Search results for: evidence based practice

Authors: P. C. Boisteanu, M. G. Usturoi, Roxana Lazar, B. V. Avarvarei

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The paper is included within the framework of a complex research program, which was initiated from the hypothesis arguing on the existence of a correlation between pineal indolic and peptide hormones and the somatic development rhythm, including thus the epithalamium-epiphysis complex involvement. At birds, pineal gland contains a circadian oscillator, playing a main role in the temporal organization of the cerebral functions. The secretion of pineal indolic hormones is characterized by a high endogenous rhythmic alternation, modulated by the light/darkness (L/D) succession and by temperature as well. The research has been carried out using 100 chicken broilers - “Ross" commercial hybrid, randomly allocated in two experimental batches: Lc batch, reared under a 12L/12D lighting schedule and Lexp batch, which was photic pinealectomised through continuous exposition to light (150 lux, 24 hours, 56 days). Chemical and physical features of the meat issued from breast fillet and thighs muscles have been studied, determining the dry matter, proteins, fat, collagen, salt content and pH value, as well. Besides the variations of meat chemical composition in relation with lighting schedule, other parameters have been studied: live weight dynamics, feed intake and somatic development degree. The achieved results became significant since chickens have 7 days of age, some variations of the studied parameters being registered, revealing that the pineal gland physiologic activity, in relation with the lighting schedule, could be interpreted through the monitoring of the somatic development technological parameters, usually studied within the chicken broilers rearing aviculture practice.

Keywords: lighting schedule, physic-chemical characteristics ofmeat, pineal gland at birds.

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Authors: Sandra Baßler, Peter Dünow, Mathias Marquardt

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A Fourier series based learning control (FSBLC) algorithm for tracking trajectories of mechanical systems with unknown nonlinearities is presented. Two processes are introduced to which the FSBLC with PD controller is applied. One is a simplified service robot capable of climbing stairs due to special wheels and the other is a propeller driven pendulum with nearly the same requirements on control. Additionally to the investigation of learning the feed forward for the desired trajectories some considerations on the implementation of such an algorithm on low cost microcontroller hardware are made. Simulations of the service robot as well as practical experiments on the pendulum show the capability of the used FSBLC algorithm to perform the task of improving control behavior for repetitive task of such mechanical systems.

Keywords: Climbing stairs, FSBLC, ILC, Service robot.

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Authors: M. Frydrysiak, J. Zięba, L. Tęsiorowski, M. Tokarska

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In the paper the research of flat textile products for use as electrodes was presented. Material-s resistance measurements were carried out to determine the suitability of the textiles. Based on the received results of studies different types of textile electrodes were designed. Textile electrodes tests were carried out on human phantoms. The electro-conductive properties of human forearm phantom were also described. Based on this results special electroconductive hydrogels with electro-conductive particles were feasible. The hydrogel is an important element of the forearm-s phantom model of a survey of electrodes for muscle electrostimulation. The hydrogel is an equivalent human skin and tissue. The hydrogel should have a permanence and recurrence of the electro-conductive properties.

Keywords: Electro-conductive textiles, electrostimulation, forearm phantom, resistance measurement, textile electrodes.

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Authors: Nasser Erfani Majd, Mojtaba Lotfizad

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In this paper, an ultra low power and low jitter 12bit CMOS digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) design is presented. Based on a ring oscillator implemented with low power Schmitt trigger based inverters. Simulation of the proposed DCO using 32nm CMOS Predictive Transistor Model (PTM) achieves controllable frequency range of 550MHz~830MHz with a wide linearity and high resolution. Monte Carlo simulation demonstrates that the time-period jitter due to random power supply fluctuation is under 31ps and the power consumption is 0.5677mW at 750MHz with 1.2V power supply and 0.53-ps resolution. The proposed DCO has a good robustness to voltage and temperature variations and better linearity comparing to the conventional design.

Keywords: digitally controlled oscillator (DCO), low power, jitter; good linearity, robust

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Authors: Melvin Chan, Chew Lee Teo

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There has been a growing emphasis in elevating the teachers’ proficiency and competencies through continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities. In this era of a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous (VUCA) world, teachers are expected to be collaborative designers, critical thinkers and creative builders. However, many of the CPD structures are still revolving in the model of transmission, which stands in contradiction to the cultivation of future-ready teachers for the innovative world of emerging technologies. This article puts forward the framing of CPD through a Principle-Based, Technological-Driven Knowledge Building Approach grounded in the essence of andragogy and progressive learning theories where growth is best exemplified through an authentic immersion in a social/community experience-based setting. Putting this Knowledge Building Professional Development Model (KBPDM) in operation via a Professional Learning Team (PLT) situated in a Secondary School in Singapore, research findings reveal that the intervention has led to a fundamental change in the learning paradigm of the teachers, henceforth equipping and empowering them successfully in their pedagogical design and practices for a 21^st century classroom experience. This article concludes with the possibility in leveraging the Learning Analytics to deepen the CPD experiences for educators.

Keywords: Continual professional development, knowledge building, learning paradigm, andragogy.

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Authors: Wei Chen, Cui-you Yao, Yue Qiu

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This paper deals with a portfolio selection problem based on the possibility theory under the assumption that the returns of assets are LR-type fuzzy numbers. A possibilistic portfolio model with transaction costs is proposed, in which the possibilistic mean value of the return is termed measure of investment return, and the possibilistic variance of the return is termed measure of investment risk. Due to considering transaction costs, the existing traditional optimization algorithms usually fail to find the optimal solution efficiently and heuristic algorithms can be the best method. Therefore, a particle swarm optimization is designed to solve the corresponding optimization problem. At last, a numerical example is given to illustrate our proposed effective means and approaches.

Keywords: Possibility theory, portfolio selection, transaction costs, particle swarm optimization.

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Authors: O. E. Eberechi, G. P. Stevens

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Legal theory has been referred to as the explanation of why things do or do not happen. It also describes situations and why they ensue. It provides a normative framework by which things are regulated and a foundation for the establishment of legal mechanisms/institutions that can bring about a desired change in a society. Furthermore, it offers recommendations in resolving practical problems and describes what the law is, what the law ought to be and defines the legal landscape generally. Some legal theories provide a universal standard, e.g. human rights, while others are capable of organizing and streamlining the collective use, and, by extension, bring order to society. Legal theory is used to explain how the world works and how it does not work. This paper will argue for the application of the principles of legal theory in the achievement of access to justice for female victims of sexual violence in refugee camps in Africa through the analysis of legal theories underpinning the access to justice for these women. It is a known fact that female refugees in camps in Africa often experience some form of sexual violation. The perpetrators of these incidents may never be apprehended, prosecuted, convicted or sentenced. Where prosecution does occur, the perpetrators are either acquitted as a result of poor investigation, inept prosecution, a lack of evidence, or the case may be dismissed owing to tardiness on the part of the prosecutor, which accounts for the culture of impunity in refugee camps. In other words, victims do not have access to the justice that could ameliorate the plight of the victims. There is, thus, a need for a legal framework that will facilitate access to justice for these victims. This paper will start with an introduction, and be followed by the definition of legal theory, its functions and its application in law. Secondly, it will provide a brief explanation of the problems faced by female refugees who are victims of sexual violence in refugee camps in Africa. Thirdly, it will embark on an analysis of theories which will be a help to an understanding of the precarious situation of female refugees, why they are violated, the need for access to justice for these victims, and the principles of legal theory in its usefulness in resolving access to justice for these victims.

Keywords: Access to justice, underpinning legal theory, refugee, sexual violence.

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Authors: F.J. Suárez, J.C. Granda, J. Molleda, D.F. García

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A prototype for audio and video capture and compression in real time on a Linux platform has been developed. It is able to visualize both the captured and the compressed video at the same time, as well as the captured and compressed audio with the goal of comparing their quality. As it is based on free code, the final goal is to run it in an embedded system running Linux. Therefore, we would implement a node to capture and compress such multimedia information. Thus, it would be possible to consider the project within a larger one aimed at live broadcast of audio and video using a streaming server which would communicate with our node. Then, we would have a very powerful and flexible system with several practical applications.

Keywords: Audio and video compression, Linux platform, live streaming, real time, visualization of captured and compressed video.

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Authors: Karolina Patora

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This article investigates liquidity risk management by banks, which has gained significant importance since the global financial crisis of 2008. The issue is of particular interest for countries like Poland, in which foreign capital plays a dominant role. Such an ownership structure poses certain risks to the local banking sector, which faces an increased probability of the withdrawal of funding or assets’ transfers abroad in case of a crisis. Both these factors can have a detrimental influence on the liquidity position of foreign-owned banks and hence negatively affect the financial stability of the whole banking sector. The aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of a dominating share of foreign investors in the Polish banking sector on the liquidity position of commercial banks. The study hypothesizes that the ownership structure of the Polish banking sector, in which there are banks predominantly controlled by foreign investors, does not pose a threat to the liquidity position of Polish banks. A supplementary research hypothesis is that the liquidity risk profile of foreign-owned banks differs from that of domestic banks. The sample consists of 14 foreign-owned banks and 5 domestic banks owned by local investors, which together constitute approximately 87% of the banking sector’s assets. The data covers the period of 2004–2014. The results of the regression models show no evidence of significant differences in terms of the dynamics of changes of the liquidity buffers between the foreign-owned and domestic banks, although the signs of the coefficients might suggest that the foreign-owned banks were decreasing the holdings of liquid assets at a slower pace over the examined period, compared to the domestic banks. However, no proof of the statistical significance of these findings has been found. The supplementary research hypothesis that the liquidity risk profile of foreign-controlled banks differs from that of domestic banks was rejected.

Keywords: Financial stability, foreign-owned banks, liquidity position, liquidity risk.

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Authors: Bibhya Sharma, Jito Vanualailai, Jai Raj

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This paper proposes a new obstacle and collision avoidance control laws for a three-dimensional swarm of boids. The swarm exhibit collective emergent behaviors whilst avoiding the obstacles in the workspace. While flocking, animals group up in order to do various tasks and even a greater chance of evading predators. A generalized algorithms for attraction to the centroid, inter-individual swarm avoidance and obstacle avoidance is designed in this paper. We present a set of new continuous time-invariant velocity control laws is presented which is formulated via the Lyapunov-based control scheme. The control laws proposed in this paper also ensures practical stability of the system. The effectiveness of the proposed control laws is demonstrated via computer simulations

 

Keywords: Lyapunov-based Control Scheme, Motion planning, Practical stability, Swarm.

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Authors: Pil Woo Heo, In Sub Park

Abstract:

Water contains oxygen which may make a human breathe under water like a fish. Centrifugal separator can separate dissolved gases from water. Carrier solution can increase the separation of dissolved oxygen from water. But, to develop an breathing device for a human under water, the enhancement of separation of dissolved gases including oxygen and portable devices which have dc battery based device and proper size are needed. In this study, we set up experimental device for analyzing separation characteristics of dissolved gases including oxygen from water using a battery based portable vacuum pump. We characterized vacuum state, flow rate of separation of dissolved gases and oxygen concentration which were influenced by the manufactured vacuum pump.

Keywords: Portable, breathing, water, separation, battery.

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Authors: S. Huber, B. Schnalzer, B. Alcalde, S. Hanke, L. Mpaltadoros, T. G. Stavropoulos, S. Nikolopoulos, I. Kompatsiaris, L. Pérez-Breva, V. Rodrigo-Casares, J. Fons-Martínez, J. de Bruin

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Developing new medicine and health solutions and improving patient health currently rely on the successful execution of clinical trials, which generate relevant safety and efficacy data. For their success, recruitment and retention of participants are some of the most challenging aspects of protocol adherence. Main barriers include: i) lack of awareness of clinical trials; ii) long distance from the clinical site; iii) the burden on participants, including the duration and number of clinical visits, and iv) high dropout rate. Most of these aspects could be addressed with a new paradigm, namely the Remote Decentralized Clinical Trials (RDCTs). Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted additional advantages and challenges for RDCTs in practice, allowing participants to join trials from home and not depending on site visits, etc. Nevertheless, RDCTs should follow the process and the quality assurance of conventional clinical trials, which involve several processes. For each part of the trial, the Building Blocks, existing software and technologies were assessed through a systematic search. The technology needed to perform RDCTs is widely available and validated but is yet segmented and developed in silos, as different software solutions address different parts of the trial and at various levels. The current paper is analyzing the availability of technology to perform RDCTs, identifying gaps and providing an overview of Basic Building Blocks and functionalities that need to be covered to support the described processes.

Keywords: architectures and frameworks for health informatics systems, clinical trials, information and communications technology, remote decentralized clinical trials, technology availability

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Authors: Olga V. Kharchenko

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Applicability of a KTA crystal-based laser system with optical parametric oscillators (OPO) generation to lidar sounding of the atmosphere in the spectral range 3–4 µm is studied in this work. A technique based on differential absorption lidar (DIAL) method and differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) is developed for lidar sounding of trace atmospheric gases (TAG). The DIAL-DOAS technique is tested to estimate its efficiency for lidar sounding of atmospheric trace gases.

Keywords: Atmosphere, lidar sounding, DIAL, DOAS, trace gases, nonlinear crystal.

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Authors: Rupesh K. Gopal, Saroj K. Meher

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In this report we present a rule-based approach to detect anomalous telephone calls. The method described here uses subscriber usage CDR (call detail record) data sampled over two observation periods: study period and test period. The study period contains call records of customers- non-anomalous behaviour. Customers are first grouped according to their similar usage behaviour (like, average number of local calls per week, etc). For customers in each group, we develop a probabilistic model to describe their usage. Next, we use maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) to estimate the parameters of the calling behaviour. Then we determine thresholds by calculating acceptable change within a group. MLE is used on the data in the test period to estimate the parameters of the calling behaviour. These parameters are compared against thresholds. Any deviation beyond the threshold is used to raise an alarm. This method has the advantage of identifying local anomalies as compared to techniques which identify global anomalies. The method is tested for 90 days of study data and 10 days of test data of telecom customers. For medium to large deviations in the data in test window, the method is able to identify 90% of anomalous usage with less than 1% false alarm rate.

Keywords: Subscription fraud, fraud detection, anomalydetection, maximum likelihood estimation, rule based systems.

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Authors: Bernd Kiefer, Abraham Gebru Tesfay, Dietrich Klakow

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The motivation of our work is to detect different terrain types traversed by a robot based on acoustic data from the robot-terrain interaction. Different acoustic features and classifiers were investigated, such as Mel-frequency cepstral coefficient and Gamma-tone frequency cepstral coefficient for the feature extraction, and Gaussian mixture model and Feed forward neural network for the classification. We analyze the system’s performance by comparing our proposed techniques with some other features surveyed from distinct related works. We achieve precision and recall values between 87% and 100% per class, and an average accuracy at 95.2%. We also study the effect of varying audio chunk size in the application phase of the models and find only a mild impact on performance.

Keywords: Terrain classification, acoustic features, autonomous robots, feature extraction.

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Authors: Abiodun M. Aibinu, Momoh J. E. Salami, Amir A. Shafie, Athaur Rahman Najeeb

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Autoregressive Moving average (ARMA) is a parametric based method of signal representation. It is suitable for problems in which the signal can be modeled by explicit known source functions with a few adjustable parameters. Various methods have been suggested for the coefficients determination among which are Prony, Pade, Autocorrelation, Covariance and most recently, the use of Artificial Neural Network technique. In this paper, the method of using Artificial Neural network (ANN) technique is compared with some known and widely acceptable techniques. The comparisons is entirely based on the value of the coefficients obtained. Result obtained shows that the use of ANN also gives accurate in computing the coefficients of an ARMA system.

Keywords: Autoregressive moving average, coefficients, back propagation, model parameters, neural network, weight.

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Authors: Hu Haibo, Liu Yi, He Ming

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The binary phase-only filter digital watermarking embeds the phase information of the discrete Fourier transform of the image into the corresponding magnitudes for better image authentication. The paper proposed an approach of how to implement watermark embedding by quantizing the magnitude, with discussing how to regulate the quantization steps based on the frequencies of the magnitude coefficients of the embedded watermark, and how to embed the watermark at low frequency quantization. The theoretical analysis and simulation results show that algorithm flexibility, security, watermark imperceptibility and detection performance of the binary phase-only filter digital watermarking can be effectively improved with quantization based watermark embedding, and the robustness against JPEG compression will also be increased to some extent.

Keywords: binary phase-only filter, discrete Fourier transform, digital watermarking, image authentication, quantization.

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Authors: Joabe Silva, Ginalber Serra

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This paper proposes the analysis and design of robust fuzzy control to Stochastic Parametrics Uncertaint Linear systems. This system type to be controlled is partitioned into several linear sub-models, in terms of transfer function, forming a convex polytope, similar to LPV (Linear Parameters Varying) system. Once defined the linear sub-models of the plant, these are organized into fuzzy Takagi- Sugeno (TS) structure. From the Parallel Distributed Compensation (PDC) strategy, a mathematical formulation is defined in the frequency domain, based on the gain and phase margins specifications, to obtain robust PI sub-controllers in accordance to the Takagi- Sugeno fuzzy model of the plant. The main results of the paper are based on the robust stability conditions with the proposal of one Axiom and two Theorems.

Keywords: Fuzzy Systems; Robust Stability, Stochastic Control, Stochastic Process

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Authors: I. Nižetić Kosović, T. Jagušt

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Lately, with the increasing number of location-based applications, demand for highly accurate and reliable indoor localization became urgent. This is a challenging problem, due to the measurement variance which is the consequence of various factors like obstacles, equipment properties and environmental changes in complex nature of indoor environments. In this paper we propose low-cost custom-setup infrastructure solution and localization algorithm based on the Weighted Centroid Localization (WCL) method. Localization accuracy is increased by several enhancements: calibration of RSSI values gained from wireless nodes, repetitive measurements of RSSI to exclude deviating values from the position estimation, and by considering orientation of the device according to the wireless nodes. We conducted several experiments to evaluate the proposed algorithm. High accuracy of ~1m was achieved.

Keywords: Indoor environment, received signal strength indicator, weighted centroid localization, wireless localization.

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Authors: M. Ranjeeth, S. Anuradha

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Spectrum sensing is the main feature of cognitive radio technology. Spectrum sensing gives an idea of detecting the presence of the primary users in a licensed spectrum. In this paper we compare the theoretical results of detection probability of different fading environments like Rayleigh, Rician, Nakagami-m fading channels with the simulation results using energy detection based spectrum sensing. The numerical results are plotted as Pf Vs Pd for different SNR values, fading parameters. It is observed that Nakagami fading channel performance is better than other fading channels by using energy detection in spectrum sensing. A MATLAB simulation test bench has been implemented to know the performance of energy detection in different fading channel environment.

Keywords: Spectrum sensing, Energy detection, fading channels, Probability of detection, probability of false alarm.

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Authors: S. Botman, D. Borchevkin, V. Petrov, E. Bogdanov, M. Patrushev, N. Shusharina

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In this paper, we report the development of the device for diagnostics of cardiovascular system state and associated automated workstation for large-scale medical measurement data collection and analysis. It was shown that optimal design for the monitoring device is wristband as it represents engineering trade-off between accuracy and usability. Monitoring device is based on the infrared reflective photoplethysmographic sensor, which allows collecting multiple physiological parameters, such as heart rate and pulsing wave characteristics. Developed device uses BLE interface for medical and supplementary data transmission to the coupled mobile phone, which processes it and send it to the doctor's automated workstation. Results of this experimental model approbation confirmed the applicability of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Cardiovascular diseases, health monitoring systems, photoplethysmography, pulse wave, remote diagnostics.

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Authors: Moussa Hamdan, Abdulati Abdullah

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This paper presents an investigation of the fabrication of the optical devices in terms of their characteristics based on the use of the electromagnetic waves. Planar waveguides are used to examine the field modes (bound modes) and the parameters required for this structure. The modifications are conducted on surface plasmons based waveguides. Simple symmetric dielectric slab structure is used and analyzed in terms of transverse electric mode (TE-Mode) and transverse magnetic mode (TM-Mode. The paper presents mathematical and numerical solutions for solving simple symmetric plasmons and provides simulations of surface plasmons for field confinement. Asymmetric TM-mode calculations for dielectric surface plasmons are also provided.

Keywords: Surface plasmons, optical waveguides, semiconductor lasers, refractive index, slab dialectical.

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Authors: Say Wei Foo, Qi Dong

Abstract:

In this paper, a novel feature-based image watermarking scheme is proposed. Zernike moments which have invariance properties are adopted in the scheme. In the proposed scheme, feature points are first extracted from host image and several circular patches centered on these points are generated. The patches are used as carriers of watermark information because they can be regenerated to locate watermark embedding positions even when watermarked images are severely distorted. Zernike transform is then applied to the patches to calculate local Zernike moments. Dither modulation is adopted to quantize the magnitudes of the Zernike moments followed by false alarm analysis. Experimental results show that quality degradation of watermarked image is visually transparent. The proposed scheme is very robust against image processing operations and geometric attacks.

Keywords: Image watermarking, Zernike moments, Featurepoint, Invariance, Robustness.

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Authors: S. Al-Khalasi, O. Mahgoub, H. Yaakub

Abstract:

This study evaluated the use of raw or processed Prosopis juliflora (Meskit) pods as a major ingredient in a formulated ration to provide an alternative non-conventional concentrate for livestock feeding in Oman. Dry Meskit pods were reduced to lengths of 0.5- 1.0 cm to ensure thorough mixing into three diets. Meskit pods were subjected to two types of treatments; roasting and soaking. They were roasted at 150оC for 30 minutes using a locally-made roasting device (40 kg barrel container rotated by electric motor and heated by flame gas cooker). Chopped pods were soaked in tap water for 24 hours and dried for 2 days under the sun with frequent turning. The Meskit-pod-based diets (MPBD) were formulated and pelleted from 500 g/kg ground Meskit pods, 240 g/kg wheat bran, 200 g/kg barley grain, 50 g/kg local dried sardines and 10 g/kg of salt. Twenty four 10 months-old intact Omani male lambs with average body weight of 27.3 kg (± 0.5 kg) were used in a feeding trial for 84 days. They were divided (on body weight basis) and allocated to four diet combination groups. These were: Rhodes grass hay (RGH) plus a general ruminant concentrate (GRC); RGH plus raw Meskit pods (RMP) based concentrate; RGH plus roasted Meskit pods (ROMP) based concentrate; RGH plus soaked Meskit pods (SMP) based concentrate Daily feed intakes and bi-weekly body weights were recorded. MPBD had higher contents of crude protein (CP), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and neutral detergent fibre (NDF) than the GRC. Animals fed various types of MPBD did not show signs of ill health. There was a significant effect of feeding ROMP on the performance of Omani sheep compared to RMP and SMP. The ROMP fed animals had similar performance to those fed the GRC in terms of feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR).This study indicated that roasted Meskit pods based diet may be used instead of the commercial concentrate for feeding Omani sheep without adverse effects on performance. It offers a cheap alternative source of protein and energy for feeding Omani sheep. Also, it might help in solving the spread impact of Meskit trees, maintain the ecosystem and helping in preserving the local tree species.

Keywords: Growth, Meskit, Omani sheep, Prosopis juliflora.

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Authors: Shahram Mohammadi, Ali Frajzadeh

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A lot of matching algorithms with different characteristics have been introduced in recent years. For real time systems these algorithms are usually based on minutiae features. In this paper we introduce a novel approach for feature extraction in which the extracted features are independent of shift and rotation of the fingerprint and at the meantime the matching operation is performed much more easily and with higher speed and accuracy. In this new approach first for any fingerprint a reference point and a reference orientation is determined and then based on this information features are converted into polar coordinates. Due to high speed and accuracy of this approach and small volume of extracted features and easily execution of matching operation this approach is the most appropriate for real time applications.

Keywords: Matching, Minutiae, Reference point, Reference orientation

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Authors: S. Kikuchi, Y. Hashimoto, T. Takayama, T. Ikeda, Y. Murata

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Recently, lots of researchers are attracted to retrieving multimedia database by using some impression words and their values. Ikezoe-s research is one of the representatives and uses eight pairs of opposite impression words. We had modified its retrieval interface and proposed '2D-RIB'. In '2D-RIB', after a retrieval person selects a single basic music, the system visually shows some other music around the basic one along relative position. He/she can select one of them fitting to his/her intention, as a retrieval result. The purpose of this paper is to improve his/her satisfaction level to the retrieval result in 2D-RIB. One of our extensions is to define and introduce the following two measures: 'melody goodness' and 'general acceptance'. We implement them in different five combinations. According to an evaluation experiment, both of these two measures can contribute to the improvement. Another extension is three types of customization. We have implemented them and clarified which customization is effective.

Keywords: Multimedia database, impression-based retrieval, interface, satisfaction level.

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Authors: Neelima Gupta, Seema Aggarwal

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Most of the biclustering/projected clustering algorithms are based either on the Euclidean distance or correlation coefficient which capture only linear relationships. However, in many applications, like gene expression data and word-document data, non linear relationships may exist between the objects. Mutual Information between two variables provides a more general criterion to investigate dependencies amongst variables. In this paper, we improve upon our previous algorithm that uses mutual information for biclustering in terms of computation time and also the type of clusters identified. The algorithm is able to find biclusters with mixed relationships and is faster than the previous one. To the best of our knowledge, none of the other existing algorithms for biclustering have used mutual information as a similarity measure. We present the experimental results on synthetic data as well as on the yeast expression data. Biclusters on the yeast data were found to be biologically and statistically significant using GO Tool Box and FuncAssociate.

Keywords: Biclustering, mutual information.

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Authors: Jaroslav Polec, Petra Heribanová, Tomáš Hirner

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In this paper we proposed a method for finding video frames representing one sign in the finger alphabet. The method is based on determining hands location, segmentation and the use of standard video quality evaluation metrics. Metric calculation is performed only in regions of interest. Sliding mechanism for finding local extrema and adaptive threshold based on local averaging is used for key frames selection. The success rate is evaluated by recall, precision and F1 measure. The method effectiveness is compared with metrics applied to all frames. Proposed method is fast, effective and relatively easy to realize by simple input video preprocessing and subsequent use of tools designed for video quality measuring.

Keywords: Key frame, video, quality, metric, MSE, MSAD, SSIM, VQM, sign language, finger alphabet.

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Authors: Bhupeshwaran Mani, S. Radha, A. Jawahar, A. Sivasubramanian

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Here, we study the characteristic feature of conventional (ON-OFF keying) and soliton based transmission system. We consider 20Gbps transmission system implemented with Conventional Single Mode Fiber (C-SMF) to examine the role of Gaussian pulse which is the characteristic of conventional propagation and Hyperbolic-secant pulse which is the characteristic of soliton propagation in it. We note the influence of these pulses with respect to different dispersion lengths and soliton period in conventional and soliton system respectively and evaluate the system performance in terms of Quality factor. From the analysis, we could prove that the soliton pulse has the consistent performance even for long distance without dispersion compensation than the conventional system as it is robust to dispersion. For the length of transmission of 200Km, soliton system yielded Q of 33.958 while the conventional system totally exhausted with Q=0.

Keywords: Soliton, dispersion length, Soliton period, Return-tozero (RZ), Q-factor.

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Authors: Terrence Chen, Thomas S. Huang

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In this paper, we present the region based hidden Markov random field model (RBHMRF), which encodes the characteristics of different brain regions into a probabilistic framework for brain MR image segmentation. The recently proposed TV+L1 model is used for region extraction. By utilizing different spatial characteristics in different brain regions, the RMHMRF model performs beyond the current state-of-the-art method, the hidden Markov random field model (HMRF), which uses identical spatial information throughout the whole brain. Experiments on both real and synthetic 3D MR images show that the segmentation result of the proposed method has higher accuracy compared to existing algorithms.

Keywords: Finite Gaussian mixture model, Hidden Markov random field model, image segmentation, MRI.

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