Abstract: A digital system is proposed for low power 100-
channel neural recording system in this paper, which consists of 100
amplifiers, 100 analog-to-digital converters (ADC), digital controller
and baseband, transceiver for data link and RF command link. The
proposed system is designed in a 0.18 μm CMOS process and 65 nm
CMOS process.
Abstract: Effective estimation of just noticeable distortion (JND) for images is helpful to increase the efficiency of a compression algorithm in which both the statistical redundancy and the perceptual redundancy should be accurately removed. In this paper, we design a DCT-based model for estimating JND profiles of color images. Based on a mathematical model of measuring the base detection threshold for each DCT coefficient in the color component of color images, the luminance masking adjustment, the contrast masking adjustment, and the cross masking adjustment are utilized for luminance component, and the variance-based masking adjustment based on the coefficient variation in the block is proposed for chrominance components. In order to verify the proposed model, the JND estimator is incorporated into the conventional JPEG coder to improve the compression performance. A subjective and fair viewing test is designed to evaluate the visual quality of the coding image under the specified viewing condition. The simulation results show that the JPEG coder integrated with the proposed DCT-based JND model gives better coding bit rates at visually lossless quality for a variety of color images.
Abstract: In this note, we consider a family of iterative formula for computing the weighted Minskowski inverses AM,N in Minskowski space, and give two kinds of iterations and the necessary and sufficient conditions of the convergence of iterations.
Abstract: 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.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to develop a dynamic cardiac phantom for quality control in myocardial scintigraphy. The dynamic heart phantom constructed only contained the left ventricle, made of elastic material (latex), comprising two cavities: one internal and one external. The data showed a non-significant variation in the values of left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) obtained by varying the heart rate. It was also possible to evaluate the ejection fraction (LVEF) through different arrays of image acquisition and to perform an intercomparison of LVEF by two different scintillation cameras. The results of the quality control tests were satisfactory, showing that they can be used as parameters in future assessments. The new dynamic heart phantom was demonstrated to be effective for use in LVEF measurements. Therefore, the new heart simulator is useful for the quality control of scintigraphic cameras.
Abstract: To judge whether the memristor can be interpreted as
the fourth fundamental circuit element, we propose a variable-relation
criterion of fundamental circuit elements. According to the criterion,
we investigate the nature of three fundamental circuit elements and the
memristor. From the perspective of variables relation, the memristor
builds a direct relation between the voltage across it and the current
through it, instead of a direct relation between the magnetic flux and
the charge. Thus, it is better to characterize the memristor and the
resistor as two special cases of the same fundamental circuit element,
which is the memristive system in Chua-s new framework. Finally, the
definition of memristor is refined according to the difference between
the magnetic flux and the flux linkage.
Abstract: Gabor-based face representation has achieved enormous success in face recognition. This paper addresses a novel algorithm for face recognition using neural networks trained by Gabor features. The system is commenced on convolving a face image with a series of Gabor filter coefficients at different scales and orientations. Two novel contributions of this paper are: scaling of rms contrast and introduction of fuzzily skewed filter. The neural network employed for face recognition is based on the multilayer perceptron (MLP) architecture with backpropagation algorithm and incorporates the convolution filter response of Gabor jet. The effectiveness of the algorithm has been justified over a face database with images captured at different illumination conditions.
Abstract: A new data fusion method called joint probability density matrix (JPDM) is proposed, which can associate and fuse measurements from spatially distributed heterogeneous sensors to identify the real target in a surveillance region. Using the probabilistic grids representation, we numerically combine the uncertainty regions of all the measurements in a general framework. The NP-hard multisensor data fusion problem has been converted to a peak picking problem in the grids map. Unlike most of the existing data fusion method, the JPDM method dose not need association processing, and will not lead to combinatorial explosion. Its convergence to the CRLB with a diminishing grid size has been proved. Simulation results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.
Abstract: This paper presents a fuzzy control system for a three degree of freedom (3-DOF) stabilized platform with explicit decoupling scheme. The system under consideration is a system with strong interactions between three channels. By using the concept of decentralized control, a control structure is developed that is composed of three control loops, each of which is associated with a single-variable fuzzy controller and a decoupling unit. Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy control algorithm is used to implement the fuzzy controller. The decoupling units design is based on the adaptive theory reasoning. Simulation tests were established using Simulink of Matlab. The obtained results have demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed approach. Simulation results are represented in this paper.
Abstract: The effects of irrigation with dairy factory wastewater
on soil properties were investigated at two sites that had received
irrigation for > 60 years. Two adjoining paired sites that had never
received DFE were also sampled as well as another seven fields from
a wider area around the factory. In comparison with paired sites that
had not received effluent, long-term wastewater irrigation resulted in
an increase in pH, EC, extractable P, exchangeable Na and K and
ESP. These changes were related to the use of phosphoric acid,
NaOH and KOH as cleaning agents in the factory. Soil organic C
content was unaffected by DFE irrigation but the size (microbial
biomass C and N) and activity (basal respiration) of the soil
microbial community were increased. These increases were
attributed to regular inputs of soluble C (e.g. lactose) present as milk
residues in the wastewater. Principal component analysis (PCA) of
the soils data from all 11sites confirmed that the main effects of DFE
irrigation were an increase in exchangeable Na, extractable P and
microbial biomass C, an accumulation of soluble salts and a liming
effect. PCA analysis of soil bacterial community structure, using
PCR-DGGE of 16S rDNA fragments, generally separated individual
sites from one another but did not group them according to irrigation
history. Thus, whilst the size and activity of the soil microbial
community were increased, the structure and diversity of the
bacterial community remained unaffected.
Abstract: Porcine production in China represents approximately
the 50% of the worldwide pig production. Information about pig
husbandry characteristics in China and manure properties from sows
to fatteners in intensive pig farms are not broadly available for
scientific studies as it is a time consuming, expensive task and highly
inaccessible. This study provides a report about solid pig manures
(28% dry matter) in a commercial pig farm located in the peri-urban
area of Beijing as well as a general overview of the current pig
husbandry techniques including pig breeds, feeds, diseases, housing as
well as pig manure and wastewater disposal. The main results are
intended to serve as a literature source for young scientists in order to
understand the main composition of pig manures as well as to identify
the husbandry techniques applied in an intensive pig farm in Beijing.
Abstract: GFRG(Glass Fiber Reinforced Gypsum) wall is a green product which can erect a building fast in prefabricated method, but its application to high-rise residential buildings is limited for its poor lateral stiffness. This paper has proposed a modification to GFRG walls structure to increase its lateral stiffness, which aiming to erect small high-rise residential buildings as load-bearing walls. The elastic finite element analysis to it has shown the lateral deformation feature and the distributions of the axial force and the shear force. The analysis results show that the new GFRG reinforced concrete wall can be used for small high-rise residential buildings.
Abstract: The main objective of this article is to present the semi-active vibration control using an electro-rheological fluid embedded sandwich structure for a cantilever beam. ER fluid is a smart material, which cause the suspended particles polarize and connect each other to form chain. The stiffness and damping coefficients of the ER fluid can be changed in 10 micro seconds; therefore, ERF is suitable to become the material embedded in the tunable vibration absorber to become a smart absorber. For the ERF smart material embedded structure, the fuzzy control law depends on the experimental expert database and the proposed self-tuning strategy. The electric field is controlled by a CRIO embedded system to implement the real application. This study investigates the different performances using the Type-1 fuzzy and interval Type-2 fuzzy controllers. The Interval type-2 fuzzy control is used to improve the modeling uncertainties for this ERF embedded shock absorber. The self-tuning vibration controllers using Type-1 and Interval Type-2 fuzzy law are implemented to the shock absorber system. Based on the resulting performance, Internal Type-2 fuzzy is better than the traditional Type-1 fuzzy control for this vibration control system.
Abstract: The electrolyte stirring method of anodization etching
process for manufacturing porous silicon (PS) is reported in this work.
Two experimental setups of nature air stirring (PS-ASM) and
electrolyte stirring (PS-ESM) are employed to clarify the influence of
stirring mechanisms on electrochemical etching process. Compared to
traditional fabrication without any stirring apparatus (PS-TM), a large
plateau region of PS surface structure is obtained from samples with
both stirring methods by the 3D-profiler measurement. Moreover, the
light emission response is also improved by both proposed electrolyte
stirring methods due to the cycling force in electrolyte could
effectively enhance etch-carrier distribution while the electrochemical
etching process is made. According to the analysis of statistical
calculation of photoluminescence (PL) intensity, lower standard
deviations are obtained from PS-samples with studied stirring methods,
i.e. the uniformity of PL-intensity is effectively improved. The
calculated deviations of PL-intensity are 93.2, 74.5 and 64,
respectively, for PS-TM, PS-ASM and PS-ESM.
Abstract: Understanding how precipitation inter-annually
changes and its implication in agricultural drought and production change in winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) growth season is critical for crop production in China. MODIS Temperature-Vegetation Dryness Index (TVDI) and daily mean precipitation time series for the main growth season(Feb. to May) of winter wheat from 2000 to 2010
were used to analyze the distribution of trends of precipitation,
agricultural drought and winter wheat yield change respectively, and
relationships between them in North China region(Huang-huai-hai
region, HHH region), China. The results indicated that the trend of
precipitation in HHH region past 11 years was increasing, which had
induced generally corresponding decreasing trend of agricultural
drought and increasing trend of wheat yield, while the trend of drought
was spatially diverse. The study could provide a basis for agricultural
drought research during winter wheat season in HHH region under the
ground of climate change.
Abstract: In this paper, a nonconforming mixed finite element method is studied for semilinear pseudo-hyperbolic partial integrodifferential equations. By use of the interpolation technique instead of the generalized elliptic projection, the optimal error estimates of the corresponding unknown function are given.
Abstract: In this paper, we establish several oscillation criteria for the nonlinear second-order damped delay dynamic equation r(t)|xΔ(t)|β-1xΔ(t)Δ + p(t)|xΔσ(t)|β-1xΔσ(t) + q(t)f(x(τ (t))) = 0 on an arbitrary time scale T, where β > 0 is a constant. Our results generalize and improve some known results in which β > 0 is a quotient of odd positive integers. Some examples are given to illustrate our main results.
Abstract: The bonding configuration and the heat of adsorption
of a furfural molecule on the Pd(111) surface were determined by ab
initio density-functional-theory calculations. The dynamics of pure
liquid water, the liquid-solid interface formed by liquid water and the
Pd(111) surface, as well as furfural at the water-Pd interface, were
investigated by ab initio molecular dynamics simulations at finite
temperatures. Calculations and simulations suggest that the bonding
configurations at the water-Pd interface promote decarbonylation of
furfural.
Abstract: A new numerical scheme based on the H1-Galerkin mixed finite element method for a class of second-order pseudohyperbolic equations is constructed. The proposed procedures can be split into three independent differential sub-schemes and does not need to solve a coupled system of equations. Optimal error estimates are derived for both semidiscrete and fully discrete schemes for problems in one space dimension. And the proposed method dose not requires the LBB consistency condition. Finally, some numerical results are provided to illustrate the efficacy of our method.
Abstract: By the application of an improved back-propagation
neural network (BPNN), a model of current densities for a solid oxide
fuel cell (SOFC) with 10 layers is established in this study. To build
the learning data of BPNN, Taguchi orthogonal array is applied to
arrange the conditions of operating parameters, which totally 7 factors
act as the inputs of BPNN. Also, the average current densities
achieved by numerical method acts as the outputs of BPNN.
Comparing with the direct solution, the learning errors for all learning
data are smaller than 0.117%, and the predicting errors for 27
forecasting cases are less than 0.231%. The results show that the
presented model effectively builds a mathematical algorithm to predict
performance of a SOFC stack immediately in real time.
Also, the calculating algorithms are applied to proceed with the
optimization of the average current density for a SOFC stack. The
operating performance window of a SOFC stack is found to be
between 41137.11 and 53907.89. Furthermore, an inverse predicting
model of operating parameters of a SOFC stack is developed here by
the calculating algorithms of the improved BPNN, which is proved to
effectively predict operating parameters to achieve a desired
performance output of a SOFC stack.