Search results for: zernike moment feature descriptor

Authors: Turkan Harmanbasi, Zeliha Busra Eryigit

Abstract:

The Anatolian Seljuk State was established in Anatolia by the Seljuks and continued its existence between the 11th and 14th centuries. Iznik was the first capital of Anatolian Seljuks. With the conquest of Konya in 1086, this place was declared as the capital. The Anatolian Seljuk State, with its numerous cultural elements, has produced valuable and permanent works for more than two centuries. Most of the important and monumental works were built in Konya. Anatolian Seljuk Art that makes unique; the technique in his works is the difference in material and style. It has gained an important place in Islamic architecture with this feature. In this period, rich embellishment programs emerged with the use of geometrical ornaments, floral motifs and calligraphy belts. In the Anatolian Seljuks, decoration was mainly applied with façade, crown gates, doors, windows, mihrab, mimbar, cover, transition elements and minarets; built with stone, brick and wooden materials. The minarets are located adjacent to the mosques or outside, as a high place that can be reached by stairs, which is made to invite people to worship and to announce this to people. They are architectural elements that have always been important in Islamic architecture with their compositions, construction techniques and ornaments. In different countries where Islam has spread, it has gained different appearances with the influence of local traditions. In the Seljuk art, minarets have become indispensable architectural elements of mosques and masjids. Stone and brick are generally used as a material in the minarets, and in some examples it can be seen that the tile was accompanied by the material. Ornamental motifs are formed by bringing these materials side by side vertically or horizontally. The scope of this study, the decoration details of the minarets built during the Anatolian Seljuk period will be examined. As a study area, samples from various Anatolian cities, especially Konya, were selected. Aim of studying the decoration of the Anatolian Seljuk minaret can shed some light on one of the most important aspects of the Islamic architecture in Anatolia and the development of the minaret in the Islamic World.

Keywords: Anatolian Seljuk, decoration, Islamic architecture, minaret, ornament

Procedia PDF Downloads 134

Authors: Afsaneh Mohammadnejad, Marianne Nygaard, Jan Baumbach, Shuxia Li, Weilong Li, Jesper Lund, Jacob v. B. Hjelmborg, Lene Christensen, Qihua Tan

Abstract:

Cognitive impairment in the elderly is a key issue affecting the quality of life. Despite a strong genetic background in cognition, only a limited number of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) have been found. These explain a small proportion of the genetic component of cognitive function, thus leaving a large proportion unaccounted for. We hypothesize that one reason for this missing heritability is the misspecified modeling in data analysis concerning phenotype distribution as well as the relationship between SNP dosage and the phenotype of interest. In an attempt to overcome these issues, we introduced a model-free method based on the generalized correlation coefficient (GCC) in a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of cognitive function in twin samples and compared its performance with two popular linear regression models. The GCC-based GWAS identified two genome-wide significant (P-value < 5e-8) SNPs; rs2904650 near ZDHHC2 on chromosome 8 and rs111256489 near CD6 on chromosome 11. The kinship model also detected two genome-wide significant SNPs, rs112169253 on chromosome 4 and rs17417920 on chromosome 7, whereas no genome-wide significant SNPs were found by the linear mixed model (LME). Compared to the linear models, more meaningful biological pathways like GABA receptor activation, ion channel transport, neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction, and the renin-angiotensin system were found to be enriched by SNPs from GCC. The GCC model outperformed the linear regression models by identifying more genome-wide significant genetic variants and more meaningful biological pathways related to cognitive function. Moreover, GCC-based GWAS was robust in handling genetically related twin samples, which is an important feature in handling genetic confounding in association studies.

Keywords: cognition, generalized correlation coefficient, GWAS, twins

Procedia PDF Downloads 124

Authors: Rune Bjerke

Abstract:

Psychologists incline to see creativity as a mental and psychological process. However, creativity is as well results of cultural and social interactions. Therefore, creativity is not a product of individuals in isolation, but of social systems. Creative people get ideas from the influence of others and the immediate cultural environment – a space of knowledge, situations, and practices. Therefore, in this study we apply the systems theory in practice to activate creativity processes in the production of our novel and screenplay writing. We, as storytellers actively seek to get into situations in our everyday lives, our systems, to generate ideas. Within our personal systems, we have the potential to induce situations to realise ideas to our texts, which may be accepted by our gate-keepers and can become socially validated. This is our method of writing – get into situations, get ideas to texts, and test them with family and friends in our social systems. Example of novel text as an outcome of our method is as follows: “Is it a matter of obviousness or had I read it somewhere, that the one who increases his knowledge increases his pain? And also, the other way around, with increased pain, knowledge increases, I thought. Perhaps such a chain of effects explains why the rebel August Strindberg wrote seven plays in ten months after the divorce with Siri von Essen. Shortly after, he tried painting. Neither the seven theatre plays were shown, nor the paintings were exhibited. I was standing in front of Munch's painting Women in Three Stages with chaotic mental images of myself crumpled in a church and a laughing x-girlfriend watching my suffering. My stomach was turning at unpredictable intervals and the subsequent vomiting almost suffocated me. Love grief at the worst. Was it this pain Strindberg felt? Despite the failure of his first plays, the pain must have triggered a form of creative energy that turned pain into ideas. Suffering, thoughts, feelings, words, text, and then, the reader experience. Maybe this negative force can be transformed into something positive, I asked myself. The question eased my pain. At that moment, I forgot the damp, humid air in the Munch Museum. Is it the similar type of Strindberg-pain that could explain the recurring, depressive themes in Munch's paintings? Illness, death, love and jealousy. As a beginning art student at the master's level, I had decided to find the answer. Was it the same with Munch's pain, as with Strindberg - a woman behind? There had to be women in the case of Munch - therefore, the painting “Women in Three Stages”? Who are they, what personality types are they – the women in red, black and white dresses from left to the right?” We, the writers, are using persons, situations and elements in our systems, in a systems theory perspective, to prompt creative ideas. A conceptual model is provided to advance creativity theory.

Keywords: creativity theory, systems theory, novel writing, screenplay writing, sources of creativity in social systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Hoai Nam Huynh, Edouard Rivière-Lorphèvre, Olivier Verlinden

Abstract:

Manufacturing technologies are becoming continuously more diversified over the years. The increasing use of robots for various applications such as assembling, painting, welding has also affected the field of machining. Machining robots can deal with larger workspaces than conventional machine-tools at a lower cost and thus represent a very promising alternative for machining applications. Furthermore, their inherent structure ensures them a great flexibility of motion to reach any location on the workpiece with the desired orientation. Nevertheless, machining robots suffer from a lack of stiffness at their joints restricting their use to applications involving low cutting forces especially finishing operations. Vibratory instabilities may also happen while machining and deteriorate the precision leading to scrap parts. Some researchers are therefore concerned with the identification of optimal parameters in robotic machining. This paper continues the development of a virtual robotic machining simulator in order to find optimized cutting parameters in terms of depth of cut or feed per tooth for example. The simulation environment combines an in-house milling routine (DyStaMill) achieving the computation of cutting forces and material removal with an in-house multibody library (EasyDyn) which is used to build a dynamic model of a 3-DOF planar robot with flexible links. The position of the robot end-effector submitted to milling forces is controlled through an inverse kinematics scheme while controlling the position of its joints separately. Each joint is actuated through a servomotor for which the transfer function has been computed in order to tune the corresponding controller. The output results feature the evolution of the cutting forces when the robot structure is deformable or not and the tracking errors of the end-effector. Illustrations of the resulting machined surfaces are also presented. The consideration of the links flexibility has highlighted an increase of the cutting forces magnitude. This proof of concept will aim to enrich the database of results in robotic machining for potential improvements in production.

Keywords: control, milling, multibody, robotic, simulation

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Nathenal Thomas

Abstract:

In the food chain and in many other agricultural products, corn, also known as maize, which goes by the scientific name Zea mays subsp, is a widely produced agricultural product. Corn has the highest adaptability. It comes in many different types, is employed in many different industrial processes, and is more adaptable to different agro-climatic situations. In Ethiopia, maize is among the most widely grown crop. Small-scale corn farming may be a household's only source of food in developing nations like Ethiopia. The aforementioned data demonstrates that the country's requirement for this crop is excessively high, and conversely, the crop's productivity is very low for a variety of reasons. The most damaging disease that greatly contributes to this imbalance between the crop's supply and demand is the corn disease. The failure to diagnose diseases in maize plant until they are too late is one of the most important factors influencing crop output in Ethiopia. This study will aid in the early detection of such diseases and support farmers during the cultivation process, directly affecting the amount of maize produced. The diseases in maize plants, such as northern leaf blight and cercospora leaf spot, have distinct symptoms that are visible. This study aims to detect the most frequent and degrading maize diseases using the most efficiently used subset of machine learning technology, deep learning so, called Image Processing. Deep learning uses networks that can be trained from unlabeled data without supervision (unsupervised). It is a feature that simulates the exercises the human brain goes through when digesting data. Its applications include speech recognition, language translation, object classification, and decision-making. Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) for Image Processing, also known as convent, is a deep learning class that is widely used for image classification, image detection, face recognition, and other problems. it will also use this algorithm as the state-of-the-art for my research to detect maize diseases by photographing maize leaves using a mobile phone.

Keywords: CNN, zea mays subsp, leaf blight, cercospora leaf spot

Procedia PDF Downloads 74

Authors: K. S. Vedasingha, K. K. M. T. Perera, K. I. Hathurusinghe, H. W. I. Akalanka, Nelum Chathuranga Amarasena, Nalaka R. Dissanayake

Abstract:

Railways provide the most convenient and economically beneficial mode of transportation, and it has been the most popular transportation method among all. According to the past analyzed data, it reveals a considerable number of accidents which occurred at railways and caused damages to not only precious lives but also to the economy of the countries. There are some major issues which need to be addressed in railways of South Asian countries since they fall under the developing category. The goal of this research is to minimize the influencing aspect of railway level crossing accidents by developing the “railway process automation system”, as there are high-risk areas that are prone to accidents, and safety at these places is of utmost significance. This paper describes the implementation methodology and the success of the study. The main purpose of the system is to ensure human safety by using the Internet of Things (IoT) and image processing techniques. The system can detect the current location of the train and close the railway gate automatically. And it is possible to do the above-mentioned process through a decision-making system by using past data. The specialty is both processes working parallel. As usual, if the system fails to close the railway gate due to technical or a network failure, the proposed system can identify the current location and close the railway gate through a decision-making system, which is a revolutionary feature. The proposed system introduces further two features to reduce the causes of railway accidents. Railway track crack detection and motion detection are those features which play a significant role in reducing the risk of railway accidents. Moreover, the system is capable of detecting rule violations at a level crossing by using sensors. The proposed system is implemented through a prototype, and it is tested with real-world scenarios to gain the above 90% of accuracy.

Keywords: crack detection, decision-making, image processing, Internet of Things, motion detection, prototype, sensors

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Luis Alvarado, Victor Poblete, Isaac Gonzalez, Yetzabeth Gonzalez

Abstract:

In MIREX 2016 (http://www.music-ir.org/mirex), the deep neural network (DNN)-Deep Chroma Extractor, proposed by Korzeniowski and Wiedmer, reached the highest score in an audio chord recognition task. In the present paper, this tool is assessed under acoustic reverberant environments and distinct source-microphone distances. The evaluation dataset comprises The Beatles and Queen datasets. These datasets are sequentially re-recorded with a single microphone in a real reverberant chamber at four reverberation times (0 -anechoic-, 1, 2, and 3 s, approximately), as well as four source-microphone distances (32, 64, 128, and 256 cm). It is expected that the performance of the trained DNN will dramatically decrease under these acoustic conditions with signals degraded by room reverberation and distance to the source. Recently, the effect of the bio-inspired Locally-Normalized Cepstral Coefficients (LNCC), has been assessed in a text independent speaker verification task using speech signals degraded by additive noise at different signal-to-noise ratios with variations of recording distance, and it has also been assessed under reverberant conditions with variations of recording distance. LNCC showed a performance so high as the state-of-the-art Mel Frequency Cepstral Coefficient filters. Based on these results, this paper proposes a variation of locally-normalized triangular filters called Locally-Normalized Quarter Tone (LNQT) filters. By using the LNQT spectrogram, robustness improvements of the trained Deep Chroma Extractor are expected, compared with classical triangular filters, and thus compensating the music signal degradation improving the accuracy of the chord recognition system.

Keywords: chord recognition, deep neural networks, feature extraction, music information retrieval

Procedia PDF Downloads 232

Authors: Seyed Mehdi Ghezi, Hesam Hasanpoor

Abstract:

This scientific article explores enhancement methods for ensemble learning with the aim of improving the performance of classifiers in the analysis and classification of brain signals. The research approach in this field consists of two main parts, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. The choice of approach depends on the specific research question and available resources. By combining these approaches and leveraging their respective strengths, researchers can enhance the accuracy and reliability of classification results, consequently advancing our understanding of the brain and its functions. The first approach focuses on utilizing machine learning methods to identify the best features among the vast array of features present in brain signals. The selection of features varies depending on the research objective, and different techniques have been employed for this purpose. For instance, the genetic algorithm has been used in some studies to identify the best features, while optimization methods have been utilized in others to identify the most influential features. Additionally, machine learning techniques have been applied to determine the influential electrodes in classification. Ensemble learning plays a crucial role in identifying the best features that contribute to learning, thereby improving the overall results. The second approach concentrates on designing and implementing methods for selecting the best classifier or utilizing meta-classifiers to enhance the final results in ensemble learning. In a different section of the research, a single classifier is used instead of multiple classifiers, employing different sets of features to improve the results. The article provides an in-depth examination of each technique, highlighting their advantages and limitations. By integrating these techniques, researchers can enhance the performance of classifiers in the analysis and classification of brain signals. This advancement in ensemble learning methodologies contributes to a better understanding of the brain and its functions, ultimately leading to improved accuracy and reliability in brain signal analysis and classification.

Keywords: ensemble learning, brain signals, classification, feature selection, machine learning, genetic algorithm, optimization methods, influential features, influential electrodes, meta-classifiers

Procedia PDF Downloads 75

Authors: Marius Zemp

Abstract:

Evidentials indicate how the speaker obtained the information conveyed in a statement. Detailed diachronic-functional accounts of evidential contrasts found in the Greater Himalayan Region (GHR) reveal that contrasting evidentials are not only defined against each other but also that most of them once had different aspecto-temporal (TA) values which must have aligned when their contrast was conventionalized. Based on these accounts, the present paper sheds light on hitherto unidentified mechanisms of grammatical change. The main insights of the present study were facilitated by ‘functional reconstruction’, which (i) revolves around morphemes which appear to be used in divergent ways within a language and/or across different related languages, (ii) persistently devises hypotheses as to how these functional divergences may have developed, and (iii) retains those hypotheses which most plausibly and economically account for the data. Based on the dense and detailed grammatical literature on the Tibetic language family, the author of this study is able to reconstruct the initial steps by which its evidentiality systems developed: By the time Proto-Tibetan started to be spread across much of Central Asia in the 7th century CE, verbal concatenations with and without a connective -s had become common. As typical for resultative constructions around the globe, Proto-Tibetan *V-s-’dug ‘was there, having undergone V’ (employing the simple past of ’dug ‘stay, be there’) allowed both for a perfect reading (‘the state resulting from V holds at the moment of speech’) and an inferential reading (‘(I infer from its result that) V has taken place’). In Western Tibetic, *V-s-’dug grammaticalized in its perfect meaning as it became contrasted with perfect *V-s-yod ‘is there, having undergone V’ (employing the existential copula yod); that is, *V-s-’dug came to mean that the speaker directly witnessed the profiled result of V, whereas *V-s-yod came to mean that the speaker does not depend on direct evidence of the result, as s/he simply knows that it holds. In Eastern Tibetic, on the other hand, V-s-’dug grammaticalized in its inferential past meaning as it became contrasted with past *V-thal ‘went past V-ing’ (employing the simple past of thal ‘go past’); that is, *V-s-’dug came to mean that the profiled past event was inferred from its result, while *V-thal came to mean that it was directly witnessed. Hence, depending on whether it became contrasted with a perfect or a past construction, resultative V-s-’dug grammaticalized either its direct evidential perfect or its inferential past function. This means that in both cases, evidential readings of constructions with distinct but overlapping TA-values became contrasted, and in order for their contrasting meanings to grammaticalize, the constructions had to agree on their tertium comparationis, which was their shared TA-value. By showing that other types of evidential contrasts in the GHR are also TA-aligned, while no single markers (or privative contrasts) are found to have grammaticalized evidential functions, the present study suggests that, at least in this region of the world, evidential meanings grammaticalize only in equipollent contrasts, which always end up TA-aligned.

Keywords: evidential contrasts, functional-diachronic accounts, grammatical change, himalayan languages, tense/aspect-alignment

Procedia PDF Downloads 128

Authors: Afshan Channa, Sameeha Aleem, Harim Mohsin

Abstract:

First rank symptoms (FRS) are considered to be pathognomic for Schizophrenia. However, FRS is not a distinctive feature of Schizophrenia. It has also been noticed in affective disorder, albeit not inclusive in diagnostic criteria. The presence of FRS in Mania leads to misdiagnosis of psychotic illness, further complicating the management and delay of appropriate treatment. FRS in Mania is associated with poor clinical and functional outcome. Its existence in the first episode of bipolar disorder may be a predictor of poor short-term outcome and decompensating course of illness. FRS in Mania is studied in west. However, the cultural divergence and detriments make it pertinent to study the frequency of FRS in affective disorder independently in Pakistan. Objective: The frequency of first rank symptoms in manic patients, who were under treatment at psychiatric services of tertiary care hospital. Method: The cross sectional study was done at psychiatric services of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan. One hundred and twenty manic patients were recruited from November 2014 to May 2015. The patients who were unable to comprehend Urdu or had comorbid psychiatric or organic disorder were excluded. FRS was assessed by administration of validated Urdu version of Present State Examination (PSE) tool. Result: The mean age of the patients was 37.62 + 12.51. The mean number of previous manic episode was 2.17 + 2.23. 11.2% males and 30.6% females had FRS. This association of first rank symptoms with gender in patients of mania was found to be significant with a p-value of 0.008. All-inclusive, 19.2% exhibited FRS in their course of illness. 43.5% had thought broadcasting, made feeling, impulses, action and somatic passivity. 39.1% had thought insertion, 30.4% had auditory perceptual distortion, and 17.4% had thought withdrawal. However, none displayed delusional perception. Conclusion: The study confirms the presence of FRS in mania in both male and female, irrespective of the duration of current manic illness or previous number of manic episodes. A substantial difference was established between both the genders. Being married had no protective effect on the presence of FRS.

Keywords: first rank symptoms, Mania, psychosis, present state examination

Procedia PDF Downloads 379

Authors: Peiming Li

Abstract:

This paper presents an innovative blockchain-based approach to enhance the reliability and efficiency of federated learning systems. By integrating a decentralized oracle consensus mechanism into the federated learning framework, we address key challenges of data and model integrity. Our approach utilizes a network of redundant oracles, functioning as independent validators within an epoch-based training system in the federated learning model. In federated learning, data is decentralized, residing on various participants' devices. This scenario often leads to concerns about data integrity and model quality. Our solution employs blockchain technology to establish a transparent and tamper-proof environment, ensuring secure data sharing and aggregation. The decentralized oracles, a concept borrowed from blockchain systems, act as unbiased validators. They assess the contributions of each participant using a Hidden Markov Model (HMM), which is crucial for evaluating the consistency of participant inputs and safeguarding against model poisoning and malicious activities. Our methodology's distinct feature is its epoch-based training. An epoch here refers to a specific training phase where data is updated and assessed for quality and relevance. The redundant oracles work in concert to validate data updates during these epochs, enhancing the system's resilience to security threats and data corruption. The effectiveness of this system was tested using the Mnist dataset, a standard in machine learning for benchmarking. Results demonstrate that our blockchain-oriented federated learning approach significantly boosts system resilience, addressing the common challenges of federated environments. This paper aims to make these advanced concepts accessible, even to those with a limited background in blockchain or federated learning. We provide a foundational understanding of how blockchain technology can revolutionize data integrity in decentralized systems and explain the role of oracles in maintaining model accuracy and reliability.

Keywords: federated learning system, block chain, decentralized oracles, hidden markov model

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Nasser Koleini Mamaghani, Sara Mostowfi

Abstract:

The complexity of public space design makes it difficult for designers to simultaneously consider all issues for thorough decision-making. Among public spaces, the public space around people’s house is the most prominent space that affects and impacts people’s daily life. Considering recreational public spaces in cities, their main purpose would be to design for experiences that enable a deep feeling of peace and a moment of being away from the hectic daily life. Respecting human emotions and restoring natural environments, although difficult and to some extent out of reach, are key issues for designing such spaces. In this paper we propose to analyse the structure of recreational public spaces and the related emotional impressions. Furthermore, we suggest investigating how these structures influence people’s choice for public spaces by using differential semantics. According to Kansei methodology, in order to evaluate a situation appropriately, the assessment variables must be adapted to the user’s mental scheme. This means that the first step would have to be the identification of a space’s conceptual scheme. In our case study, 32 Kansei words and 4 different locations, each with a different sensual experience, were selected. The 4 locations were all parks in the city of Tehran (Iran), each with a unique structure and artifacts such as a fountain, lighting, sculptures, and music. It should be noted that each of these parks has different combination and structure of environmental and artificial elements like: fountain, lightning, sculpture, music (sound) and so forth. The first one was park No.1, a park with natural environment, the selected space was a fountain with motion light and sculpture. The second park was park No.2, in which there are different styles of park construction: ways from different countries, the selected space was traditional Iranian architecture with a fountain and trees. The third one was park No.3, the park with modern environment and spaces, and included a fountain that moved according to music and lighting. The fourth park was park No.4, the park with combination of four elements: water, fire, earth, wind, the selected space was fountains squirting water from the ground up. 80 participant (55 males and 25 females) aged from 20-60 years participated in this experiment. Each person filled the questionnaire in the park he/she was in. Five-point semantic differential scale was considered to determine the relation between space details and adjectives (kansei words). Received data were analyzed by multivariate statistical technique (factor analysis using SPSS statics). Finally the results of this analysis are criteria as inspiration which can be used in future space designing for creating pleasant feeling in users.

Keywords: environmental design, differential semantics, Kansei engineering, subjective preferences, space

Procedia PDF Downloads 407

Authors: Fang Liu, JunShuai Xue, JiaJia Yao, XueYan Yang, ZuMao Li, GuanLin Wu, HePeng Zhang, ZhiPeng Sun

Abstract:

III-Nitride resonant tunneling diode (RTD) is one of the most promising candidates for multiple-valued logic (MVL) elements. Here, we report a monolithic integration of GaN resonant tunneling diodes to realize multiple negative differential resistance (NDR) regions for MVL application. GaN RTDs, composed of a 2 nm quantum well embedded in two 1 nm quantum barriers, are grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy on free-standing c-plane GaN substrates. Negative differential resistance characteristic with a peak current density of 178 kA/cm² in conjunction with a peak-to-valley current ratio (PVCR) of 2.07 is observed. Statistical properties exhibit high consistency showing a peak current density standard deviation of almost 1%, laying the foundation for the monolithic integration. After complete electrical isolation, two diodes of the designed same area are connected in series. By solving the Poisson equation and Schrodinger equation in one dimension, the energy band structure is calculated to explain the transport mechanism of the differential negative resistance phenomenon. Resonant tunneling events in a sequence of the series-connected RTD pair (SCRTD) form multiple NDR regions with nearly equal peak current, obtaining three stable operating states corresponding to ternary logic. A frequency multiplier circuit achieved using this integration is demonstrated, attesting to the robustness of this multiple peaks feature. This article presents a monolithic integration of SCRTD with multiple NDR regions driven by the resonant tunneling mechanism, which can be applied to a multiple-valued logic field, promising a fast operation speed and a great reduction of circuit complexity and demonstrating a new solution for nitride devices to break through the limitations of binary logic.

Keywords: GaN resonant tunneling diode, multiple-valued logic system, frequency multiplier, negative differential resistance, peak-to-valley current ratio

Procedia PDF Downloads 81

Authors: Vishnu Emani, Andreas Escher, Ellen Roche

Abstract:

Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is an autonomic disorder marked by a sudden drop in blood pressure upon standing resulting from autonomic dysfunction. OH is especially prevalent in elderly populations, affecting more than 30% of Americans over the age of 70. OH is one of the most significant risk factors for accidental falls in elderly populations, making it a crucial focus for medical and device therapies. Pharmacologic therapy with midodrine and fludrocortisone may alleviate hypotension but have significant adverse side effects. Abdominal passive compression devices (binders) are more effective than lower extremity compression stockings at mitigating postural hypotension, by improving venous return to the heart. However, abdominal binders are difficult to don and uncomfortable to wear, leading to poor compliance. A disadvantage of passive compression devices is their inability to selectively compress during the crucial moment of standing. We have recently developed an active compression device that applies external pressure on the abdomen during the transition from a prone to a supine position and conducted initial prototype testing. Methods: An active abdominal compression device was developed utilizing a simple, servo-driven straptightening mechanism to supply tension onto foam fabric, which applies pressure to the abdomen. Healthy volunteers (n=5) were utilized for prototype testing and were subjected to three conditions: no compression, passive compression (i.e. standard abdominal binder), and active compression (device prototype). Abdominal applied pressure during device activation was measured by a strain-gauge manometer placed between the skin and binder. Systolic (SBP) and mean (MAP) arterial blood pressure was measured by standard blood pressure cuff in supine position followed by repeat measurements at 1 minute intervals for 5 minutes following upright position. A survey tool was administered to determine scores (1-10) for comfort and ease of donning abdominal binders. Results: Abdominal pressure increased from 0 to 15±3 mmHg upon device activation for both passive and active compression devices. During the transition from supine to an upright position, both active and passive compression devices demonstrated significantly higher MAP compared to the no-compression condition (67±4, 68±5, 62±5 respectively, P<0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference in SBP or MAP when comparing active to passive compression. Active compression demonstrated significantly higher comfort scores (8.3±1) compared to passive compression (3.2±2) but lower when compared to no compression (10). Subjects universally reported that active compression device was easier to don compared to passive device. Conclusions: Active or passive abdominal compression prevents hypotension associated with postural changes. Active compression is associated with increased comfort and ease of donning compared to passive compression devices. Future trials are warranted to investigate the efficacy of our device in patients with OH.

Keywords: orthostatic hypotension, compression binder, abdominal binder, active abdominal compression

Procedia PDF Downloads 25

Authors: Liana Melissa E. de la Rosa, Jayson P. Ada

Abstract:

This exploratory study was conducted to determine the sociology of the Facebook. Specifically, it aimed to know the socio-demographic profile of the respondents in terms of age, sex, year level and monthly allowance; find out the common usage of Facebook to the respondents; identify the features of Facebook that are commonly used by the respondents; understand the benefits and risks of using the Facebook; determine how frequent the respondents use the Facebook; and find out if there is a significant relationship between socio-demographic profile of the respondents and their Facebook usage. This study used the exploratory research design and correlational design employing research survey questionnaire as its main data gathering instrument. Students of the University of Eastern Philippines were selected as the respondents of this study through quota sampling. Ten (10) students were randomly selected from each college of the university. Based on the findings of this study, the following conclusion were drawn: The majority of the respondents are aged 18 and 21 old, female, are third year students, and have monthly allowance of P 2,000 above. On the respondents’ usage of Facebook, the majority of use the Facebook on a daily basis for one to two (1-2) hours everyday. And most users used Facebook by renting a computer in an internet cafe. On the use of Facebook, most users have created their profiles mainly to connect with people and gain new friends. The most commonly used features of Facebook, are: photos application, like button, wall, notification, friend, chat, network, groups and “like” pages status updates, messages and inbox and events. While the other Facebook features that are seldom used by the respondents are games, news feed, user name, video sharing and notes. And the least used Facebook features are questions, poke feature, credits and the market place. The respondents stated that the major benefit that the Facebook has given to its users is its ability to keep in touch with family members or friends while the main risk identified is that the users can become addicted to the Internet. On the tests of relationships between the respondents’ use of Facebook and the four (4) socio-demographic profile variables: age, sex, year level, and month allowance, were found to be not significantly related to the respondents’ use of the Facebook. While the variable found to be significantly related was gender.

Keywords: Facebook, sociology, social networking, exploratory study

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: N. N. Mosola, S. J. Molete, L. S. Masoebe, M. Letsae

Abstract:

Hand gesture recognition is a technique used to locate, detect, and recognize a hand gesture. Detection and recognition are concepts of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI concepts are applicable in Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Expert systems (ES), etc. Hand gesture recognition can be used in sign language interpretation. Sign language is a visual communication tool. This tool is used mostly by deaf societies and those with speech disorder. Communication barriers exist when societies with speech disorder interact with others. This research aims to build a hand recognition system for Lesotho’s Sesotho and English language interpretation. The system will help to bridge the communication problems encountered by the mentioned societies. The system has various processing modules. The modules consist of a hand detection engine, image processing engine, feature extraction, and sign recognition. Detection is a process of identifying an object. The proposed system uses Canny pruning Haar and Haarcascade detection algorithms. Canny pruning implements the Canny edge detection. This is an optimal image processing algorithm. It is used to detect edges of an object. The system employs a skin detection algorithm. The skin detection performs background subtraction, computes the convex hull, and the centroid to assist in the detection process. Recognition is a process of gesture classification. Template matching classifies each hand gesture in real-time. The system was tested using various experiments. The results obtained show that time, distance, and light are factors that affect the rate of detection and ultimately recognition. Detection rate is directly proportional to the distance of the hand from the camera. Different lighting conditions were considered. The more the light intensity, the faster the detection rate. Based on the results obtained from this research, the applied methodologies are efficient and provide a plausible solution towards a light-weight, inexpensive system which can be used for sign language interpretation.

Keywords: canny pruning, hand recognition, machine learning, skin tracking

Procedia PDF Downloads 185

Authors: Francine Siy, Stephen Buñi

Abstract:

Safety plays a significant role in everyone’s life on a day-to-day basis. We wish ourselves and our loved ones their safety as we all venture out on our daily commute. The road is undeniably dangerous and unpredictable, with abundant traffic collisions and pedestrians experiencing various injuries. For bicycle users, the risk of accidents is even more exacerbated, and injuries may be severe. Even when cyclists try their best to be safe and protected, the possibility of encountering danger is always there. Despite being equipped with protective gear, safety is never guaranteed. Cyclists often settle for helmets and standard reflector vests to establish a presence on the road. There are different types of vests available, depending on the profession. However, traditional reflector vests, mostly seen on construction workers and traffic enforcers, were not designed for riders and their protection from injuries. With insufficient protection for riders, they need access to ergonomically designed equipment and accessories that suit the riders and cater to their needs. This research aimed to offer a protective vest with safety features for riders that is comfortable, effective, durable, and intuitive. This sheds light and addresses the safety of the biker population, which continuously grows through the years. The product was designed and developed by gathering data and using the cognitive mapping method to ensure that all qualitative and quantitative data were considered in this study to improve other existing products that do not have the proper design considerations. It is known that available equipment for cyclists is often sold separately or lacks the safety features for cyclists traversing open roads. Each safety feature like the headlights, reflectors, signal or rear lights, zipper pouch, body camera attachment, and wireless remote control all play a particular role in helping cyclists embark on their daily commute. These features aid in illumination, visibility, easy maneuvering, convenience, and security, allowing cyclists to go for a safer ride that is of use throughout the day. The product is designed and produced effectively and inexpensively without sacrificing the quality and purpose of its usage.

Keywords: bicycle accessory, protective gear, safety, transport, visibility

Procedia PDF Downloads 83

Authors: Azam Fazelpour, Saeed Reza Dehghani, Vlastimil Masek, Yuri S. Muzychka

Abstract:

The study uses a novel image analysis based on thermal imaging to detect temperature contours created on salt ice surface during transient phenomena. Thermal cameras detect objects by using their emissivities and IR radiance. The ice surface temperature is not uniform during transient processes. The temperature starts to increase from the boundary of ice towards the center of that. Thermal cameras are able to report temperature changes on the ice surface at every individual moment. Various contours, which show different temperature areas, appear on the ice surface picture captured by a thermal camera. Identifying the exact boundary of these contours is valuable to facilitate ice surface temperature analysis. Image processing techniques are used to extract each contour area precisely. In this study, several pictures are recorded while the temperature is increasing throughout the ice surface. Some pictures are selected to be processed by a specific time interval. An image segmentation method is applied to images to determine the contour areas. Color thermal images are used to exploit the main information. Red, green and blue elements of color images are investigated to find the best contour boundaries. The algorithms of image enhancement and noise removal are applied to images to obtain a high contrast and clear image. A novel edge detection algorithm based on differences in the color of the pixels is established to determine contour boundaries. In this method, the edges of the contours are obtained according to properties of red, blue and green image elements. The color image elements are assessed considering their information. Useful elements proceed to process and useless elements are removed from the process to reduce the consuming time. Neighbor pixels with close intensities are assigned in one contour and differences in intensities determine boundaries. The results are then verified by conducting experimental tests. An experimental setup is performed using ice samples and a thermal camera. To observe the created ice contour by the thermal camera, the samples, which are initially at -20° C, are contacted with a warmer surface. Pictures are captured for 20 seconds. The method is applied to five images ,which are captured at the time intervals of 5 seconds. The study shows the green image element carries no useful information; therefore, the boundary detection method is applied on red and blue image elements. In this case study, the results indicate that proposed algorithm shows the boundaries more effective than other edges detection methods such as Sobel and Canny. Comparison between the contour detection in this method and temperature analysis, which states real boundaries, shows a good agreement. This color image edge detection method is applicable to other similar cases according to their image properties.

Keywords: color image processing, edge detection, ice contour boundary, salt ice, thermal image

Procedia PDF Downloads 314

Authors: Nathaniel Oladimeji Dixon, Adekemi Dorcas Fadun

Abstract:

Educational managers have observed a downward trend in the administrative effectiveness of non-teaching staff in federal universities in South-west Nigeria. This is evident in the low-quality service delivery of administrators and unaccomplished institutional goals and missions of higher education. Scholars have thus indicated the need for the deployment and adoption of a practice that encourages information collection and sharing among stakeholders with a view to improving service delivery and outcomes. This study examined the extent to which knowledge management correlated with the administrative effectiveness of non-teaching staff in federal universities in South-west Nigeria. The study adopted the survey design. Three federal universities (the University of Ibadan, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, and Obafemi Awolowo University) were purposively selected because administrative ineffectiveness was more pronounced among non-teaching staff in government-owned universities, and these federal universities were long established. The proportional and stratified random sampling was adopted to select 1156 non-teaching staff across the three universities along the three existing layers of the non-teaching staff: secretarial (senior=311; junior=224), non-secretarial (senior=147; junior=241) and technicians (senior=130; junior=103). Knowledge Management Practices Questionnaire with four sub-scales: knowledge creation (α=0.72), knowledge utilization (α=0.76), knowledge sharing (α=0.79) and knowledge transfer (α=0.83); and Administrative Effectiveness Questionnaire with four sub-scales: communication (α=0.84), decision implementation (α=0.75), service delivery (α=0.81) and interpersonal relationship (α=0.78) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple regression at 0.05 level of significance, while qualitative data were content analyzed. About 59.8% of the non-teaching staff exhibited a low level of knowledge management. The indices of administrative effectiveness of non-teaching staff were rated as follows: service delivery (82.0%), communication (78.0%), decision implementation (71.0%) and interpersonal relationship (68.0%). Knowledge management had significant relationships with the indices of administrative effectiveness: service delivery (r=0.82), communication (r=0.81), decision implementation (r=0.80) and interpersonal relationship (r=0.47). Knowledge management had a significant joint prediction on administrative effectiveness (F (4;1151)= 0.79, R=0.86), accounting for 73.0% of its variance. Knowledge sharing (β=0.38), knowledge transfer (β=0.26), knowledge utilization (β=0.22), and knowledge creation (β=0.06) had relatively significant contributions to administrative effectiveness. Lack of team spirit and withdrawal syndrome is the major perceived constraints to knowledge management practices among the non-teaching staff. Knowledge management positively influenced the administrative effectiveness of the non-teaching staff in federal universities in South-west Nigeria. There is a need to ensure that the non-teaching staff imbibe team spirit and embrace teamwork with a view to eliminating their withdrawal syndromes. Besides, knowledge management practices should be deployed into the administrative procedures of the university system.

Keywords: knowledge management, administrative effectiveness of non-teaching staff, federal universities in the south-west of nigeria., knowledge creation, knowledge utilization, effective communication, decision implementation

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Elizabeth Howarth, Dawn Green, Sean Connolly, Geena Vabulas, Sara Smolley

Abstract:

Through the EU Horizon 2020 Nuvoic Project, the project team recruited 70 individuals in the UK and Ireland to test the Voiceitt speech recognition app and provide user feedback to developers. The app is designed for people with dysarthric speech, to support communication with unfamiliar people and access to speech-driven technologies such as smart home equipment and smart assistants. Participants with atypical speech, due to a range of conditions such as cerebral palsy, acquired brain injury, Down syndrome, stroke and hearing impairment, were recruited, primarily through organisations supporting disabled people. Most had physical or learning disabilities in addition to dysarthric speech. The project team worked with individuals, their families and local support teams, to provide access to the app, including through additional assistive technologies where needed. Testing was user-led, with participants asked to identify and test use cases most relevant to their daily lives over a period of three months or more. Ongoing technical support and training were provided remotely and in-person throughout the testing period. Structured interviews were used to collect feedback on users' experiences, with delivery adapted to individuals' needs and preferences. Informal feedback was collected through ongoing contact between participants, their families and support teams and the project team. Focus groups were held to collect feedback on specific design proposals. User feedback shared with developers has led to improvements to the user interface and functionality, including faster voice training, simplified navigation, the introduction of gamification elements and of switch access as an alternative to touchscreen access, with other feature requests from users still in development. This work offers a case-study in successful and inclusive co-design with the disabled community.

Keywords: co-design, assistive technology, dysarthria, inclusive speech recognition

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Raja Lahiani

Abstract:

This study is concerned with scrutinising translations into English and French of references to locations in the desert of pre-Islamic Arabia. These references are used in the Source Text (ST) within a poetic image. Reference is made to the names of three different mountains in Arabia, namely Qatan, Sitar, and Yadhbul. As these mountains are referred to in the context of the poet’s description of the density and expansion of the clouds, it is crucial to know that while Sitar and Yadhbul are close to each other, Qatan is far away from them. This distance was functional for the poet to describe the expansion of the clouds. This reflects the spacious place (desert) he handled, and the fact that it was possible for him to physically see what he described. The purpose of this image is for the poet to communicate the vastness of the space he managed to see as he was in a moment of contemplation. Thus, knowledge of this characteristic about the setting is capital for the receiver to understand the communicative function of the verse. A corpus of eighteen translations is gathered. These vary between verse and prose renderings. The methodology adopted in this research work is comparative. Comparison is conducted at both the synchronic and diachronic levels; every translation shall be compared to the ST and then to previous translations. The comparative work will prove at the end that the translators who target historical facts do not necessarily succeed in preserving the image of the ST. It also proves that the more recent the translation is, the deeper the translator’s awareness is the link between imagery, setting, and point of view. Since the late eighteenth century and until nowadays, pre-Islamic poetry has been translated into Western languages. Translators differ as to motives, sources, priorities and intellectual backgrounds. A translator's skopoi undoubtedly affect the way s/he handles aspects of the ST. When it comes to culture-specific aspects and details related to setting, the problem is even more complex. Setting is a very important factor that reveals a great deal of the culture of pre-Islamic Arabia as this is remote in place, historical framework and literary tradition from its translators. History is present in pre-Islamic poetry, which justifies the important literature that has been written to extract information and data from it. These are imbedded not only by signalling given facts, events, and meditations but also by means of references to specific locations and landmarks that used to exist at the time. Spatial setting is an integral part of a literary text as it places it within its historical context. The importance of the translator’s awareness of spatial anthropological data before indulging in the process of translation is tested. This is also crucial in measuring the effect of setting loss and setting gain in translation. The findings of this research would ultimately evaluate the extent to which a comparative methodology is reliable in investigating the role of spatial setting awareness in translation.

Keywords: historical context, translation, comparative literature, spatial setting

Procedia PDF Downloads 249

Authors: Ansari Mohammad Reza, Hiroko Ono, Fakhrullah Sarwari

Abstract:

Our world is fast heading toward being a predominantly urban planet. This can be a double-edged sword reality where it is as much frightening as it seems interesting. Moreover, a look to the current predictions and taking into the consideration the fact that about 90 percent of the coming urbanization is going to be absorbed by the towns and the cities of the developing countries of Asia and Africa, directly provide us the clues to assume a much more tragic ending to this story than to the happy one. Likewise, in a situation wherein most of these countries are still severely struggling to find the proper answer to their very first initial questions of urbanization—e.g. how to provide the essential structure for their cities, define the regulation, or even design the proper pattern on how the cities should be expanded—thus it is not weird to claim that most of the coming urbanization of the world is going to happen informally. This reality could not only bring the feature, landscape or the picture of the cities of the future under the doubt but at the same time provide the ground for the rise of a bunch of other essential questions of how the facilities would be distributed in these cities, or how fair will this pattern of distribution be. Kabul the capital of Afghanistan, as a city located in the developing world that its process of urbanization has been starting since 2001 and currently hold the position to be the fifth fastest growing city in the world, contained to a considerable slum ratio of 0.7—that means about 70 percent of its population is living in the informal areas—subsequently could be a very good case study to put this questions into the research and find out how the informal development of a city can lead to the unfair and unbalanced distribution of its facilities. Likewise, in this study we tried our best to first propose the ideal model for the fair distribution of the facilities in the Kabul city—where all the citizens have the same equal chance of access to the facilities—and then evaluate the situation of the city based on how fair the facilities are currently distributed therein. We subsequently did it by the comparative analysis between the existing facility rate in the formal and informal areas of the city to the one that was proposed as the fair ideal model.

Keywords: Afghanistan, facility distribution, formal settlements, informal settlements, Kabul

Procedia PDF Downloads 120

Authors: Mareike Dornhoefer, Madjid Fathi

Abstract:

Water supply and water quality are key problems of mankind at the moment and - due to increasing population - in the future. Management disciplines like water, environment and quality management therefore need to closely interact, to establish a high level of water quality and to guarantee water supply in all parts of the world. Groundwater remediation is one aspect in this process. From a knowledge management perspective it is only possible to solve complex ecological or environmental problems if different factors, expert knowledge of various stakeholders and formal regulations regarding water, waste or chemical management are interconnected in form of a knowledge base. In general knowledge management focuses the processes of gathering and representing existing and new knowledge in a way, which allows for inference or deduction of knowledge for e.g. a situation where a problem solution or decision support are required. A knowledge base is no sole data repository, but a key element in a knowledge based system, thus providing or allowing for inference mechanisms to deduct further knowledge from existing facts. In consequence this knowledge provides decision support. The given paper introduces an environmental knowledge system in water management. The proposed environmental knowledge system is part of a research concept called Green Knowledge Management. It applies semantic technologies or concepts such as ontology or linked open data to interconnect different data and information sources about environmental aspects, in this case, water quality, as well as background material enriching an established knowledge base. Examples for the aforementioned ecological or environmental factors threatening water quality are among others industrial pollution (e.g. leakage of chemicals), environmental changes (e.g. rise in temperature) or floods, where all kinds of waste are merged and transferred into natural water environments. Water quality is usually determined with the help of measuring different indicators (e.g. chemical or biological), which are gathered with the help of laboratory testing, continuous monitoring equipment or other measuring processes. During all of these processes data are gathered and stored in different databases. Meanwhile the knowledge base needs to be established through interconnecting data of these different data sources and enriching its semantics. Experts may add their knowledge or experiences of previous incidents or influencing factors. In consequence querying or inference mechanisms are applied for the deduction of coherence between indicators, predictive developments or environmental threats. Relevant processes or steps of action may be modeled in form of a rule based approach. Overall the environmental knowledge system supports the interconnection of information and adding semantics to create environmental knowledge about water environment, supply chain as well as quality. The proposed concept itself is a holistic approach, which links to associated disciplines like environmental and quality management. Quality indicators and quality management steps need to be considered e.g. for the process and inference layers of the environmental knowledge system, thus integrating the aforementioned management disciplines in one water management application.

Keywords: water quality, environmental knowledge system, green knowledge management, semantic technologies, quality management

Procedia PDF Downloads 221

Authors: Qiang Ren

Abstract:

In the past 20 years, under the high standard of international investment protection, there have been numerous cases of investors ignoring the host country's measures to protect human health. Examples include investment disputes triggered by the Argentine government's measures related to human health, quality, and price of drinking water under the North American Free Trade Agreement. Examples also include Philip Morris v. Australia, in which case the Australian government announced the passing of the Plain Packing of Cigarettes Act to address the threat of smoking to public health in 2010. In order to take advantage of the investment treaty protection between Hong Kong and Australia, Philip Morris Asia acquired Philip Morris Australia in February 2011 and initiated investment arbitration under the treaty before the passage of the Act in July 2011. Philip Morris claimed the Act constitutes indirect expropriation and violation of fair and equitable treatment and claimed 4.16 billion US dollars compensation. Fortunately, the case ended at the admissibility decision stage and did not enter the substantive stage. Generally, even if the host country raises a human health defense, most arbitral tribunals will rule that the host country revoke the corresponding policy and make huge compensation in accordance with the clauses in the bilateral investment treaty to protect the rights of investors. The significant imbalance in the rights and obligations of host states and investors in international investment treaties undermines the ability of host states to act in pursuit of human health and social interests beyond economic interests. This squeeze on the nation's public policy space and disregard for the human health costs of investors' activities raises the need to include human health in investment rulemaking. The current international investment law system that emphasizes investor protection fails to fully reflect the requirements of the host country for the healthy development of human beings and even often brings negative impacts to human health. At a critical moment in the reform of the international investment law system, in order to achieve mutual enhancement of investment returns and human health development, human health should play a greater role in influencing and shaping international investment rules. International investment agreements should not be limited to investment protection tools but should also be part of national development strategies to serve sustainable development and human health. In order to meet the requirements of the new sustainable development goals of the United Nations, human health should be emphasized in the formulation of international investment rules, and efforts should be made to shape a new generation of international investment rules that meet the requirements of human health and sustainable development.

Keywords: human health, international investment law, Philip Morris v. Australia, investor protection

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Suresh B. Shinde

Abstract:

The present paper examined the selective fictional works of the Indian writers in the Marathi language which reflects the gradual erosion of sexual repression of modern women characters. Furthermore, the study employed the attitudinal survey method to counter check the fictional reality of the Indian women in real life in the modern era. The Indian writers in an early stage from the pre and post-independence period pictured the women characters such as sexually suppressed and adherence to male sexual dominance. Gangadhar Gadgil a ‘Sahitya Akademi’ award winner writer in his story ‘Ek Manus’ shown that a husband, abnormally exploited her wife. G. A. Kulkarni a ‘Sahitya Akademi’ award winner writer shown that a young lady character suppressed her proposal of marriage with she loved due to the social pressure and conventions. Arvind Gokhale and Kamal Desai have also pictured lady characters who suppressed their sexual urges even they were highly educated. In the late 20th century and early 21st century, the trends of Marathi literature is dramatically changed accordingly the women fictions. Gouri Deshpande, the popular story writer, penetrates modern woman very clearly. Two lady characters are living happily together accepting revolts of society for a sexual relationship. Meghna Pethe, another well-known writer in her story, depicts a women character who was lived with her friend as live-in-relationship and enjoying the erotic sex. How so far, it was seen that the pre and post-independence women fictions are gradually changed regarding her sexually urges. This reality leads to design the survey research design in which 100 college girls and 100 middle-aged women were surveyed with sexual attitude scale and feminist identity test. It was hypothesized that the today's college girls would higher on sexual attitude and feminist identity than middle-aged women. Moreover, it was also assumed that sexual attitude and feminist identity would have a strong positive correlation. The obtained data analyzed through Students’ test and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). The results reveal that the today's college girls are having a high level of sexual attitude and feminist identity than middle-aged women. Results also reveal that sexual attitude and feminist identity have a strongest positive correlation. How so far the survey research has provided the reality ground to the modern women in Indian fictions in Marathi literature. The findings of the research have been discussed accordingly the gender equality as well as psychological perspectives.

Keywords: sexual repression, women in Indian fictions, sexual attitude, feminist perspectives

Procedia PDF Downloads 332

Authors: Linqing Ma, Huiling Feng, Jihong Liang, Yi Qian

Abstract:

In China, some villages have survived in the long history of changes and remain until today with their unique styles and featured culture developed in the past. Those ancient villages, usually aged for hundreds or thousands of years, are the mirror for traditional Chinese culture, especially the farming-studying culture represented by the Confucianism. Gaoqian, an ancient village with a population of 3,000 in Zhejiang province, is such a case. With a history dating back to Yuan Dynasty, Gaoqian Village has 13 well-preserved traditional Chinese houses with a courtyard, which were built in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. It is a fine specimen to study traditional rural China. In China, some villages have survived in the long history of changes and remain until today with their unique styles and featured culture developed in the past. Those ancient villages, usually aged for hundreds or thousands of years, are the mirror for traditional Chinese culture, especially the farming-studying culture represented by the Confucianism. Gaoqian, an ancient village with a population of 3,000 in Zhejiang province, is such a case. With a history dating back to Yuan Dynasty, Gaoqian Village has 13 well-preserved traditional Chinese houses with a courtyard, which were built in the Ming and Qing Dynasty. It is a fine specimen to study traditional rural China. Then a repository for the memory of the Village will be completed by doing arrangement and description for those multimedia resources such as texts, photos, videos and so on. Production of Creative products with digital technologies is also possible based a thorough understanding of the culture feature of Gaoqian Village using research tools for literature and history studies and a method of comparative study. Finally, the project will construct an exhibition platform for the Village and its culture by telling its stories with completed structures and treads.

Keywords: ancient villages, digital exhibition, multimedia, traditional culture

Procedia PDF Downloads 587

Authors: Nushrat Khan, Mike Thelwall, Kayvan Kousha

Abstract:

Making research data openly accessible has been mandated by most funders over the last 5 years as it promotes reproducibility in science and reduces duplication of effort to collect the same data. There are evidence that articles that publicly share research data have higher citation rates in biological and social sciences. However, how and whether shared data is being reused is not always intuitive as such information is not easily accessible from the majority of research data repositories. This study aims to understand the practice of data citation and how data is being reused over the years focusing on biodiversity since research data is frequently reused in this field. Metadata of 38,878 datasets including citation counts were collected through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) API for this purpose. GBIF was used as a data source since it provides citation count for datasets, not a commonly available feature for most repositories. Analysis of dataset types, citation counts, creation and update time of datasets suggests that citation rate varies for different types of datasets, where occurrence datasets that have more granular information have higher citation rates than checklist and metadata-only datasets. Another finding is that biodiversity datasets on GBIF are frequently updated, which is unique to this field. Majority of the datasets from the earliest year of 2007 were updated after 11 years, with no dataset that was not updated since creation. For each year between 2007 and 2017, we compared the correlations between update time and citation rate of four different types of datasets. While recent datasets do not show any correlations, 3 to 4 years old datasets show weak correlation where datasets that were updated more recently received high citations. The results are suggestive that it takes several years to cumulate citations for research datasets. However, this investigation found that when searched on Google Scholar or Scopus databases for the same datasets, the number of citations is often not the same as GBIF. Hence future aim is to further explore the citation count system adopted by GBIF to evaluate its reliability and whether it can be applicable to other fields of studies as well.

Keywords: data citation, data reuse, research data sharing, webometrics

Procedia PDF Downloads 178

Authors: Berkan Ural, Arif Eser, Sinan Apaydin

Abstract:

Medical image processing is generally become a challenging task nowadays. Indeed, processing of brain MRI images is one of the difficult parts of this area. This study proposes a hybrid well-defined approach which is consisted from tumor detection, extraction and analyzing steps. This approach is mainly consisted from a computer aided diagnostics system for identifying and detecting the tumor formation in any region of the brain and this system is commonly used for early prediction of brain tumor using advanced image processing and probabilistic neural network methods, respectively. For this approach, generally, some advanced noise removal functions, image processing methods such as automatic segmentation and morphological operations are used to detect the brain tumor boundaries and to obtain the important feature parameters of the tumor region. All stages of the approach are done specifically with using MATLAB software. Generally, for this approach, firstly tumor is successfully detected and the tumor area is contoured with a specific colored circle by the computer aided diagnostics program. Then, the tumor is segmented and some morphological processes are achieved to increase the visibility of the tumor area. Moreover, while this process continues, the tumor area and important shape based features are also calculated. Finally, with using the probabilistic neural network method and with using some advanced classification steps, tumor area and the type of the tumor are clearly obtained. Also, the future aim of this study is to detect the severity of lesions through classes of brain tumor which is achieved through advanced multi classification and neural network stages and creating a user friendly environment using GUI in MATLAB. In the experimental part of the study, generally, 100 images are used to train the diagnostics system and 100 out of sample images are also used to test and to check the whole results. The preliminary results demonstrate the high classification accuracy for the neural network structure. Finally, according to the results, this situation also motivates us to extend this framework to detect and localize the tumors in the other organs.

Keywords: image processing algorithms, magnetic resonance imaging, neural network, pattern recognition

Procedia PDF Downloads 418

Authors: Theresa Slump, Paula Neumeister, Katharina Feldker, Carina Y. Heitmann, Thomas Straube

Abstract:

A characteristic feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the automatic processing of disorder-specific stimuli that expresses itself in intrusive symptoms such as intense physical and psychological reactions to trauma-associated stimuli. That automatic processing plays an essential role in the development and maintenance of symptoms. The aim of our study was, therefore, to investigate the behavioral and neural correlates of automatic processing of trauma-related stimuli in PTSD. Although interpersonal traumatization is a form of traumatization that often occurs, it has not yet been sufficiently studied. That is why, in our study, we focused on patients suffering from interpersonal traumatization. While previous imaging studies on PTSD mainly used faces, words, or generally negative visual stimuli, our study presented complex trauma-related and neutral visual scenes. We examined 19 female subjects suffering from PTSD and examined 19 healthy women as a control group. All subjects did a geometric comparison task while lying in a functional-magnetic-resonance-imaging (fMRI) scanner. Trauma-related scenes and neutral visual scenes that were not relevant to the task were presented while the subjects were doing the task. Regarding the behavioral level, there were not any significant differences between the task performance of the two groups. Regarding the neural level, the PTSD patients showed significant hyperactivation of the hippocampus for task-irrelevant trauma-related stimuli versus neutral stimuli when compared with healthy control subjects. Connectivity analyses revealed altered connectivity between the hippocampus and other anxiety-related areas in PTSD patients, too. Overall, those findings suggest that fear-related areas are involved in PTSD patients' processing of trauma-related stimuli even if the stimuli that were used in the study were task-irrelevant.

Keywords: post-traumatic stress disorder, automatic processing, hippocampus, functional magnetic resonance imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 199

Authors: Davide D’Aria, Paolo Falcone, Luigi Maggi, Aldo Cero, Giovanni Amoroso

Abstract:

The paper presents a methodology for real-time structural health monitoring and geophysical applications. The key elements of the system are a high performance MIMO RADAR sensor, an optical camera and a dedicated set of software algorithms encompassing interferometry, tomography and photogrammetry. The MIMO Radar sensor proposed in this work, provides an extremely high sensitivity to displacements making the system able to react to tiny deformations (up to tens of microns) with a time scale which spans from milliseconds to hours. The MIMO feature of the system makes the system capable of providing a set of two-dimensional images of the observed scene, each mapped on the azimuth-range directions with noticeably resolution in both the dimensions and with an outstanding repetition rate. The back-scattered energy, which is distributed in the 3D space, is projected on a 2D plane, where each pixel has as coordinates the Line-Of-Sight distance and the cross-range azimuthal angle. At the same time, the high performing processing unit allows to sense the observed scene with remarkable refresh periods (up to milliseconds), thus opening the way for combined static and dynamic structural health monitoring. Thanks to the smart TX/RX antenna array layout, the MIMO data can be processed through a tomographic approach to reconstruct the three-dimensional map of the observed scene. This 3D point cloud is then accurately mapped on a 2D digital optical image through photogrammetric techniques, allowing for easy and straightforward interpretations of the measurements. Once the three-dimensional image is reconstructed, a 'repeat-pass' interferometric approach is exploited to provide the user of the system with high frequency three-dimensional motion/vibration estimation of each point of the reconstructed image. At this stage, the methodology leverages consolidated atmospheric correction algorithms to provide reliable displacement and vibration measurements.

Keywords: interferometry, MIMO RADAR, SAR, tomography

Procedia PDF Downloads 195