Search results for: health information
2338 Image Steganography Using Least Significant Bit Technique
Authors: Preeti Kumari, Ridhi Kapoor
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In any communication, security is the most important issue in today’s world. In this paper, steganography is the process of hiding the important data into other data, such as text, audio, video, and image. The interest in this topic is to provide availability, confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of data. The steganographic technique that embeds hides content with unremarkable cover media so as not to provoke eavesdropper’s suspicion or third party and hackers. In which many applications of compression, encryption, decryption, and embedding methods are used for digital image steganography. Due to compression, the nose produces in the image. To sustain noise in the image, the LSB insertion technique is used. The performance of the proposed embedding system with respect to providing security to secret message and robustness is discussed. We also demonstrate the maximum steganography capacity and visual distortion.Keywords: Steganography, LSB, encoding, information hiding, color image.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 10922337 Topology-Based Character Recognition Method for Coin Date Detection
Authors: Xingyu Pan, Laure Tougne
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For recognizing coins, the graved release date is important information to identify precisely its monetary type. However, reading characters in coins meets much more obstacles than traditional character recognition tasks in the other fields, such as reading scanned documents or license plates. To address this challenging issue in a numismatic context, we propose a training-free approach dedicated to detection and recognition of the release date of the coin. In the first step, the date zone is detected by comparing histogram features; in the second step, a topology-based algorithm is introduced to recognize coin numbers with various font types represented by binary gradient map. Our method obtained a recognition rate of 92% on synthetic data and of 44% on real noised data.
Keywords: Coin, detection, character recognition, topology.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14772336 Chinese Preferences of Hotel Websites: the Differences among Different Regions
Authors: Shanshan Qi, Rob Law, Dimitrios Buhalis
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The fast technology and economic growth in China has attracted global attention in its tourism development. This study makes an effort on investigating China-s online tourism market and the Chinese online travelers- perceptions of hotel websites. The findings are expected to better understand Chinese customers- online preference and identified the differences among online travelers from different regions in the country. Empirical findings showed online reservation information is the most important factor to Chinese customers, and tourists from different regions of China have perception difference on user-friendly factor. The findings benefit hoteliers from understanding their websites development and formulating more appropriate online strategies to meet the requirements of Chinese travelers.Keywords: Chinese online travelers, Hotel websites, Regions of China, Website usefulness
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13892335 Automated Stereophotogrammetry Data Cleansing
Authors: Stuart Henry, Philip Morrow, John Winder, Bryan Scotney
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The stereophotogrammetry modality is gaining more widespread use in the clinical setting. Registration and visualization of this data, in conjunction with conventional 3D volumetric image modalities, provides virtual human data with textured soft tissue and internal anatomical and structural information. In this investigation computed tomography (CT) and stereophotogrammetry data is acquired from 4 anatomical phantoms and registered using the trimmed iterative closest point (TrICP) algorithm. This paper fully addresses the issue of imaging artifacts around the stereophotogrammetry surface edge using the registered CT data as a reference. Several iterative algorithms are implemented to automatically identify and remove stereophotogrammetry surface edge outliers, improving the overall visualization of the combined stereophotogrammetry and CT data. This paper shows that outliers at the surface edge of stereophotogrammetry data can be successfully removed automatically.
Keywords: Data cleansing, stereophotogrammetry.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 18422334 Modelling of Hydric Behaviour of Textiles
Authors: A. Marolleau, F. Salaun, D. Dupont, H. Gidik, S. Ducept.
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The goal of this study is to analyze the hydric behaviour of textiles which can impact significantly the comfort of the wearer. Indeed, fabrics can be adapted for different climate if hydric and thermal behaviors are known. In this study, fabrics are only submitted to hydric variations. Sorption and desorption isotherms obtained from the dynamic vapour sorption apparatus (DVS) are fitted with the parallel exponential kinetics (PEK), the Hailwood-Horrobin (HH) and the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) models. One of the major finding is the relationship existing between PEK and HH models. During slow and fast processes, the sorption of water molecules on the polymer can be in monolayer and multilayer form. According to the BET model, moisture regain, a physical property of textiles, show a linear correlation with the total amount of water taken in monolayer. This study provides potential information of the end uses of these fabrics according to the selected activity level.
Keywords: Comfort, hydric properties, modelling, underwear.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7502333 Effects of Irradiation to Morphological, Physicochemical and Biocompatibility Properties of Carrageenan
Authors: Jhalique Jane R. Fojas, Rizalinda L. De Leon, Lucille V. Abad
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The characterization of κ-carrageenan could provide a better understanding of its functions in biological, medical and industrial applications. Chemical and physical analyses of carrageenan from seaweeds, Euchema cottonii L., were done to offer information on its properties and the effects of Co-60 γ-irradiation on its thermochemical characteristics. The structural and morphological characteristics of κ-carrageenan were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) while the composition, molecular weight and thermal properties were determined using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR), gel permeation chromatography (GPC), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Further chemical analysis was done using hydrogen-1 nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and functional characteristics in terms of biocompatibility were evaluated using cytotoxicity test.Keywords: Biocompatibility, carrageenan, DSC, FTIR, GPC, irradiation, NMR, physicochemical, SEM, TGA.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25582332 Integrating Computer Games with Mathematics Instruction in Elementary School- An Analysis of Motivation, Achievement, and Pupil-Teacher Interactions
Authors: Kuo Hung Huang, Chong-Ji Ke
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The purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of computer games on the mathematics instruction. First, the research designed and implemented the web-based games according to the content of existing textbook. And the researcher collected and analyzed the information related to the mathematics instruction integrating the computer games. In this study, the researcher focused on the learning motivation of mathematics, mathematics achievement, and pupil-teacher interactions in classroom. The results showed that students under instruction integrating computer games significantly improved in motivation and achievement. The teacher tended to use less direct teaching and provide more time for student-s active learning.Keywords: computer games, mathematics instruction, pupil-teacher interaction, technology-enhanced learning
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19262331 Non-Invasive Capillary Blood Flow Measurement: Laser Speckle and Laser Doppler
Authors: A.K.Jayanthy, N.Sujatha, M.Ramasubba Reddy
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Microcirculation is essential for the proper supply of oxygen and nutritive substances to the biological tissue and the removal of waste products of metabolism. The determination of blood flow in the capillaries is therefore of great interest to clinicians. A comparison has been carried out using the developed non-invasive, non-contact and whole field laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI) based technique and as well as a commercially available laser Doppler blood flowmeter (LDF) to evaluate blood flow at the finger tip and elbow and is presented here. The LSCI technique gives more quantitative information on the velocity of blood when compared to the perfusion values obtained using the LDF. Measurement of blood flow in capillaries can be of great interest to clinicians in the diagnosis of vascular diseases of the upper extremities.Keywords: Blood flow, Laser Doppler flowmeter, LSCI, speckle
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 25662330 IDEL - A simple Instructional Design Tool for E-Learning
Authors: A. Zimnas, D. Kleftouris, N. Valkanos
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Today-s Information and Knowledge Society has placed new demands on education and a new paradigm of education is required. Learning, facilitated by educational systems and the pedagogic process, is globally undergoing dramatic changes. The aim of this paper is the development of a simple Instructional Design tool for E-Learning, named IDEL (Instructional Design for Electronic Learning), that provides the educators with facilities to create their own courses with the essential educational material and manage communication with students. It offers flexibility in the way of learning and provides ease in employment and reusability of resources. IDEL is a web-based Instructional System and is designed to facilitate course design process in accordance with the ADDIE model and the instructional design principles with emphasis placed on the use of technology enhanced learning. An example case of using the ADDIE model to systematically develop a course and its implementation with the aid of IDEL is given and some results from student evaluation of the tool and the course are reported.Keywords: Education, E-learning, Instructional Design.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20642329 Human Behavior Modeling in Video Surveillance of Conference Halls
Authors: Nour Charara, Hussein Charara, Omar Abou Khaled, Hani Abdallah, Elena Mugellini
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In this paper, we present a human behavior modeling approach in videos scenes. This approach is used to model the normal behaviors in the conference halls. We exploited the Probabilistic Latent Semantic Analysis technique (PLSA), using the 'Bag-of-Terms' paradigm, as a tool for exploring video data to learn the model by grouping similar activities. Our term vocabulary consists of 3D spatio-temporal patch groups assigned by the direction of motion. Our video representation ensures the spatial information, the object trajectory, and the motion. The main importance of this approach is that it can be adapted to detect abnormal behaviors in order to ensure and enhance human security.Keywords: Activity modeling, clustering, PLSA, video representation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 8422328 Navigation and Guidance System Architectures for Small Unmanned Aircraft Applications
Authors: Roberto Sabatini, Celia Bartel, Anish Kaharkar, Tesheen Shaid, Subramanian Ramasamy
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Two multisensor system architectures for navigation and guidance of small Unmanned Aircraft (UA) are presented and compared. The main objective of our research is to design a compact, light and relatively inexpensive system capable of providing the required navigation performance in all phases of flight of small UA, with a special focus on precision approach and landing, where Vision Based Navigation (VBN) techniques can be fully exploited in a multisensor integrated architecture. Various existing techniques for VBN are compared and the Appearance-Based Navigation (ABN) approach is selected for implementation. Feature extraction and optical flow techniques are employed to estimate flight parameters such as roll angle, pitch angle, deviation from the runway centreline and body rates. Additionally, we address the possible synergies of VBN, Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and MEMS-IMU (Micro-Electromechanical System Inertial Measurement Unit) sensors, and the use of Aircraft Dynamics Model (ADM) to provide additional information suitable to compensate for the shortcomings of VBN and MEMS-IMU sensors in high-dynamics attitude determination tasks. An Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) is developed to fuse the information provided by the different sensors and to provide estimates of position, velocity and attitude of the UA platform in real-time. The key mathematical models describing the two architectures i.e., VBN-IMU-GNSS (VIG) system and VIGADM (VIGA) system are introduced. The first architecture uses VBN and GNSS to augment the MEMS-IMU. The second mode also includes the ADM to provide augmentation of the attitude channel. Simulation of these two modes is carried out and the performances of the two schemes are compared in a small UA integration scheme (i.e., AEROSONDE UA platform) exploring a representative cross-section of this UA operational flight envelope, including high dynamics manoeuvres and CAT-I to CAT-III precision approach tasks. Simulation of the first system architecture (i.e., VIG system) shows that the integrated system can reach position, velocity and attitude accuracies compatible with the Required Navigation Performance (RNP) requirements. Simulation of the VIGA system also shows promising results since the achieved attitude accuracy is higher using the VBN-IMU-ADM than using VBN-IMU only. A comparison of VIG and VIGA system is also performed and it shows that the position and attitude accuracy of the proposed VIG and VIGA systems are both compatible with the RNP specified in the various UA flight phases, including precision approach down to CAT-II.
Keywords: Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), Lowcost Navigation Sensors, MEMS Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Vision Based Navigation.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 32152327 Secure Image Retrieval Based On Orthogonal Decomposition under Cloud Environment
Authors: Yanyan Xu, Lizhi Xiong, Zhengquan Xu, Li Jiang
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In order to protect data privacy, image with sensitive or private information needs to be encrypted before being outsourced to the cloud. However, this causes difficulties in image retrieval and data management. A secure image retrieval method based on orthogonal decomposition is proposed in the paper. The image is divided into two different components, for which encryption and feature extraction are executed separately. As a result, cloud server can extract features from an encrypted image directly and compare them with the features of the queried images, so that the user can thus obtain the image. Different from other methods, the proposed method has no special requirements to encryption algorithms. Experimental results prove that the proposed method can achieve better security and better retrieval precision.
Keywords: Secure image retrieval, secure search, orthogonal decomposition, secure cloud computing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 21152326 Experimental Observation on Air-Conditioning Using Radiant Chilled Ceiling in Hot Humid Climate
Authors: Ashmin Aryal, Pipat Chaiwiwatworakul, Surapong Chirarattananon
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Radiant chilled ceiling (RCC) has been perceived to save more energy and provide better thermal comfort than the traditional air conditioning system. However, its application has been rather limited by some reasons e.g., the scarce information about the thermal characteristic in the radiant room and the local climate influence on the system performance, etc. To bridge such gap, an office-like experiment room with a RCC was constructed in the hot and humid climate of Thailand. This paper presents exemplarily results from the RCC experiments to give an insight into the thermal environment in a radiant room and the cooling load associated to maintain the room's comfort condition. It gave a demonstration of the RCC system operation for its application to achieve thermal comfort in offices in a hot humid climate, as well.
Keywords: Radiant chilled ceiling, thermal comfort, cooling load, outdoor air unit.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 5012325 Image Compression Using Hybrid Vector Quantization
Authors: S.Esakkirajan, T. Veerakumar, V. Senthil Murugan, P.Navaneethan
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In this paper, image compression using hybrid vector quantization scheme such as Multistage Vector Quantization (MSVQ) and Pyramid Vector Quantization (PVQ) are introduced. A combined MSVQ and PVQ are utilized to take advantages provided by both of them. In the wavelet decomposition of the image, most of the information often resides in the lowest frequency subband. MSVQ is applied to significant low frequency coefficients. PVQ is utilized to quantize the coefficients of other high frequency subbands. The wavelet coefficients are derived using lifting scheme. The main aim of the proposed scheme is to achieve high compression ratio without much compromise in the image quality. The results are compared with the existing image compression scheme using MSVQ.Keywords: Lifting Scheme, Multistage Vector Quantization and Pyramid Vector Quantization.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19382324 Transmission Mains Earthing Design and Concrete Pole Deployments
Authors: M. Nassereddine, J. Rizk, A. Hellany, M. Nagrial
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The High Voltage (HV) transmission mains into the community necessitate earthing design to ensure safety compliance of the system. Concrete poles are widely used within HV transmission mains; which could have an impact on the earth grid impedance and input impedance of the system from the fault point of view. This paper provides information on concrete pole earthing to enhance the split factor of the system; further, it discusses the deployment of concrete structures in high soil resistivity area to reduce the earth grid system of the plant. This paper introduces the cut off soil resistivity SC ρ when replacing timber poles with concrete ones.
Keywords: Concrete Poles, Earth Grid, EPR, High Voltage, Soil Resistivity.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 36042323 Designing an Irregular Tensegrity as a Monumental Object
Authors: Buntara Sthenly Gan
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A novel and versatile numerical technique to solve a self-stress equilibrium state is adopted herein as a form-finding procedure for an irregular tensegrity structure. The numerical form-finding scheme of a tensegrity structure uses only the connectivity matrix and prototype tension coefficient vector as the initial guess solution. Any information on the symmetrical geometry or other predefined initial structural conditions is not necessary to get the solution in the form-finding process. An eight-node initial condition example is presented to demonstrate the efficiency and robustness of the proposed method in the form-finding of an irregular tensegrity structure. Based on the conception from the form-finding of an eight-node irregular tensegrity structure, a monumental object is designed by considering the real world situation such as self-weight, wind and earthquake loadings.
Keywords: Tensegrity, Form-finding, Design, Irregular, Self-stress, Force density method.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17062322 Automatic Extraction of Water Bodies Using Whole-R Method
Authors: Nikhat Nawaz, S. Srinivasulu, P. Kesava Rao
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Feature extraction plays an important role in many remote sensing applications. Automatic extraction of water bodies is of great significance in many remote sensing applications like change detection, image retrieval etc. This paper presents a procedure for automatic extraction of water information from remote sensing images. The algorithm uses the relative location of R color component of the chromaticity diagram. This method is then integrated with the effectiveness of the spatial scale transformation of whole method. The whole method is based on water index fitted from spectral library. Experimental results demonstrate the improved accuracy and effectiveness of the integrated method for automatic extraction of water bodies.
Keywords: Chromaticity, Feature Extraction, Remote Sensing, Spectral library, Water Index.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 33702321 Rough Neural Networks in Adapting Cellular Automata Rule for Reducing Image Noise
Authors: Yasser F. Hassan
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The reduction or removal of noise in a color image is an essential part of image processing, whether the final information is used for human perception or for an automatic inspection and analysis. This paper describes the modeling system based on the rough neural network model to adaptive cellular automata for various image processing tasks and noise remover. In this paper, we consider the problem of object processing in colored image using rough neural networks to help deriving the rules which will be used in cellular automata for noise image. The proposed method is compared with some classical and recent methods. The results demonstrate that the new model is capable of being trained to perform many different tasks, and that the quality of these results is comparable or better than established specialized algorithms.
Keywords: Rough Sets, Rough Neural Networks, Cellular Automata, Image Processing.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 19492320 Efficient Signal Detection Using QRD-M Based On Channel Condition in MIMO-OFDM System
Authors: Jae-Jeong Kim, Ki-Ro Kim, Hyoung-Kyu Song
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In this paper, we propose an efficient signal detector that switches M parameter of QRD-M detection scheme is proposed for MIMO-OFDM system. The proposed detection scheme calculates the threshold by 1-norm condition number and then switches M parameter of QRD-M detection scheme according to channel information. If channel condition is bad, the parameter M is set to high value to increase the accuracy of detection. If channel condition is good, the parameter M is set to low value to reduce complexity of detection. Therefore, the proposed detection scheme has better tradeoff between BER performance and complexity than the conventional detection scheme. The simulation result shows that the complexity of proposed detection scheme is lower than QRD-M detection scheme with similar BER performance.
Keywords: MIMO-OFDM, QRD-M, Channel condition.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 20222319 Structural Properties of Polar Liquids in Binary Mixture Using Microwave Technique
Authors: Shagufta Tabassum, V. P. Pawar
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The study of static dielectric properties in a binary mixture of 1,2 dichloroethane (DE) and n,n dimethylformamide (DMF) polar liquids has been carried out in the frequency range of 10 MHz to 30 GHz for 11 different concentration using time domain reflectometry technique at 10ºC temperature. The dielectric relaxation study of solute-solvent mixture at microwave frequencies gives information regarding the creation of monomers and multimers as well as interaction between the molecules of the binary mixture. The least squares fit method is used to determine the values of dielectric parameters such as static dielectric constant (ε0), dielectric constant at high frequency (ε∞) and relaxation time (τ).
Keywords: Excess parameters, relaxation time, static dielectric constant, time domain reflectometry.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 7252318 An Application of the Data Mining Methods with Decision Rule
Authors: Xun Ge, Jianhua Gong
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ankings for output of Chinese main agricultural commodity in the world for 1978, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2006, 2007 and 2008 have been released in United Nations FAO Database. Unfortunately, where the ranking of output of Chinese cotton lint in the world for 2008 was missed. This paper uses sequential data mining methods with decision rules filling this gap. This new data mining method will be help to give a further improvement for United Nations FAO Database.
Keywords: Ranking, output of the main agricultural commodity, gross domestic product, decision table, information system, data mining, decision rule
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 17102317 Curvelet Transform Based Two Class Motor Imagery Classification
Authors: Nebi Gedik
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One of the important parts of the brain-computer interface (BCI) studies is the classification of motor imagery (MI) obtained by electroencephalography (EEG). The major goal is to provide non-muscular communication and control via assistive technologies to people with severe motor disorders so that they can communicate with the outside world. In this study, an EEG signal classification approach based on multiscale and multi-resolution transform method is presented. The proposed approach is used to decompose the EEG signal containing motor image information (right- and left-hand movement imagery). The decomposition process is performed using curvelet transform which is a multiscale and multiresolution analysis method, and the transform output was evaluated as feature data. The obtained feature set is subjected to feature selection process to obtain the most effective ones using t-test methods. SVM and k-NN algorithms are assigned for classification.
Keywords: motor imagery, EEG, curvelet transform, SVM, k-NN
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6232316 Application and Limitation of Parallel Modelingin Multidimensional Sequential Pattern
Authors: Mahdi Esmaeili, Mansour Tarafdar
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The goal of data mining algorithms is to discover useful information embedded in large databases. One of the most important data mining problems is discovery of frequently occurring patterns in sequential data. In a multidimensional sequence each event depends on more than one dimension. The search space is quite large and the serial algorithms are not scalable for very large datasets. To address this, it is necessary to study scalable parallel implementations of sequence mining algorithms. In this paper, we present a model for multidimensional sequence and describe a parallel algorithm based on data parallelism. Simulation experiments show good load balancing and scalable and acceptable speedup over different processors and problem sizes and demonstrate that our approach can works efficiently in a real parallel computing environment.Keywords: Sequential Patterns, Data Mining, ParallelAlgorithm, Multidimensional Sequence Data
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14772315 Visual Hull with Imprecise Input
Authors: Peng He
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Imprecision is a long-standing problem in CAD design and high accuracy image-based reconstruction applications. The visual hull which is the closed silhouette equivalent shape of the objects of interest is an important concept in image-based reconstruction. We extend the domain-theoretic framework, which is a robust and imprecision capturing geometric model, to analyze the imprecision in the output shape when the input vertices are given with imprecision. Under this framework, we show an efficient algorithm to generate the 2D partial visual hull which represents the exact information of the visual hull with only basic imprecision assumptions. We also show how the visual hull from polyhedra problem can be efficiently solved in the context of imprecise input.Keywords: Geometric Domain, Computer Vision, Computational Geometry, Visual Hull, Image-Based reconstruction, Imprecise Input, CAD object
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14772314 Water End-Use Classification with Contemporaneous Water-Energy Data and Deep Learning Network
Authors: Khoi A. Nguyen, Rodney A. Stewart, Hong Zhang
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‘Water-related energy’ is energy use which is directly or indirectly influenced by changes to water use. Informatics applying a range of mathematical, statistical and rule-based approaches can be used to reveal important information on demand from the available data provided at second, minute or hourly intervals. This study aims to combine these two concepts to improve the current water end use disaggregation problem through applying a wide range of most advanced pattern recognition techniques to analyse the concurrent high-resolution water-energy consumption data. The obtained results have shown that recognition accuracies of all end-uses have significantly increased, especially for mechanised categories, including clothes washer, dishwasher and evaporative air cooler where over 95% of events were correctly classified.
Keywords: Deep learning network, smart metering, water end use, water-energy data.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13632313 Non-Parametric, Unconditional Quantile Estimation of Efficiency in Microfinance Institutions
Authors: Komlan Sedzro
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We apply the non-parametric, unconditional, hyperbolic order-α quantile estimator to appraise the relative efficiency of Microfinance Institutions in Africa in terms of outreach. Our purpose is to verify if these institutions, which must constantly try to strike a compromise between their social role and financial sustainability are operationally efficient. Using data on African MFIs extracted from the Microfinance Information eXchange (MIX) database and covering the 2004 to 2006 periods, we find that more efficient MFIs are also the most profitable. This result is in line with the view that social performance is not in contradiction with the pursuit of excellent financial performance. Our results also show that large MFIs in terms of asset and those charging the highest fees are not necessarily the most efficient.Keywords: Data envelopment analysis, microfinance institutions, quantile estimation of efficiency, social and financial performance.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 16792312 Blind Speech Separation Using SRP-PHAT Localization and Optimal Beamformer in Two-Speaker Environments
Authors: Hai Quang Hong Dam, Hai Ho, Minh Hoang Le Ngo
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This paper investigates the problem of blind speech separation from the speech mixture of two speakers. A voice activity detector employing the Steered Response Power - Phase Transform (SRP-PHAT) is presented for detecting the activity information of speech sources and then the desired speech signals are extracted from the speech mixture by using an optimal beamformer. For evaluation, the algorithm effectiveness, a simulation using real speech recordings had been performed in a double-talk situation where two speakers are active all the time. Evaluations show that the proposed blind speech separation algorithm offers a good interference suppression level whilst maintaining a low distortion level of the desired signal.Keywords: Blind speech separation, voice activity detector, SRP-PHAT, optimal beamformer.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 13882311 Secured Mutual Authentication Protocol for Radio Frequency Identification Systems
Authors: C. Kalamani, S. Sowmiya, S. Dheivambigai, G. Harihara Sudhan
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Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a blooming technology which uses radio frequency to track the objects. This technology transmits signals between tag and reader to fetch information from the tag with a unique serial identity. Generally, the drawbacks of RFID technology are high cost, high consumption of power and weak authentication systems between a reader and a tag. The proposed protocol utilizes less dynamic power using reversible truncated multipliers which are implemented in RFID tag-reader with mutual authentication protocol system to reduce both leakage and dynamic power consumption. The proposed system was simulated using Xilinx and Cadence tools.Keywords: Mutual authentication, protocol, reversible gates, RFID.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 6812310 Interest Rate of Managers and Tourism Officials over e-Tourism (Electronic Tourism) Development (Case Study of Lenjan City)
Authors: Akram Shahriyari, Reza Mokhtari Malek Abadi
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E-tourism is among the issues that have recently been entered into the field of tourism. In order to achieve this type of tourism, Information and Communications Technology or ICT infrastructures as well as Co-governmental organizations and tourism resources are important. In this study, the opinions of managers and tourism officials about the e-tourism in Lenjan city were measured; it also surveyed the impact of level of digital literacy of managers and tourism officials on attracting tourists in Lenjan city. This study was conducted in Lenjan, one of the environs of the Esfahan province. This study is a documentary – survey and the sources include library resources and also questionnaires. The results obtained indicate that if managers use ICT, it may help E-tourism to be developed in the region, and increasing managers’ beliefs on e-tourism and upgrading their level of digital literacy may affect e-tourism development.
Keywords: ICT, e-tourism, opinion of managers and officials.
Procedia APA BibTeX Chicago EndNote Harvard JSON MLA RIS XML ISO 690 PDF Downloads 14712309 Socio-Economic Determinants of Physical Activity of Non-Manual Workers, Including the Early Senior Group, from the City of Wroclaw in Poland
Authors: Daniel Puciato, Piotr Oleśniewicz, Julita Markiewicz-Patkowska, Krzysztof Widawski, Michał Rozpara, Władysław Mynarski, Agnieszka Gawlik, Małgorzata Dębska, Soňa Jandová
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Physical activity as a part of people’s everyday life reduces the risk of many diseases, including those induced by lifestyle, e.g. obesity, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, coronary heart disease, degenerative arthritis, and certain types of cancer. That refers particularly to professionally active people, including the early senior group working on non-manual positions. The aim of the study is to evaluate the relationship between physical activity and the socio-economic status of non-manual workers from Wroclaw—one of the biggest cities in Poland, a model setting for such investigations in this part of Europe. The crucial problem in the research is to find out the percentage of respondents who meet the health-related recommendations of the World Health Organization (WHO) concerning the volume, frequency, and intensity of physical activity, as well as to establish if the most important socio-economic factors, such as gender, age, education, marital status, per capita income, savings and debt, determine the compliance with the WHO physical activity recommendations. During the research, conducted in 2013, 1,170 people (611 women and 559 men) aged 21–60 years were examined. A diagnostic poll method was applied to collect the data. Physical activity was measured with the use of the short form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire with extended socio-demographic questions, i.e. concerning gender, age, education, marital status, income, savings or debts. To evaluate the relationship between physical activity and selected socio-economic factors, logistic regression was used (odds ratio statistics). Statistical inference was conducted on the adopted ex ante probability level of p<0.05. The majority of respondents met the volume of physical effort recommended for health benefits. It was particularly noticeable in the case of the examined men. The probability of compliance with the WHO physical activity recommendations was highest for workers aged 21–30 years with secondary or higher education who were single, received highest incomes and had savings. The results indicate the relations between physical activity and socio-economic status in the examined women and men. People with lower socio-economic status (e.g. manual workers) are physically active primarily at work, whereas those better educated and wealthier implement physical effort primarily in their leisure time. Among the investigated subjects, the youngest group of non-manual workers have the best chances to meet the WHO standards of physical activity. The study also confirms that secondary education has a positive effect on the public awareness on the role of physical activity in human life. In general, the analysis of the research indicates that there is a relationship between physical activity and some socio-economic factors of the respondents, such as gender, age, education, marital status, income per capita, and the possession of savings. Although the obtained results cannot be applied for the general population, they show some important trends that will be verified in subsequent studies conducted by the authors of the paper.Keywords: International physical activity questionnaire, non-manual workers, physical activity, socio-economic factors, WHO.
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