, Govt. of India. The performance of the proposed method has been done in terms of error measure and accuracy. The method has detection rate of 98.82% on JAFFE database, 91.27% on Cohn Kanade database and 93.05% on DeitY-TU database. Also, we have done comparative study of our proposed method with other techniques developed by other researchers. This paper will put into focus emotion-oriented systems through AU detection in future based on the located features.

Keywords: biometrics, face recognition, facial landmarks, image processing

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Authors: G. K. Viswanadh, B. Rajasekhar, G. Venkata Ramana

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Water distribution networks play a vital role in ensuring a reliable supply of clean water to urban areas. However, they face several challenges, including pressure control, pump speed optimization, and burst event detection. This paper combines insights from two studies to address these critical issues in Water distribution networks, focusing on the specific context of Kapra Municipality, India. The first part of this research concentrates on optimizing pressure control and pump speed in complex Water distribution networks. It utilizes the EPANET- MATLAB Toolkit to integrate EPANET functionalities into the MATLAB environment, offering a comprehensive approach to network analysis. By optimizing Pressure Reduce Valves (PRVs) and variable speed pumps (VSPs), this study achieves remarkable results. In the Benchmark Water Distribution System (WDS), the proposed PRV optimization algorithm reduces average leakage by 20.64%, surpassing the previous achievement of 16.07%. When applied to the South-Central and East zone WDS of Kapra Municipality, it identifies PRV locations that were previously missed by existing algorithms, resulting in average leakage reductions of 22.04% and 10.47%. These reductions translate to significant daily Water savings, enhancing Water supply reliability and reducing energy consumption. The second part of this research addresses the pressing issue of burst event detection and localization within the Water Distribution System. Burst events are a major contributor to Water losses and repair expenses. The study employs wireless sensor technology to monitor pressure and flow rate in real time, enabling the detection of pipeline abnormalities, particularly burst events. The methodology relies on transient analysis of pressure signals, utilizing Cumulative Sum and Wavelet analysis techniques to robustly identify burst occurrences. To enhance precision, burst event localization is achieved through meticulous analysis of time differentials in the arrival of negative pressure waveforms across distinct pressure sensing points, aided by nodal matrix analysis. To evaluate the effectiveness of this methodology, a PVC Water pipeline test bed is employed, demonstrating the algorithm's success in detecting pipeline burst events at flow rates of 2-3 l/s. Remarkably, the algorithm achieves a localization error of merely 3 meters, outperforming previously established algorithms. This research presents a significant advancement in efficient burst event detection and localization within Water pipelines, holding the potential to markedly curtail Water losses and the concomitant financial implications. In conclusion, this combined research addresses critical challenges in Water distribution networks, offering solutions for optimizing pressure control, pump speed, burst event detection, and localization. These findings contribute to the enhancement of Water Distribution System, resulting in improved Water supply reliability, reduced Water losses, and substantial cost savings. The integrated approach presented in this paper holds promise for municipalities and utilities seeking to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their Water distribution networks.

Keywords: pressure reduce valve, complex networks, variable speed pump, wavelet transform, burst detection, CUSUM (Cumulative Sum), water pipeline monitoring

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Authors: Zoe Goldberger, Priscilla S. Briquez, Jeffrey A. Hubbell

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Tumor cells have mutations resulting from genetic instability that the immune system can actively recognize. Immune checkpoint immunotherapy (ICI) is commonly used in the clinic to re-activate immune reactions against mutated proteins, called neoantigens, resulting in tumor remission in cancer patients. However, only around 20% of patients show durable response to ICI. While tumor mutational burden (TMB) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a criterion for ICI therapy, the relevance of the subcellular localizations of the mutated proteins within the tumor cell has not been investigated. Here, we hypothesized that localization of mutations impacts the effect of immune responsiveness to ICI. We analyzed publicly available tumor mutation sequencing data of ICI treated patients from 3 independent datasets. We extracted the subcellular localization from the UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot database and quantified the proportion of membrane, cytoplasmic, nuclear, or secreted mutations per patient. We analyzed this information in relation to response to ICI treatment and overall survival of patients showing with 1722 ICI-treated patients that high mutational burden localized at the membrane (mTMB), correlate with ICI responsiveness, and improved overall survival in multiple cancer types. We anticipate that our results will ameliorate predictability of cancer patient response to ICI with potential implications in clinical guidelines to tailor ICI treatment. This would not only increase patient survival for those receiving ICI, but also patients’ quality of life by reducing the number of patients enduring non-effective ICI treatments.

Keywords: cancer, immunotherapy, membrane neoantigens, efficacy prediction, biomarkers

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Authors: Naomi Sakamoto, Eisuke Fukuma, Mika Nashimoto, Yoshitomo Koshida

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Background: Selective localization of the metastatic lymph node with clip and removal of clipped nodes with sentinel lymph node (SLN), known as targeted axillary dissection (TAD), reduced false-negative rates (FNR) of SLN biopsy (SLNB) after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC). For the patients who achieved nodal pathologic complete response (pCR), accurate staging of axilla by TAD lead to omit axillary lymph node dissection (ALND), decreasing postoperative arm morbidity without a negative effect on overall survival. This study aimed to investigate the ultrasound (US) identification rate and success removal rate of two kinds of ultrasound-visible clips placed in metastatic lymph nodes during TAD procedure. Methods: This prospective study was conducted using patients with clinically T1-3, N1, 2, M0 breast cancer undergoing NAC followed by surgery. A US-visible clip was placed in the suspicious lymph node under US guidance before neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Before surgery, US examination was performed to evaluate the detection rate of clipped node. During the surgery, the clipped node was removed using several localization techniques, including hook-wire localization, dye-injection, or fluorescence technique, followed by a dual-technique SLNB and resection of palpable nodes if present. For the fluorescence technique, after injection of 0.1-0.2 mL of indocyanine green dye (ICG) into the clipped node, ICG fluorescent imaging was performed using the Photodynamic Eye infrared camera (Hamamatsu Photonics k. k., Shizuoka, Japan). For the dye injection method, 0.1-0.2 mL of pyoktanin blue dye was injected into the clipped node. Results: A total of 29 patients were enrolled. Hydromark™ breast biopsy site markers (Hydromark, T3 shape; Devicor Medical Japan, Tokyo, Japan) was used in 15patients, whereas a UltraCor™ Twirl™ breast marker (Twirl; C.R. Bard, Inc, NJ, USA) was placed in 14 patients. US identified the clipped node marked with the UltraCore Twirl in 100% (14/14) and with the Hydromark in 93.3% (14/15, p = ns). Success removal of clipped node marked with the UltraCore Twirl was achieved in 100% (14/14), whereas the node marked with the Hydromark was removed in 80% (12/15) (p = ns). Conclusions: The ultrasound identification rate differed between the two types of ultrasound-visible clips, which also affected the success removal rate of clipped nodes. Labelling the positive node with a US-highly-visible clip allowed successful TAD.

Keywords: breast cancer, neoadjuvant chemotherapy, targeted axillary dissection, breast tissue marker, clip

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Authors: Bouayachi Ali, Alikouss Saida, Baroudi Zouhir, Zerhouni Youssef, Zouhair Mohammed, El Idrissi Assia, Essalhi Mourad

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The world-class Imiter silver deposit is located on the northern flank of the Precambrian Imiter buttonhole. This deposit is formed by epithermal veins hosted in the sandstone-pelite formations of the lower complex and in the basic conglomerates of the upper complex, these veins are controlled by a regional scale fault cluster, oriented N70°E to N90°E. The present work on the contribution of remote sensing on the geological mapping of the Imiter buttonhole and application to the mineralized structures of the Principal Corps B3. Mapping on satellite images is a very important tool in mineral prospecting. It allows the localization of the zones of interest in order to orientate the field missions by helping the localization of the major structures which facilitates the interpretation, the programming and the orientation of the mining works. The predictive map also allows for the correction of field mapping work, especially the direction and dimensions of structures such as dykes, corridors or scrapings. The use of a series of processing such as SAM, PCA, MNF and unsupervised and supervised classification on a Landsat 8 satellite image of the study area allowed us to highlight the main facies of the Imite area. To improve the exploration research, we used another processing that allows to realize a spatial distribution of the alteration mineral indices, and the application of several filters on the different bands to have lineament maps.

Keywords: principal corps B3, teledetection, Landsat 8, Imiter II, silver mineralization, lineaments

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Authors: Pavel A. Strizhak, Geniy V. Kuznetsov, Ivan S. Voytkov, Dmitri V. Antonov

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This paper presents the results of experiments carried out at a specialized test site for establishing macroscopic patterns of heat and mass transfer processes at localizing model combustion sources of ground forest fires with the use of barrier lines in the form of a wetted lay of material in front of the zone of flame burning and thermal decomposition. The experiments were performed using needles, leaves, twigs, and mixtures thereof. The dimensions of the model combustion source and the ranges of heat release correspond well to the real conditions of ground forest fires. The main attention is paid to the complex analysis of the effect of dispersion of water aerosol (concentration and size of droplets) used to form the barrier line. It is shown that effective conditions for localization and subsequent suppression of flame combustion and thermal decomposition of forest fuel can be achieved by creating a group of barrier lines with different wetting width and depth of the material. Relative indicators of the effectiveness of one and combined barrier lines were established, taking into account all the main characteristics of the processes of suppressing burning and thermal decomposition of forest combustible materials. We performed the prediction of the necessary and sufficient parameters of barrier lines (water volume, width, and depth of the wetted lay of the material, specific irrigation density) for combustion sources with different dimensions, corresponding to the real fire extinguishing practice.

Keywords: forest fire, barrier water lines, pyrolysis front, flame front

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Authors: Daohong Yang, Xiang Zhang, Lei Li, Wanting Zhou

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Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VSLAM) is a technology that obtains information in the environment for self-positioning and mapping. It is widely used in computer vision, robotics and other fields. Many visual SLAM systems, such as OBSLAM3, employ a constant-speed motion model that provides the initial pose of the current frame to improve the speed and accuracy of feature matching. However, in actual situations, the constant velocity motion model is often difficult to be satisfied, which may lead to a large deviation between the obtained initial pose and the real value, and may lead to errors in nonlinear optimization results. Therefore, this paper proposed a motion model based on acceleration, which can be applied on most SLAM systems. In order to better describe the acceleration of the camera pose, we decoupled the pose transformation matrix, and calculated the rotation matrix and the translation vector respectively, where the rotation matrix is represented by rotation vector. We assume that, in a short period of time, the changes of rotating angular velocity and translation vector remain the same. Based on this assumption, the initial pose of the current frame is estimated. In addition, the error of constant velocity model was analyzed theoretically. Finally, we applied our proposed approach to the ORBSLAM3 system and evaluated two sets of sequences on the TUM dataset. The results showed that our proposed method had a more accurate initial pose estimation and the accuracy of ORBSLAM3 system is improved by 6.61% and 6.46% respectively on the two test sequences.

Keywords: error estimation, constant acceleration motion model, pose estimation, visual SLAM

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Authors: Varun Agarwal

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Introduction: With the advent of personalized medicine, histopathological review of whole slide images (WSIs) for cancer diagnosis presents an exceedingly time-consuming, complex task. Specifically, detecting metastatic regions in WSIs of sentinel lymph node biopsies necessitates a full-scanned, holistic evaluation of the image. Thus, digital pathology, low-level image manipulation algorithms, and machine learning provide significant advancements in improving the efficiency and accuracy of WSI analysis. Using Camelyon16 data, this paper proposes a deep learning pipeline to automate and ameliorate breast cancer metastasis localization and WSI classification. Methodology: The model broadly follows five stages -region of interest detection, WSI partitioning into image tiles, convolutional neural network (CNN) image-segment classifications, probabilistic mapping of tumor localizations, and further processing for whole WSI classification. Transfer learning is applied to the task, with the implementation of Inception-ResNetV2 - an effective CNN classifier that uses residual connections to enhance feature representation, adding convolved outputs in the inception unit to the proceeding input data. Moreover, in order to augment the performance of the transfer learning CNN, a stack of convolutional denoising autoencoders (CDAE) is applied to produce embeddings that enrich image representation. Through a saliency-detection algorithm, visual training segments are generated, which are then processed through a denoising autoencoder -primarily consisting of convolutional, leaky rectified linear unit, and batch normalization layers- and subsequently a contrast-normalization function. A spatial pyramid pooling algorithm extracts the key features from the processed image, creating a viable feature map for the CNN that minimizes spatial resolution and noise. Results and Conclusion: The simplified and effective architecture of the fine-tuned transfer learning Inception-ResNetV2 network enhanced with the CDAE stack yields state of the art performance in WSI classification and tumor localization, achieving AUC scores of 0.947 and 0.753, respectively. The convolutional feature retention and compilation with the residual connections to inception units synergized with the input denoising algorithm enable the pipeline to serve as an effective, efficient tool in the histopathological review of WSIs.

Keywords: breast cancer, convolutional neural networks, metastasis mapping, whole slide images

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Authors: Haiqiao Du, Qian Wang, Shuwei Wang, Jianan Li

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Purpose: The aim is to evaluate the effect of cochlear implantation (CI) in patients with unilateral hearing loss, with a view to providing data support for the selection of therapeutic interventions for patients with single-sided deafness (SSD)/asymmetric hearing loss (AHL) and the broadening of the indications for CI. Methods: The study subjects were patients with unilateral hearing loss who underwent cochlear implantation surgery in our hospital in August 2022 and were willing to cooperate with the test and were divided into 2 groups: SSD group and AHL group. The enrolled patients were followed up for hearing level, tinnitus changes, speech recognition ability, sound source localization ability, and quality of life at five-time points: preoperatively, and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after postoperative start-up. Results: As of June 30, 2024, a total of nine patients completed follow-up, including four in the SSD group and five in the AHL group. The mean postoperative hearing aid thresholds on the CI side were 31.56 dB HL and 34.75 dB HL in the two groups, respectively. Of the four patients with preoperative tinnitus symptoms (three patients in the SSD group and one patient in the AHL group), all showed a degree of reduction in Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) scores, except for one patient who showed no change. In both the SSD and AHL groups, the sound source localization results (expressed as RMS error values, with smaller values indicating better ability) were 66.87° and 77.41° preoperatively and 29.34° and 54.60° 12 months after postoperative start-up, respectively, which showed that the ability to localize the sound source improved significantly with longer implantation time. The level of speech recognition was assessed by 3 test methods: speech recognition rate of monosyllabic words in a quiet environment and speech recognition rate of different sound source directions at 0° and 90° (implantation side) in a noisy environment. The results of the 3 tests were 99.0%, 72.0%, and 36.0% in the preoperative SSD group and 96.0%, 83.6%, and 73.8% in the AHL group, respectively, whereas they fluctuated in the postoperative period 3 months after start-up, and stabilized at 12 months after start-up to 99.0%, 100.0%, and 100.0% in the SSD group and 99.5%, 96.0%, and 99.0%. Quality of life was subjectively evaluated by three tests: the Speech Spatial Quality of Sound Auditory Scale (SSQ-12), the Quality-of-Life Bilateral Listening Questionnaire (QLBHE), and the Nijmegen Cochlear Implantation Inventory (NCIQ). The results of the SSQ-12 (with a 10-point score out of 10) showed that the scores of preoperative and postoperative 12 months after start-up were 6.35 and 6.46 in the SSD group, while they were 5.61 and 9.83 in the AHL group. The QLBHE scores (100 points out of 100) were 61.0 and 76.0 in the SSD group and 53.4 and 63.7 in the AHL group for the preoperative versus the postoperative 12 months after start-up. Conclusion: Patients with unilateral hearing loss can benefit from cochlear implantation: CI implantation is effective in compensating for the hearing on the affected side and reduces the accompanying tinnitus symptoms; there is a significant improvement in sound source localization and speech recognition in the presence of noise; and the quality of life is improved.

Keywords: single-sided deafness, asymmetric hearing loss, cochlear implant, unilateral hearing loss

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Authors: A. Ghanbari Mardasi, N. Wu, C. Wu

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In this study, a spatial wavelet-based crack localization technique for a thick beam is presented. Wavelet scale in spatial wavelet transformation is optimized to enhance crack detection sensitivity. A windowing function is also employed to erase the edge effect of the wavelet transformation, which enables the method to detect and localize cracks near the beam/measurement boundaries. Theoretical model and vibration analysis considering the crack effect are first proposed and performed in MATLAB based on the Timoshenko beam model. Gabor wavelet family is applied to the beam vibration mode shapes derived from the theoretical beam model to magnify the crack effect so as to locate the crack. Relative wavelet coefficient is obtained for sensitivity analysis by comparing the coefficient values at different positions of the beam with the lowest value in the intact area of the beam. Afterward, the optimal wavelet scale corresponding to the highest relative wavelet coefficient at the crack position is obtained for each vibration mode, through numerical simulations. The same procedure is performed for cracks with different sizes and positions in order to find the optimal scale range for the Gabor wavelet family. Finally, Hanning window is applied to different vibration mode shapes in order to overcome the edge effect problem of wavelet transformation and its effect on the localization of crack close to the measurement boundaries. Comparison of the wavelet coefficients distribution of windowed and initial mode shapes demonstrates that window function eases the identification of the cracks close to the boundaries.

Keywords: edge effect, scale optimization, small crack locating, spatial wavelet

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Authors: Dileep K. Verma, Sunil K. Lal

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Influenza still remains one of the most challenging diseases posing significant threat to public health causing seasonal epidemics and pandemics. Previous studies suggest that influenza hemagglutinin is essential for viral attachment to host sialic acid receptors and concentrate in lipid rafts for efficient viral fusion. Studies also reported selective nature of Influenza virus to utilize rafts micro-domain for efficient virus assembly and budding. However, the detailed mechanism of Influenza A Virus (IAV) binding to host cell membrane and entry inside the host remains elusive. In the present study, we investigated if host membrane lipid rafts play any significant role in early life cycle events of influenza A virus. Role of host lipid rafts was studied using raft disruption method by extraction of cholesterol and Methyl-β-Cyclodextrin was used to remove membrane cholesterol. We observed co-localization of Influenza A Virus to lipid rafts by visualization of known lipid raft marker GM1 on host cell membrane. Co-localization suggest direct involvement of these micro-domain in initiation of IAV life cycle. We found significant reduction in influenza A virus adsorption in raft disrupted target host cells indicating poor binding and attachment in absence of coherent membrane rafts. Taken together, the results of present study provide evidence for critical involvement of host lipid rafts and its constituents in adsorption process of Influenza A Virus and suggests crucial involvement in other early events of IAV life cycle. The present study opens a new domain to study influenza virus-host interaction and to combat flu at the very early steps of viral life cycle.

Keywords: lipid raft, adsorption, cholesterol, methyl-β-cyclodextrin, GM1

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Authors: Soultana Konstantinidou, Tiziana Schmidt, Elena Landi, Alessandro De Carli, Giovanni Maltinti, Darius Witt, Alicja Dziadosz, Agnieszka Lindstaedt, Michele Lai, Mauro Pistello, Valentina Cappello, Luciana Dente, Chiara Gabellini, Piotr Barski, Vittoria Raffa

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CRISPR/Cas9 technology has gained the interest of researchers in the field of biotechnology for genome editing. Since its discovery as a microbial adaptive immune defense, this system has been widely adopted and is acknowledged for having a variety of applications. However, critical barriers related to safety and delivery are persisting. Here, we propose a new concept of genome engineering, which is based on a nano-formulation of Cas9. The Cas9 enzyme was conjugated to a gold nanoparticle (AuNP-Cas9). The AuNP-Cas9 maintained its cleavage efficiency in vitro, to the same extent as the ribonucleoprotein, including non-conjugated Cas9 enzyme, and showed high gene editing efficiency in vivo in zebrafish embryos. Since CRISPR/Cas9 technology is extensively used in cancer research, melanoma was selected as a validation target. Cell studies were performed in A375 human melanoma cells. Particles per se had no impact on cell metabolism and proliferation. Intriguingly, the AuNP-Cas9 internalized spontaneously in cells and localized as a single particle in the cytoplasm and organelles. More importantly, the AuNP-Cas9 showed a high nuclear localization signal. The AuNP-Cas9, overcoming the delivery difficulties of Cas9, could be used in cellular biology and localization studies. Taking advantage of the plasmonic properties of gold nanoparticles, this technology could potentially be a bio-tool for combining gene editing and photothermal therapy in cancer cells. Further work will be focused on intracellular interactions of the nano-formulation and characterization of the optical properties.

Keywords: CRISPR/Cas9, gene editing, gold nanoparticles, nanotechnology

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Authors: Malay K. Das, Bhupen Kalita

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The poor oral bioavailability of resveratrol (RSV) due to presystemic metabolism can be avoided via dermal route of administration. The hydrophilic-lipophilic nature of resveratrol-phospholipid complex (RSVPs) favors the delivery of resveratrol via the skin. The RSVPs embedded polymeric patch with moderate adhesiveness was developed for dermal application for sustained anti-inflammatory effect. The prepared patches were evaluated for various physicochemical properties, surface morphology by SEM, TEM, and compatibility of patch components by FT-IR and DSC studies. The dermal flux of the optimized patch formulation was found to be at 4.28 ± 0.48 mg/cm2/24 h. The analysis of skin extract after permeation study revealed the presence of resveratrol, which confirmed the localization of RSVPs in the skin. The stability of RSVPs in the polymeric patch and the physiologic environment was confirmed by FE-SEM studies on the patches after drug release and skin permeation studies. The RSVPs particles released from the polymer matrix maintaining the structural integrity and permeate the keratinized horney layer of skin. The optimized patch formulation showed sustained anti-inflammatory effect (84.10% inhibition of inflammation at 24 h) in carrageenan-induced rat paw edema model compared to marketed diclofenac sodium gel (39.58% inhibition of inflammation at 24 h). The CLSM study confirmed the localization of RSVPs for a longer period, thus enabling drug targeting to the dermis for sustained anti-inflammatory effect. Histological studies with phase contrast trinocular microscope suggested no alteration of skin integrity and no evidence of the presence of inflammatory cells after exposure to the permeants. The patch was found to be safe for skin application as evaluated by Draize method for skin irritation scoring in a rabbit model. These results suggest the therapeutic efficacy of the developed patch in both acute and chronic inflammatory diseases.

Keywords: resveratrol-phospholipid complex, skin delivery, sustained anti-inflammatory effect, inflammatory diseases, dermal patch

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Authors: Shai Sarussi

Abstract:

Let S be an integral domain with field of fractions F and let A be an F-algebra. An S-subalgebra R of A is called S-nice if R∩F = S and the localization of R with respect to S \{0} is A. Denoting by W the set of all S-nice subalgebras of A, and defining a notion of open sets on W, one can view W as a T0-Alexandroff space. A characterization of the property of immediate neighbors in an Alexandroff topological space is given, in terms of closed and open subsets of appropriate subspaces. Moreover, two special subspaces of W are introduced, and a way in which their closed and open subsets induce W is presented.

Keywords: integral domains, Alexandroff topology, immediate neighbors, valuation domains

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Authors: S. Malebary, W. Xu

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Antennas are important components that enable transmitting and receiving signals in mid-air (wireless). The radiation pattern of omni-directional (i.e., dipole) antennas, reflects the variation of power radiated by an antenna as a function of direction when transmitting. As the performance of the antenna is the same in transmitting and receiving, it also reflects the sensitivity of the antenna in different directions when receiving. The main observation when dealing with omni-directional antennas, regardless the application, is they equally radiate power in all directions in reference to Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power (EIRP). Disseminating radio frequency signals in an omni-directional manner form a doughnut-shape-field with a cone in the middle of the elevation plane (when mounted vertically). In this paper, we investigate the existence of this physical phenomena namely silence cone zone (the zone where radiated power is nulled). First, we overview antenna types and properties that have the major impact on the shape of the electromagnetic field. Then we model various off the shelf dipoles in Matlab based on antennas’ features (dimensions, gain, operating frequency, … etc.) and compare the resulting radiation patterns. After that, we validate the existence of the null zone in Omni-directional antennas by conducting experiments and generating waveforms (using USRP1 and USRP2) at various frequencies using different types of antennas and gains in indoor/outdoor. We capture the generated waveforms around antennas' null zone in the reactive, near, and far field with a spectrum analyzer mounted on a drone, using various off the shelf antennas. We analyze the captured signals in RF-Explorer and plot the impact on received power and signal amplitude inside and around the null zone. Finally, it is concluded from evaluation and measurements the existence of null zones in Omni-directional antennas which we plan on extending this work in the near future to investigate the usability of the null zone for various applications such as localization and path finding.

Keywords: antennas, amplitude, field regions, frequency, FSPL, omni-directional, radiation pattern, RSSI, silence zone cone

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