Search results for: human visual system
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 10062

Search results for: human visual system

9612 Conformation Prediction of Human Plasmin and Docking on Gold Nanoparticle

Authors: Wen-Shyong Tzou, Chih-Ching Huang, Chin-Hwa Hu, Ying-Tsang Lo, Tun-Wen Pai, Chia-Yin Chiang, Chung-Hao Li, Hong-Jyuan Jian

Abstract:

Plasmin plays an important role in the human circulatory system owing to its catalytic ability of fibrinolysis. The immediate injection of plasmin in patients of strokes has intrigued many scientists to design vectors that can transport plasmin to the desired location in human body. Here we predict the structure of human plasmin and investigate the interaction of plasmin with the gold-nanoparticle. Because the crystal structure of plasminogen has been solved, we deleted N-terminal domain (Pan-apple domain) of plasminogen and generate a mimic of the active form of this enzyme (plasmin). We conducted a simulated annealing process on plasmin and discovered a very large conformation occurs. Kringle domains 1, 4 and 5 had been observed to leave its original location relative to the main body of the enzyme and the original doughnut shape of this enzyme has been transformed to a V-shaped by opening its two arms. This observation of conformational change is consistent with the experimental results of neutron scattering and centrifugation. We subsequently docked the plasmin on the simulated gold surface to predict their interaction. The V-shaped plasmin could utilize its Kringle domain and catalytic domain to contact the gold surface. Our findings not only reveal the flexibility of plasmin structure but also provide a guide for the design of a plasmin-gold nanoparticle.

Keywords: Docking, gold nanoparticle, molecular simulation, plasmin.

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9611 Business Intelligence and Strategic Decision Simulation

Authors: S. Sabbour, H. Lasi, P. von Tessin

Abstract:

The purpose of this study is two-fold. First, it attempts to explore potential opportunities for utilizing visual interactive simulations along with Business Intelligence (BI) as a decision support tool for strategic decision making. Second, it tries to figure out the essential top-level managerial requirements that would transform strategic decision simulation into an integral component of BI systems. The domain of particular interest was the application of visual interactive simulation capabilities in the field of supply chains. A qualitative exploratory method was applied, through the use of interviews with two leading companies. The collected data was then analysed to demonstrate the difference between the literature perspective and the practical managerial perspective on the issue. The results of the study suggest that although the use of simulation particularly in managing supply chains is very evident in literature, yet, in practice such utilization is still in its infancy, particularly regarding strategic decisions. Based on the insights a prototype of a simulation based BI-solution-extension was developed and evaluated.

Keywords: Business Intelligence, decision support, strategic decisions, simulation, SCM.

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9610 The Nature of the Complicated Fabric Textures: How to Represent in Primary Visual Cortex

Authors: J. L. Liu, L. Wang, B. Zhu, J. Zhou, W. D. Gao

Abstract:

Fabric textures are very common in our daily life. However, the representation of fabric textures has never been explored from neuroscience view. Theoretical studies suggest that primary visual cortex (V1) uses a sparse code to efficiently represent natural images. However, how the simple cells in V1 encode the artificial textures is still a mystery. So, here we will take fabric texture as stimulus to study the response of independent component analysis that is established to model the receptive field of simple cells in V1. We choose 140 types of fabrics to get the classical fabric textures as materials. Experiment results indicate that the receptive fields of simple cells have obvious selectivity in orientation, frequency and phase when drifting gratings are used to determine their tuning properties. Additionally, the distribution of optimal orientation and frequency shows that the patch size selected from each original fabric image has a significant effect on the frequency selectivity.

Keywords: Fabric Texture, Receptive Filed, Simple Cell, Spare Coding.

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9609 A Perceptually Optimized Foveation Based Wavelet Embedded Zero Tree Image Coding

Authors: A. Bajit, M. Nahid, A. Tamtaoui, E. H. Bouyakhf

Abstract:

In this paper, we propose a Perceptually Optimized Foveation based Embedded ZeroTree Image Coder (POEFIC) that introduces a perceptual weighting to wavelet coefficients prior to control SPIHT encoding algorithm in order to reach a targeted bit rate with a perceptual quality improvement with respect to a given bit rate a fixation point which determines the region of interest ROI. The paper also, introduces a new objective quality metric based on a Psychovisual model that integrates the properties of the HVS that plays an important role in our POEFIC quality assessment. Our POEFIC coder is based on a vision model that incorporates various masking effects of human visual system HVS perception. Thus, our coder weights the wavelet coefficients based on that model and attempts to increase the perceptual quality for a given bit rate and observation distance. The perceptual weights for all wavelet subbands are computed based on 1) foveation masking to remove or reduce considerable high frequencies from peripheral regions 2) luminance and Contrast masking, 3) the contrast sensitivity function CSF to achieve the perceptual decomposition weighting. The new perceptually optimized codec has the same complexity as the original SPIHT techniques. However, the experiments results show that our coder demonstrates very good performance in terms of quality measurement.

Keywords: DWT, linear-phase 9/7 filter, Foveation Filtering, CSF implementation approaches, 9/7 Wavelet JND Thresholds and Wavelet Error Sensitivity WES, Luminance and Contrast masking, standard SPIHT, Objective Quality Measure, Probability Score PS.

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9608 Biomechanical Modeling, Simulation, and Comparison of Human Arm Motion to Mitigate Astronaut Task during Extra Vehicular Activity

Authors: B. Vadiraj, S. N. Omkar, B. Kapil Bharadwaj, Yash Vardhan Gupta

Abstract:

During manned exploration of space, missions will require astronaut crewmembers to perform Extra Vehicular Activities (EVAs) for a variety of tasks. These EVAs take place after long periods of operations in space, and in and around unique vehicles, space structures and systems. Considering the remoteness and time spans in which these vehicles will operate, EVA system operations should utilize common worksites, tools and procedures as much as possible to increase the efficiency of training and proficiency in operations. All of the preparations need to be carried out based on studies of astronaut motions. Until now, development and training activities associated with the planned EVAs in Russian and U.S. space programs have relied almost exclusively on physical simulators. These experimental tests are expensive and time consuming. During the past few years a strong increase has been observed in the use of computer simulations due to the fast developments in computer hardware and simulation software. Based on this idea, an effort to develop a computational simulation system to model human dynamic motion for EVA is initiated. This study focuses on the simulation of an astronaut moving the orbital replaceable units into the worksites or removing them from the worksites. Our physics-based methodology helps fill the gap in quantitative analysis of astronaut EVA by providing a multisegment human arm model. Simulation work described in the study improves on the realism of previous efforts, incorporating joint stops to account for the physiological limits of range of motion. To demonstrate the utility of this approach human arm model is simulated virtually using ADAMS/LifeMOD® software. Kinematic mechanism for the astronaut’s task is studied from joint angles and torques. Simulation results obtained is validated with numerical simulation based on the principles of Newton-Euler method. Torques determined using mathematical model are compared among the subjects to know the grace and consistency of the task performed. We conclude that due to uncertain nature of exploration-class EVA, a virtual model developed using multibody dynamics approach offers significant advantages over traditional human modeling approaches.

Keywords: Extra vehicular activity, biomechanics, inverse kinematics, human body modeling.

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9607 From Modeling of Data Structures towards Automatic Programs Generating

Authors: Valentin P. Velikov

Abstract:

Automatic program generation saves time, human resources, and allows receiving syntactically clear and logically correct modules. The 4-th generation programming languages are related to drawing the data and the processes of the subject area, as well as, to obtain a frame of the respective information system. The application can be separated in interface and business logic. That means, for an interactive generation of the needed system to be used an already existing toolkit or to be created a new one.

Keywords: Computer science, graphical user interface, user dialog interface, dialog frames, data modeling, subject area modeling.

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9606 Application of Wireless Visual Sensor for Semi- Autonomous Mine Navigation System

Authors: Vinay Kumar Pilania, Debashish Chakravarty

Abstract:

The present paper represent the efforts undertaken for the development of an semi-automatic robot that may be used for various post-disaster rescue operation planning and their subsequent execution using one-way communication of video and data from the robot to the controller and controller to the robot respectively. Wireless communication has been used for the purpose so that the robot may access the unapproachable places easily without any difficulties. It is expected that the information obtained from the robot would be of definite help to the rescue team for better planning and execution of their operations.

Keywords: Mine environment, mine navigation, mine rescue robot, video data transmission.

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9605 Sustained Competitive Advantage: Strategic HRM Initiatives and Consequences in Indian Context

Authors: S. Velmurugan, K. B. Akhilesh

Abstract:

In the past few decades, researchers have witnessed a paradigm shift in Human Resource Management-from individual performance to organizational outcomes with the role of Human resource (HR) managers becoming increasingly significant to the organization. In such a context, it is important to examine HR practices from a strategic perspective on the sustained competitive advantage (SCA) of the organizations. The present study explores how Indian organisations look at their human resources strategically when faced with competitive environment. Also, it explores strategic initiatives being taken to manage human resources within the organisations and how these initiatives promote SCA in terms of enhancing the overall customer-centric delivery of goods and services.

Keywords: Strategic HRM, Strategic HRM Initiatives, Consequences, and Sustained Competitive Advantage.

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9604 Embedding a Large Amount of Information Using High Secure Neural Based Steganography Algorithm

Authors: Nameer N. EL-Emam

Abstract:

In this paper, we construct and implement a new Steganography algorithm based on learning system to hide a large amount of information into color BMP image. We have used adaptive image filtering and adaptive non-uniform image segmentation with bits replacement on the appropriate pixels. These pixels are selected randomly rather than sequentially by using new concept defined by main cases with sub cases for each byte in one pixel. According to the steps of design, we have been concluded 16 main cases with their sub cases that covere all aspects of the input information into color bitmap image. High security layers have been proposed through four layers of security to make it difficult to break the encryption of the input information and confuse steganalysis too. Learning system has been introduces at the fourth layer of security through neural network. This layer is used to increase the difficulties of the statistical attacks. Our results against statistical and visual attacks are discussed before and after using the learning system and we make comparison with the previous Steganography algorithm. We show that our algorithm can embed efficiently a large amount of information that has been reached to 75% of the image size (replace 18 bits for each pixel as a maximum) with high quality of the output.

Keywords: Adaptive image segmentation, hiding with high capacity, hiding with high security, neural networks, Steganography.

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9603 Simulation Study on Comparison of Thermal Comfort during Heating with All-Air System and Radiant Floor System

Authors: Shiyun Liu

Abstract:

Radiant heating systems work fundamentally differently from air systems by taking advantage of both radiant and convective heat transfer to remove space heating load. There are rare studies on differences of heating systems between all-air system and radiant floor system. This paper uses the method of simulation based on state-space to calculate the indoor temperature and wall temperature of each system and shows how the dynamic heat transfer in rooms conditioned by a radiant system is different from an air system. Then this paper analyses the changes of indoor temperature of these two systems, finding out the differences between all-air heating system and radiant floor heating system to help the designer choose a more suitable heating system.

Keywords: Radiant floor, all-air system, thermal comfort, simulation, heating system.

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9602 Contribution of Vitaton (Β-Carotene) to the Rearing Factors Survival Rate and Visual Flesh Color of Rainbow Trout Fish in Comparison With Astaxanthin

Authors: M.Ghotbi, M.Ghotbi, Gh. Azari Takami

Abstract:

In this study Vitaton (an organic supplement which contains fermentative β-carotene) and synthetic astaxanthin (CAROPHYLL® Pink) were evaluated as pro-growth factors in Rainbow trout diet. An 8 week feeding trial was conducted to determine the effects of Vitaton versus astaxanthin on rearing factors, survival rate and visual flesh color of Rainbow trout (Oncorhnchynchus mykiss) with initial weight of 196±5. Four practical diets were formulated to contain 50 and 80 (ppm) of β- carotene and astaxanthin and also a control diet was prepared without any pigment. Each diet was fed to triplicate groups of fish rearing in fresh water. Fish were fed twice daily. The water temperature fluctuated from 12 to 15 (C˚) and also dissolved oxygen content was between 7 to 7.5 (mg/lit) during the experimental period. At the end of the experiment, growth and food utilization parameters and survival rate were unaffected by dietary treatments (p>0.05). Also, there was no significant difference between carcass yield within treatments (p>0.05). No significant difference recognized between visual flesh color (SalmoFan score) of fish fed Vitaton-containing diets. On the contrary, feeding on diets containing 50 and 80 (ppm) of astaxanthin, increased SalmoFan score (flesh astaxanthin concentration) from <20 (<1 mg/kg) to 23.33 (2.03 mg/kg) and 27.67 (5.74 mg/kg), respectively. Ultimately, a significant difference was seen between flesh carotenoid concentrations of fish feeding on astaxanthin containing treatments and control treatment (P<0.05). It should be mentioned that just raw fillet color of fish belonged to 80 (ppm) of astaxanthin treatment was seen to be close to color targets (SalmoFan scores) adopted for harvest-size fish.

Keywords: Astaxanthin, Flesh color, Rainbow trout, Vitaton, β- carotene,

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9601 An Efficient Fall Detection Method for Elderly Care System

Authors: S. Sowmyayani, P. Arockia Jansi Rani

Abstract:

Fall detection is one of the challenging problems in elderly care system. The objective of this paper is to identify falls in elderly care system. In this paper, an efficient fall detection method is proposed to identify falls using correlation factor and Motion History Image (MHI). The proposed method is tested on URF (University of Rzeszow Fall detection) dataset and evaluated with some efficient measures like sensitivity, specificity, precision and classification accuracy. It is compared with other recent methods. The experimental results substantially proved that the proposed method achieves 1.5% higher sensitivity when compared to other methods.

Keywords: Pearson correlation coefficient, motion history image, human shape identification.

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9600 Kant’s Conception of Human Dignity and the Importance of Singularity within Commonality

Authors: Francisco Lobo

Abstract:

Kant’s household theory of human dignity as a common feature of all rational beings is the starting point of any intellectual endeavor to unravel the implications of this normative notion. Yet, it is incomplete, as it neglects considering the importance of the singularity or uniqueness of the individual. In a first, deconstructive stage, this paper describes the Kantian account of human dignity as one among many conceptions of human dignity. It reads carefully into the original wording used by Kant in German and its English translations, as well as the works of modern commentators, to identify its shortcomings. In a second, constructive stage, it then draws on the theories of Aristotle, Alexis de Tocqueville, John Stuart Mill, and Hannah Arendt to try and enhance the Kantian conception, in the sense that these authors give major importance to the singularity of the individual. The Kantian theory can be perfected by including elements from the works of these authors, while at the same time being mindful of the dangers entailed in focusing too much on singularity. The conclusion of this paper is that the Kantian conception of human dignity can be enhanced if it acknowledges that not only morality has dignity, but also the irreplaceable human individual to the extent that she is a narrative, original creature with the potential to act morally.

Keywords: Commonality, dignity, Kant, singularity.

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9599 Fast and Robust Long-term Tracking with Effective Searching Model

Authors: Thang V. Kieu, Long P. Nguyen

Abstract:

Kernelized Correlation Filter (KCF) based trackers have gained a lot of attention recently because of their accuracy and fast calculation speed. However, this algorithm is not robust in cases where the object is lost by a sudden change of direction, being obscured or going out of view. In order to improve KCF performance in long-term tracking, this paper proposes an anomaly detection method for target loss warning by analyzing the response map of each frame, and a classification algorithm for reliable target re-locating mechanism by using Random fern. Being tested with Visual Tracker Benchmark and Visual Object Tracking datasets, the experimental results indicated that the precision and success rate of the proposed algorithm were 2.92 and 2.61 times higher than that of the original KCF algorithm, respectively. Moreover, the proposed tracker handles occlusion better than many state-of-the-art long-term tracking methods while running at 60 frames per second.

Keywords: Correlation filter, long-term tracking, random fern, real-time tracking.

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9598 A Simplified Solid Mechanical and Acoustic Model for Human Middle Ear

Authors: Adarsh Venkataraman Ganesan, Sundaram Swaminathan, Rama Jayaraj

Abstract:

Human middle-ear is the key component of the auditory system. Its function is to transfer the sound waves through the ear canal to provide sufficient stimulus to the fluids of the inner ear. Degradation of the ossicles that transmit these sound waves from the eardrum to the inner ear leads to hearing loss. This problem can be overcome by replacing one or more of these ossicles by middleear prosthesis. Designing such prosthesis requires a comprehensive knowledge of the biomechanics of the middle-ear. There are many finite element modeling approaches developed to understand the biomechanics of the middle ear. The available models in the literature, involve high computation time. In this paper, we propose a simplified model which provides a reasonably accurate result with much less computational time. Simulation results indicate a maximum sound pressure gain of 10 dB at 5500 Hz.

Keywords: Ear, Ossicles, COMSOL, Stapes.

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9597 Development of a Miniature and Low-Cost IoT-Based Remote Health Monitoring Device

Authors: Sreejith Jayachandran, Mojtaba Ghodsi, Morteza Mohammadzaheri

Abstract:

The modern busy world is running behind new embedded technologies based on computers and software meanwhile some people are unable to monitor their health condition and regular medical check-ups. Some of them postpone medical check-ups due to a lack of time and convenience while others skip these regular evaluations and medical examinations due to huge medical bills and hospital expenses. In this research, we present a device in the telemonitoring system capable of monitoring, checking, and evaluating the health status of the human body remotely through the internet for the needs of all kinds of people. The remote health monitoring device is a microcontroller-based embedded unit. The various types of sensors in this device are connected to the human body, and with the help of an Arduino UNO board, the required analogue data are collected from the sensors. The microcontroller on the Arduino board processes the analogue data collected in this way into digital data and transfers that information to the cloud and stores it there; the processed digital data are then instantly displayed through the LCD attached to the machine. By accessing the cloud storage with a username and password, the concerned person’s health care teams/doctors, and other health staff can collect these data for the assessment and follow-up of that patient. Besides that, the family members/guardians can use and evaluate these data for awareness of the patient's current health status. Moreover, the system is connected to a GPS module. In emergencies, the concerned team can be positioning the patient or the person with this device. The setup continuously evaluates and transfers the data to the cloud and also the user can prefix a normal value range for the evaluation. For example, the blood pressure normal value is universally prefixed between 80/120 mmHg. Similarly, the Remote Health Monitoring System (RHMS) is also allowed to fix the range of values referred to as normal coefficients. This IoT-based miniature system 11×10×10 cm3 with a low weight of 500 gr only consumes 10 mW. This smart monitoring system is manufactured for 100 GBP (British Pound Sterling), and can facilitate the communication between patients and health systems, but also it can be employed for numerous other uses including communication sectors in the aerospace and transportation systems.

Keywords: Embedded Technology, Telemonitoring system, Microcontroller, Arduino UNO, Cloud storage, GPS, RHMS, Remote Health Monitoring System, Alert system.

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9596 Evaluation and Analysis of Lean-Based Manufacturing Equipment and Technology System for Jordanian Industries

Authors: Mohammad D. AL-Tahat, Shahnaz M. Alkhalil

Abstract:

International markets driven forces are changing continuously, therefore companies need to gain a competitive edge in such markets. Improving the company's products, processes and practices is no longer auxiliary. Lean production is a production management philosophy that consolidates work tasks with minimum waste resulting in improved productivity. Lean production practices can be mapped into many production areas. One of these is Manufacturing Equipment and Technology (MET). Many lean production practices can be implemented in MET, namely, specific equipment configurations, total preventive maintenance, visual control, new equipment/ technologies, production process reengineering and shared vision of perfection.The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implementation level of these six practices in Jordanian industries. To achieve that a questionnaire survey has been designed according to five-point Likert scale. The questionnaire is validated through pilot study and through experts review. A sample of 350 Jordanian companies were surveyed, the response rate was 83%. The respondents were asked to rate the extent of implementation for each of practices. A relationship conceptual model is developed, hypotheses are proposed, and consequently the essential statistical analyses are then performed. An assessment tool that enables management to monitor the progress and the effectiveness of lean practices implementation is designed and presented. Consequently, the results show that the average implementation level of lean practices in MET is 77%, Jordanian companies are implementing successfully the considered lean production practices, and the presented model has Cronbach-s alpha value of 0.87 which is good evidence on model consistency and results validation.

Keywords: Lean Production, SME applications, Visual Control, New equipment/technologies, Specific equipment configurations, Jordan

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9595 Synchronization between the Slow Oscillations in the Human Cardiovascular System

Authors: M. D. Prokhorov, V. I. Ponomarenko, A. S. Karavaev, A. R. Kiselev, V. I. Gridnev

Abstract:

Synchronization between the slow oscillations of heart rate and blood pressure having in humans a basic frequency close to 0.1 Hz is investigated. A method is proposed for quantitative estimation of synchronization between these oscillating processes based on calculation of relative time of phase synchronization of oscillations. It is shown that healthy subjects exhibit in average substantially longer epochs of synchronization between the slow oscillations in heart rate and blood pressure than patients after acute myocardial infarction

Keywords: Cardiovascular system, slow oscillating processes, synchronization.

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9594 Determination of Severe Loading Condition at Critical System Cascading Collapse Considering the Effect of Protection System Hidden Failure

Authors: N. A. Salim, M. M. Othman, I. Musirin, M. S. Serwan

Abstract:

Hidden failure in a protection system has been recognized as one of the main reasons which may cause to a power system instability leading to a system cascading collapse. This paper presents a computationally systematic approach used to obtain the estimated average probability of a system cascading collapse by considering the effect of probability hidden failure in a protection system. The estimated average probability of a system cascading collapse is then used to determine the severe loading condition contributing to the higher risk of critical system cascading collapse. This information is essential to the system utility since it will assist the operator to determine the highest point of increased system loading condition prior to the event of critical system cascading collapse.

Keywords: Critical system cascading collapse, protection system hidden failure, severe loading condition.

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9593 Public Squares and Their Potential for Social Interactions: A Case Study of Historical Public Squares in Tehran

Authors: Asma Mehan

Abstract:

Under the thrust of technological changes, population growth and vehicular traffic, Iranian historical squares have lost their significance and they are no longer the main social nodes of the society. This research focuses on how historical public squares can inspire designers to enhance social interactions among citizens in Iranian urban context. Moreover, the recent master plan of Tehran demonstrates the lack of public spaces designed for the purpose of people’s social gatherings. For filling this gap, first the current situation of 7 selected primary historical public squares in Tehran including Sabze Meydan, Arg, Topkhaneh, Baherstan, Mokhber-al-dole, Rah Ahan and Hassan Abad have been compared. Later, the influencing elements on social interactions of the public squares such as subjective factors (human relationships and memories) and objective factors (natural and built environment) have been investigated. As a conclusion, some strategies are proposed for improving social interactions in historical public squares like; holding cultural, national, athletic and religious events, defining different and new functions in public squares’ surrounding, increasing pedestrian routs, reviving the collective memory, demonstrating the historical importance of square, eliminating visual obstacles across the square, organization the natural elements of the square, appropriate pavement for social activities. Finally, it is argued that the combination of all influencing factors which are: human interactions, natural elements and built environment criteria will lead to enhance the historical public squares’ potential for social interaction.

Keywords: Historical Square, Iranian Public Square, Social Interaction, Tehran.

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9592 A CBR System to New Product Development: An Application for Hearing Devices Design

Authors: J.L. Castro, K. Benghazi, M.V. Hurtado, M. Navarro, J.M. Zurita

Abstract:

Nowadays, quick technological changes force companies to develop innovative products in an increasingly competitive environment. Therefore, how to enhance the time of new product development is very important. This design problem often lacks the exact formula for getting it, and highly depends upon human designers- past experiences. For these reasons, in this work, a Casebased reasoning (CBR) system to assist in new product development is proposed. When a case is recovered from the case base, the system will take into account not only the attribute-s specific value and how important it is. It will also take into account if the attribute has a positive influence over the product development. Hence the manufacturing time will be improved. This information will be introduced as a new concept called “adaptability". An application to this method for hearing instrument new design illustrates the proposed approach.

Keywords: Case based reasoning, Fuzzy logic, New product development, Retrieval stage, Similarity.

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9591 Efficient Sensors Selection Algorithm in Cyber Physical System

Authors: Ma-Wubin, Deng-Su, Huang Hongbin, Chen-Jian, Wu-Yahun, Li-zhuo

Abstract:

Cyber physical system (CPS) for target tracking, military surveillance, human health monitoring, and vehicle detection all require maximizing the utility and saving the energy. Sensor selection is one of the most important parts of CPS. Sensor selection problem (SSP) is concentrating to balance the tradeoff between the number of sensors which we used and the utility which we will get. In this paper, we propose a performance constrained slide windows (PCSW) based algorithm for SSP in CPS. we present results of extensive simulations that we have carried out to test and validate the PCSW algorithms when we track a target, Experiment shows that the PCSW based algorithm improved the performance including selecting time and communication times for selecting.

Keywords: Cyber physical system, sensor selection problem, PCSW based algorithm.

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9590 The Aspect of the Human Bias in Decision Making within Quality Management Systems & LEAN Theory

Authors: Adriana Ávila Zúñiga Nordfjeld

Abstract:

This paper provides a literature review to document the state of the art with respect to handling “human bias” in decision making within the established quality management systems (QMS) and LEAN theory, in the context of shipbuilding. Previous research shows that in shipbuilding there is a huge deviation from the planned man-hours under the project management to the actual man-hours used because of errors in planning and reworks caused by human bias in the information flows, among others. This reduces the efficiency, and increases operational costs. Thus, the research question is how QMS and LEAN handle biases. The findings show the gap in studying the integration of methods to handle human bias in decision making into QMS and lean, not only within shipbuilding, but in general. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed for researchers and practitioners in the areas of decision making, QMS and LEAN, and future research is suggested.

Keywords: Human bias, decision making, LEAN Shipbuilding, quality management systems.

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9589 Method for Auto-Calibrate Projector and Color-Depth Systems for Spatial Augmented Reality Applications

Authors: R. Estrada, A. Henriquez, R. Becerra, C. Laguna

Abstract:

Spatial Augmented Reality is a variation of Augmented Reality where the Head-Mounted Display is not required. This variation of Augmented Reality is useful in cases where the need for a Head-Mounted Display itself is a limitation. To achieve this, Spatial Augmented Reality techniques substitute the technological elements of Augmented Reality; the virtual world is projected onto a physical surface. To create an interactive spatial augmented experience, the application must be aware of the spatial relations that exist between its core elements. In this case, the core elements are referred to as a projection system and an input system, and the process to achieve this spatial awareness is called system calibration. The Spatial Augmented Reality system is considered calibrated if the projected virtual world scale is similar to the real-world scale, meaning that a virtual object will maintain its perceived dimensions when projected to the real world. Also, the input system is calibrated if the application knows the relative position of a point in the projection plane and the RGB-depth sensor origin point. Any kind of projection technology can be used, light-based projectors, close-range projectors, and screens, as long as it complies with the defined constraints; the method was tested on different configurations. The proposed procedure does not rely on a physical marker, minimizing the human intervention on the process. The tests are made using a Kinect V2 as an input sensor and several projection devices. In order to test the method, the constraints defined were applied to a variety of physical configurations; once the method was executed, some variables were obtained to measure the method performance. It was demonstrated that the method obtained can solve different arrangements, giving the user a wide range of setup possibilities.

Keywords: Color depth sensor, human computer interface, interactive surface, spatial augmented reality.

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9588 Making Computer Learn Color

Authors: Rinaldo Christian Tanumara, Ming Xie

Abstract:

Color categorization is shared among members in a society. This allows communication of color, especially when using natural language such as English. Hence sociable robot, to live coexist with human in human society, must also have the shared color categorization. To achieve this, many works have been done relying on modeling of human color perception and mathematical complexities. In contrast, in this work, the computer as brain of the robot learns color categorization through interaction with humans without much mathematical complexities.

Keywords: Color categorization, color learning, machinelearning.

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9587 Real-time Haptic Modeling and Simulation for Prosthetic Insertion

Authors: Catherine A. Todd, Fazel Naghdy

Abstract:

In this work a surgical simulator is produced which enables a training otologist to conduct a virtual, real-time prosthetic insertion. The simulator provides the Ear, Nose and Throat surgeon with real-time visual and haptic responses during virtual cochlear implantation into a 3D model of the human Scala Tympani (ST). The parametric model is derived from measured data as published in the literature and accounts for human morphological variance, such as differences in cochlear shape, enabling patient-specific pre- operative assessment. Haptic modeling techniques use real physical data and insertion force measurements, to develop a force model which mimics the physical behavior of an implant as it collides with the ST walls during an insertion. Output force profiles are acquired from the insertion studies conducted in the work, to validate the haptic model. The simulator provides the user with real-time, quantitative insertion force information and associated electrode position as user inserts the virtual implant into the ST model. The information provided by this study may also be of use to implant manufacturers for design enhancements as well as for training specialists in optimal force administration, using the simulator. The paper reports on the methods for anatomical modeling and haptic algorithm development, with focus on simulator design, development, optimization and validation. The techniques may be transferrable to other medical applications that involve prosthetic device insertions where user vision is obstructed.

Keywords: Haptic modeling, medical device insertion, real-time visualization of prosthetic implantation, surgical simulation.

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9586 Gesture Recognition by Data Fusion of Time-of-Flight and Color Cameras

Authors: Piercarlo Dondi, Luca Lombardi, Marco Porta

Abstract:

In the last years numerous applications of Human- Computer Interaction have exploited the capabilities of Time-of- Flight cameras for achieving more and more comfortable and precise interactions. In particular, gesture recognition is one of the most active fields. This work presents a new method for interacting with a virtual object in a 3D space. Our approach is based on the fusion of depth data, supplied by a ToF camera, with color information, supplied by a HD webcam. The hand detection procedure does not require any learning phase and is able to concurrently manage gestures of two hands. The system is robust to the presence in the scene of other objects or people, thanks to the use of the Kalman filter for maintaining the tracking of the hands.

Keywords: Gesture recognition, human-computer interaction, Time-of-Flight camera.

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9585 The Relationship between Human Resource Practices and Firm Performance Case Study: The Philippine Firms Empirical Assessment

Authors: Bella Llego

Abstract:

This study on “The relationship between human resource practices and Firm Performance is a speculative investigation research. The purpose of this research are (1) to provide and to understand of HRM history and current HR practices in the Philippines (2) to examine the extent of HRM practice among its Philippine firms effectively; (3) to investigate the relationship between HRM practice and firm performance in the Philippines. The survey was done to 233 companies in the Philippines. The questionnaire is divided into three parts a) to gathers information on the profile of respondent, b) to measures the extent to which human resource practices are being practiced in their organization c) to measure the organizations performance as perceived by human resource managers and top executives as compared with their competitors in the same industry. As a result an interesting finding was that almost 50 percent of firm performance is affected by the extent of implementation of HR practices in the firm. These results show that HR practices that are in line with the organization’s strategic goals are important for future performance.

Keywords: Economic Growth, Firm performance, Human Resource Practices, Management.

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9584 Integrating Visual Modeling throughout the Computer Science Curriculum

Authors: Carol B.Collins, M. H. N Tabrizi

Abstract:

The purposes of this paper are to (1) promote excellence in computer science by suggesting a cohesive innovative approach to fill well documented deficiencies in current computer science education, (2) justify (using the authors- and others anecdotal evidence from both the classroom and the real world) why this approach holds great potential to successfully eliminate the deficiencies, (3) invite other professionals to join the authors in proof of concept research. The authors- experiences, though anecdotal, strongly suggest that a new approach involving visual modeling technologies should allow computer science programs to retain a greater percentage of prospective and declared majors as students become more engaged learners, more successful problem-solvers, and better prepared as programmers. In addition, the graduates of such computer science programs will make greater contributions to the profession as skilled problem-solvers. Instead of wearily rememorizing code as they move to the next course, students will have the problem-solving skills to think and work in more sophisticated and creative ways.

Keywords: Algorithms, CASE, Problem-solving, UML.

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9583 An Exploration of Brand Storytelling in a Video Sharing Social Network

Authors: Charmaine du Plessis

Abstract:

The brand storytelling themes and emotional appeals of three major global brands were analysed by means of visual rhetoric in a digital environment focusing on the ethos communication technique. A well-known framework of five basic brand personality dimensions was used to delineate the analysis. Brand storytelling as a branding technique is becoming increasingly popular, especially since all brands can tell a story to connect and engage with consumers on an emotional level. Social media have changed the way in which brand stories are shared with online consumers, while social video networking sites in particular create an opportunity to share brand stories with a much greater target audience through electronic word of mouth (eWOM). The findings not only confirm three dimensions in the traditional brand personality framework, but can also serve as a heuristic tool for other researchers analyzing brand storytelling in a social video sharing network environment.

Keywords: Communication technique, visual rhetoric, social video sharing network, brand storytelling.

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