Abstract: The last years have seen an increasing use of image analysis techniques in the field of biomedical imaging, in particular in microscopic imaging. The basic step for most of the image analysis techniques relies on a background image free of objects of interest, whether they are cells or histological samples, to perform further analysis, such as segmentation or mosaicing. Commonly, this image consists of an empty field acquired in advance. However, many times achieving an empty field could not be feasible. Or else, this could be different from the background region of the sample really being studied, because of the interaction with the organic matter. At last, it could be expensive, for instance in case of live cell analyses. We propose a non parametric and general purpose approach where the background is built automatically stemming from a sequence of images containing even objects of interest. The amount of area, in each image, free of objects just affects the overall speed to obtain the background. Experiments with different kinds of microscopic images prove the effectiveness of our approach.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a novel concept of relative
distance measurement using Stereo Vision Technology and discuss
its implementation on a FPGA based real-time image processor. We
capture two images using two CCD cameras and compare them.
Disparity is calculated for each pixel using a real time dense disparity
calculation algorithm. This algorithm is based on the concept of
indexed histogram for matching. Disparity being inversely
proportional to distance (Proved Later), we can thus get the relative
distances of objects in front of the camera. The output is displayed on
a TV screen in the form of a depth image (optionally using pseudo
colors). This system works in real time on a full PAL frame rate (720
x 576 active pixels @ 25 fps).
Abstract: In this present study, experimental work was
conducted to study the effectiveness of newly innovated steel-CFRP
composite (CFRP laminates sandwiched between two steel strips) as
stirrups. A total numbers of eight concrete beams were tested under
four point loads. Each beam measured 1600 mm long, 160mm width
and 240 mm depth. The beams were reinforced with different shear
reinforcements; one without stirrups, one with steel stirrups and six
with different types and numbers of steel-CRFR stirrups. Test results
indicated that the steel-CFRP stirrups had enhanced the shear
strength capacity of beams. Moreover, the tests revealed that steel-
CFRP stirrups reached to their ultimate tensile strength unlike FRP
stirrups which rupture at much lower level than their ultimate
strength as werereported in various researches.
Abstract: The objective of this paper is to compare the time
specification performance between conventional controller PID and
modern controller SMC for an inverted pendulum system. The goal is
to determine which control strategy delivers better performance with
respect to pendulum-s angle and cart-s position. The inverted
pendulum represents a challenging control problem, which
continually moves toward an uncontrolled state. Two controllers are
presented such as Sliding Mode Control (SMC) and Proportional-
Integral-Derivatives (PID) controllers for controlling the highly
nonlinear system of inverted pendulum model. Simulation study has
been done in Matlab Mfile and simulink environment shows that both
controllers are capable to control multi output inverted pendulum
system successfully. The result shows that Sliding Mode Control
(SMC) produced better response compared to PID control strategies
and the responses are presented in time domain with the details
analysis.
Abstract: This paper presents the fundamentals of Origami engineering and its application in nowadays as well as future industry. Several main cores of mathematical approaches such as Huzita- Hatori axioms, Maekawa and Kawasaki-s theorems are introduced briefly. Meanwhile flaps and circle packing by Robert Lang is explained to make understood the underlying principles in designing crease pattern. Rigid origami and its corrugation patterns which are potentially applicable for creating transformable or temporary spaces is discussed to show the transition of origami from paper to thick material. Moreover, some innovative applications of origami such as eyeglass, origami stent and high tech origami based on mentioned theories and principles are showcased in section III; while some updated origami technology such as Vacuumatics, self-folding of polymer sheets and programmable matter folding which could greatlyenhance origami structureare demonstrated in Section IV to offer more insight in future origami.
Abstract: Tourism is a phenomenon respected by the human communities since a long time ago. It has been evoloving continually based on a variety of social and economic needs and with respect to increasingly development of communication and considerable increase of tourist-s number and resulted exchange income has attained much out come such as employment for the communities. or the purpose of tourism development in this zone suitable times and locations need to be specified in the zone for the tourist-s attendance. One of the most important needs of the tourists is the knowledge of climate conditions and suitable times for sightseeing. In this survey, the climate trend condition has been identified for attending the tourists in Isfahan province using the modified tourism climate index (TCI) as well as SPSS, GIS, excel, surfer softwares. This index evoluates systematically the climate conditions for tourism affairs and activities using the monthly maximum mean parameters of daily temperature, daily mean temperature, minimum relative humidity, daily mean relative humidity, precipitation (mm), total sunny hours, wind speed and dust. The results obtaind using kendal-s correlation test show that the months January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November and December are significant and have an increasing trend that indicates the best condition for attending the tourists. S, P, T mean , T max and dust are estimated from 1976-2005 and do kendal-s correlation test again to see which parameter has been effective. Based on the test, we also observed on the effective parameters that the rate of dust in February, March, April, May, June, July, August, October and November is decreasing and precipitation in September and January is increasing and also the radiation rate in May and August is increasing that indicate a better condition of convenience. Maximum temperature in June is also decreasing. Isfahan province has two spring and fall peaks and the best places for tourism are in the north and western areas.
Abstract: This paper proposes a three-phase four-wire currentcontrolled
Voltage Source Inverter (CC-VSI) for both power quality
improvement and PV energy extraction. For power quality
improvement, the CC-VSI works as a grid current-controlling shunt
active power filter to compensate for harmonic and reactive power of
loads. Then, the PV array is coupled to the DC bus of the CC-VSI
and supplies active power to the grid. The MPPT controller employs
the particle swarm optimization technique. The output of the MPPT
controller is a DC voltage that determines the DC-bus voltage
according to PV maximum power. The PSO method is simple and
effective especially for a partially shaded PV array. From computer
simulation results, it proves that grid currents are sinusoidal and inphase
with grid voltages, while the PV maximum active power is
delivered to loads.
Abstract: Health problems linked to urban growth are current
major concerns of developing countries. In 2002 and 2005, an
interdisciplinary program “Populations et Espaces ├á Risques
SANitaires" (PERSAN) was set up under the patronage of the
Development and Research Institute. Centered on health in
Cameroon-s urban environment, the program mainly sought to (i)
identify diarrhoea risk factors in Yaoundé, (ii) to measure their
prevalence and apprehend their spatial distribution. The crosssectional
epidemiological study that was carried out revealed a
diarrheic prevalence of 14.4% (437 cases of diarrhoea on the 3,034
children examined). Also, among risk factors studied, household
refuse management methods used by city dwellers were statistically
associated to these diarrhoeas. Moreover, it happened that levels of
diarrhoeal attacks varied consistently from one neighbourhood to
another because of the discrepancy urbanization process of the
Yaoundé metropolis.
Abstract: There is an ongoing controversy in the literature related
to the biological effects of weak, low frequency electromagnetic
fields. The physical arguments and interpretation of the experimental
evidence are inconsistent, where some physical arguments and
experimental demonstrations tend to reject the likelihood of any
effect of the fields at extremely low level. The problem arises of
explaining, how the low-energy influences of weak magnetic fields
can compete with the thermal and electrical noise of cells at normal
temperature using the theoretical studies. The magnetoreception in
animals involve radical pair mechanism. The same mechanism has
been shown to be involved in the circadian rhythm synchronization in
mammals. These reactions can be influenced by the weak magnetic
fields. Hence, it is postulated the biological clock can be affected
by weak magnetic fields and these disruptions to the rhythm can
cause adverse biological effects. In this paper, likelihood of altering
the biological clock via the radical pair mechanism is analyzed to
simplify these studies of controversy.
Abstract: Warehousing is commonly used in factories for the
storage of products until delivery of orders. As the amount of
products stored increases it becomes tedious to be carried out
manually. In recent years, the manual storing has converted into fully
or partially computer controlled systems, also known as Automated
Storage and Retrieval Systems (AS/RS). This paper discusses an
ASRS system, which was designed such that the best storage location
for the products is determined by utilizing a fuzzy control system.
The design maintains the records of the products to be/already in
store and the storage/retrieval times along with the availability status
of the storage locations. This paper discusses on the maintenance of
the above mentioned records and the utilization of the concept of
fuzzy logic in order to determine the optimum storage location for
the products. The paper will further discuss on the dynamic splitting
and merging of the storage locations depending on the product sizes.
Abstract: The curves, of which the square of the distance
between the two points equal to zero, are called minimal or isotropic
curves [4]. In this work, first, necessary and sufficient conditions to
be a Pseudo Helix, which is a special case of such curves, are
presented. Thereafter, it is proven that an isotropic curve-s position
vector and pseudo curvature satisfy a vector differential equation of
fourth order. Additionally, In view of solution of mentioned
equation, position vector of pseudo helices is obtained.
Abstract: One of the disadvantages of using OFDM is the larger
peak to averaged power ratio (PAPR) in its time domain signal. The
larger PAPR signal would course the fatal degradation of bit error
rate performance (BER) due to the inter-modulation noise in the nonlinear
channel. This paper proposes an improved DSI (Dummy
Sequence Insertion) method, which can achieve the better PAPR and
BER performances. The feature of proposed method is to optimize
the phase of each dummy sub-carrier so as to reduce the PAPR
performance by changing all predetermined phase coefficients in the
time domain signal, which is calculated for data sub-carriers and
dummy sub-carriers separately. To achieve the better PAPR
performance, this paper also proposes to employ the time-frequency
domain swapping algorithm for fine adjustment of phase coefficient
of the dummy subcarriers, which can achieve the less complexity of
processing and achieves the better PAPR and BER performances
than those for the conventional DSI method. This paper presents
various computer simulation results to verify the effectiveness of
proposed method as comparing with the conventional methods in the
non-linear channel.
Abstract: Transferring information developed by other peoples is an ordinary event that happens during daily conversations, for example when employees sea each other in the organization, or when they are having lunch together, or attending a meeting, they use to talk about their experience, and discuss about their current projects, and talk about their successes over some specific problems. Despite the potential value of leveraging organizational memory and expertise by using OMS and ER, still small organizations haven-t been able to capitalize on its promised value. Each organization has its internal knowledge management system, in some of organizations the system face the lack of expert people to save their experience in the repository and in another hand on some other organizations there are lots of expert people but the organization doesn-t have the maximum use of their knowledge.
Abstract: Malaysia is aggressive in promoting the usage of ICT
to its mass population through the support by the government
policies and programs targeting the general population. However,
with the uneven distribution of the basic telecommunication
infrastructure between the urban and rural area, cost for being
“interconnected" that is considered high among the poorer rural
population and the lack of local contents that suit the rural population
needs or lifestyles, it is still a challenge for Malaysia to achieve its
Vision 2020 Agenda moving the nation towards an information
society by the year 2020. Among the existing programs that have
been carried out by the government to encourage the usage of ICT by
the rural population is “Kedaikom", a community telecenter with the
general aim is to engage the community to get exposed and to use the
ICT, encouraging the diffusion of the ICT technology to the rural
population. The research investigated by using a questionnaire
survey of how Kedaikom, as a community telecenter could play a
role in encouraging the rural or underserved community to use the
ICT. The result from the survey has proven that the community
telecenter could bridge the digital divide between the underserved
rural population and the well-accessed urban population in Malaysia.
More of the rural population, especially from the younger generation
and those with higher educational background are using the
community telecenter to be connected to the ICT.
Abstract: Mobile Ad hoc Networks is an autonomous system of
mobile nodes connected by multi-hop wireless links without
centralized infrastructure support. As mobile communication gains
popularity, the need for suitable ad hoc routing protocols will
continue to grow. Efficient dynamic routing is an important research
challenge in such a network. Bandwidth constrained mobile devices
use on-demand approach in their routing protocols because of its
effectiveness and efficiency. Many researchers have conducted
numerous simulations for comparing the performance of these
protocols under varying conditions and constraints. Most of them are
not aware of MAC Protocols, which will impact the relative
performance of routing protocols considered in different network
scenarios. In this paper we investigate the choice of MAC protocols
affects the relative performance of ad hoc routing protocols under
different scenarios. We have evaluated the performance of these
protocols using NS2 simulations. Our results show that the
performance of routing protocols of ad hoc networks will suffer when
run over different MAC Layer protocols.
Abstract: Added stresses due to adjacent structure should be
considered in foundation design and stress control in soil under the structure. This case is considered less than other cases in design and
calculation whereas stresses in implementation are greater than analytical stress.
Structure load are transmitted to earth by foundation and role of foundation is propagation of load on the continuous and half extreme
soil. This act cause that, present stresses lessen to allowable strength
of soil. Some researchers such as Boussinesq and westergaurd by
using of some assumption studied on this issue, theorically. Target of
this paper is study and evaluation of added stresses under structure
due to adjacent structure. For this purpose, by using of assumption, theoric relation and numeral methods, effects of adjacent structure
with 4 to 10 storeys on the main structure with 4 storeys are studied
and effect of parameters and sensitivity of them are evaluated.
Abstract: Recently, there have been an increasing interest in RFID system and RFID systems have been applied to various applications. Load balancing is a fundamental technique for providing scalability of systems by moving workload from overloaded nodes to under-loaded nodes. This paper presents an approach to adaptive load balancing for RFID middlewares. Workloads of RFID middlewares can have a considerable variation according to the location of the connected RFID readers and can abruptly change at a particular instance. The proposed approach considers those characteristics of RFID middle- wares to provide an efficient load balancing.
Abstract: In this paper a tuning fork type structure of Ultra
Wideband (UWB) antenna is proposed. The antenna offers excellent
performance for UWB system, ranging from 3.7 GHz to 13.8 GHz.
The antenna exhibits a 10 dB return loss bandwidth over the entire
frequency band. The rectangular patch antenna is designed on FR4
substrate and fed with 50 ohms microstrip line by optimizing the
width of partial ground, the width and position of the feedline to
operate in UWB. The rectangular patch is then modified to tuning
fork structure by maintaining UWB frequency range.
Abstract: Green- spaces might be very attractive, but
where are the economic benefits? What value do nature and
landscape have for us? What difference will it make to jobs,
health and the economic strength of areas struggling with
deprivation and social problems? [1].There is a need to consider
green spaces from a different perspective. Green planning is not just
about flora and fauna, but also about planning for economic benefits
[2]. It is worth trying to quantify the value of green spaces since
nature and landscape are crucially important to our quality of life and
sustainable development. The reality, however, is that urban
development often takes place at the expense of green spaces.
Urbanization is an ongoing process throughout the world; however,
hyper-urbanization without environmental planning is destructive,
not constructive [3]. Urban spaces are believed to be more valuable
than other land uses, particular green areas, simply because of the
market value connected to urban spaces. However, attractive
landscapes can help raise the quality and value of the urban market
even more. In order to reach these objectives of integrated planning,
the Green-Value-Gap needs to be bridged. Economists have to
understand the concept of Green-Planning and the spinoffs, and
Environmentalists have to understand the importance of urban
economic development and the benefits thereof to green planning. An
interface between Environmental Management, Economic
Development and sustainable Spatial Planning are needed to bridge
the Green-Value-Gap.
Abstract: This article presents the results using a parametric approach and a Wavelet Transform in analysing signals emitting from the sperm whale. The extraction of intrinsic characteristics of these unique signals emitted by marine mammals is still at present a difficult exercise for various reasons: firstly, it concerns non-stationary signals, and secondly, these signals are obstructed by interfering background noise. In this article, we compare the advantages and disadvantages of both methods: Auto Regressive models and Wavelet Transform. These approaches serve as an alternative to the commonly used estimators which are based on the Fourier Transform for which the hypotheses necessary for its application are in certain cases, not sufficiently proven. These modern approaches provide effective results particularly for the periodic tracking of the signal's characteristics and notably when the signal-to-noise ratio negatively effects signal tracking. Our objectives are twofold. Our first goal is to identify the animal through its acoustic signature. This includes recognition of the marine mammal species and ultimately of the individual animal (within the species). The second is much more ambitious and directly involves the intervention of cetologists to study the sounds emitted by marine mammals in an effort to characterize their behaviour. We are working on an approach based on the recordings of marine mammal signals and the findings from this data result from the Wavelet Transform. This article will explore the reasons for using this approach. In addition, thanks to the use of new processors, these algorithms once heavy in calculation time can be integrated in a real-time system.