Abstract: In the paper the study of synthetic transmit aperture
method applying the Golay coded transmission for medical
ultrasound imaging is presented. Longer coded excitation allows to
increase the total energy of the transmitted signal without increasing
the peak pressure. Moreover signal-to-noise ratio and penetration
depth are improved while maintaining high ultrasound image
resolution. In the work the 128-element linear transducer array with
0.3 mm inter-element spacing excited by one cycle and the 8 and 16-
bit Golay coded sequences at nominal frequency 4 MHz was used. To
generate a spherical wave covering the full image region a single
element transmission aperture was used and all the elements received
the echo signals. The comparison of 2D ultrasound images of the
tissue mimicking phantom and in vitro measurements of the beef liver
is presented to illustrate the benefits of the coded transmission. The
results were obtained using the synthetic aperture algorithm with
transmit and receive signals correction based on a single element
directivity function.
Abstract: Complex engineering design problems consist of
numerous factors of varying criticalities. Considering fundamental features of design and inferior details alike will result in an extensive
waste of time and effort. Design parameters should be introduced gradually as appropriate based on their significance relevant to the
problem context. This motivates the representation of design parameters at multiple levels of an abstraction hierarchy. However, developing abstraction hierarchies is an area that is not well
understood. Our research proposes a novel hierarchical abstraction methodology to plan effective engineering designs and processes. It
provides a theoretically sound foundation to represent, abstract and stratify engineering design parameters and tasks according to causality and criticality. The methodology creates abstraction
hierarchies in a recursive and bottom-up approach that guarantees no
backtracking across any of the abstraction levels. The methodology consists of three main phases, representation, abstraction, and layering to multiple hierarchical levels. The effectiveness of the
developed methodology is demonstrated by a design problem.
Abstract: Most of the image watermarking methods, using the properties of the human visual system (HVS), have been proposed in literature. The component of the visual threshold is usually related to either the spatial contrast sensitivity function (CSF) or the visual masking. Especially on the contrast masking, most methods have not mention to the effect near to the edge region. Since the HVS is sensitive what happens on the edge area. This paper proposes ultrasound image watermarking using the visual threshold corresponding to the HVS in which the coefficients in a DCT-block have been classified based on the texture, edge, and plain area. This classification method enables not only useful for imperceptibility when the watermark is insert into an image but also achievable a robustness of watermark detection. A comparison of the proposed method with other methods has been carried out which shown that the proposed method robusts to blockwise memoryless manipulations, and also robust against noise addition.
Abstract: Medical imaging uses the advantage of digital
technology in imaging and teleradiology. In teleradiology systems
large amount of data is acquired, stored and transmitted. A major
technology that may help to solve the problems associated with the
massive data storage and data transfer capacity is data compression
and decompression. There are many methods of image compression
available. They are classified as lossless and lossy compression
methods. In lossy compression method the decompressed image
contains some distortion. Fractal image compression (FIC) is a lossy
compression method. In fractal image compression an image is
coded as a set of contractive transformations in a complete metric
space. The set of contractive transformations is guaranteed to
produce an approximation to the original image. In this paper FIC is
achieved by PIFS using quadtree partitioning. PIFS is applied on
different images like , Ultrasound, CT Scan, Angiogram, X-ray,
Mammograms. In each modality approximately twenty images are
considered and the average values of compression ratio and PSNR
values are arrived. In this method of fractal encoding, the
parameter, tolerance factor Tmax, is varied from 1 to 10, keeping the
other standard parameters constant. For all modalities of images the
compression ratio and Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR) are
computed and studied. The quality of the decompressed image is
arrived by PSNR values. From the results it is observed that the
compression ratio increases with the tolerance factor and
mammogram has the highest compression ratio. The quality of the
image is not degraded upto an optimum value of tolerance factor,
Tmax, equal to 8, because of the properties of fractal compression.
Abstract: The evolution of technology and construction techniques has enabled the upgrading of transport networks. In particular, the high-speed rail networks allow convoys to peak at above 300 km/h. These structures, however, often significantly impact the surrounding environment. Among the effects of greater importance are the ones provoked by the soundwave connected to train transit. The wave propagation affects the quality of life in areas surrounding the tracks, often for several hundred metres. There are substantial damages to properties (buildings and land), in terms of market depreciation. The present study, integrating expertise in acoustics, computering and evaluation fields, outlines a useful model to select project paths so as to minimize the noise impact and reduce the causes of possible litigation. It also facilitates the rational selection of initiatives to contain the environmental damage to the already existing railway tracks. The research is developed with reference to the Italian regulatory framework (usually more stringent than European and international standards) and refers to a case study concerning the high speed network in Italy.
Abstract: Forming a legal culture among citizens is a
complicated and lengthy process, influencing all spheres of social
life. It includes promoting justice, learning rights and duties, the
introduction of juridical norms and knowledge, and also a process of
developing a system of legal acts and constitutional norms. Currently,
the evaluative and emotional influence of attempts to establish a legal
culture among the citizens of Kazakhstan is limited by real legal
practice. As a result, the values essential to a sound civil society are
absent from the consciousness of the Kazakh people who are thus, in
turn, not able to develop respect for these values. One of the
disadvantages of the modern Kazakh educational system is a
tendency to underrate the actual forces shaping the worldview of
Kazakh youths. The mass-media, which are going through a
personnel crisis, cannot provide society with the legal and political
information necessary to form the sort of legal culture required for a
true civil society.
Abstract: Erwinia carotovora var. carotovora is the main cause of soft rot in potatoes. Hyphaene thebaica was studied for biocontrol of E. carotovora which inhibited growth of E. carotovora on solid medium, a comparative study of classical and ultrasound-assisted extractions of Hyphaene thebaica fruit. The use of ultrasound decreased significant the total time of treatment and increase the total amount of crude extract. The crude extract was subjected to determine the in vitro, by a bioassay technique revealed that the treatment of paper disks with ultrasound extraction of Hyphaene thebaica reduced the growth of pathogen and produced inhibition zones up to 38mm in diameter. The antioxidant activity of ultrasound-ethanolic extract of Doum fruits (Hyphaene thebaica) was determined. Data obtained showed that the extract contains the secondary metabolites such as Tannins, Saponin, Flavonoids, Phenols, Steroids, Terpenoids, Glycosides and Alkaloids.
Abstract: Support Vector Machine (SVM) is a statistical learning tool that was initially developed by Vapnik in 1979 and later developed to a more complex concept of structural risk minimization (SRM). SVM is playing an increasing role in applications to detection problems in various engineering problems, notably in statistical signal processing, pattern recognition, image analysis, and communication systems. In this paper, SVM was applied to the detection of medical ultrasound images in the presence of partially developed speckle noise. The simulation was done for single look and multi-look speckle models to give a complete overlook and insight to the new proposed model of the SVM-based detector. The structure of the SVM was derived and applied to clinical ultrasound images and its performance in terms of the mean square error (MSE) metric was calculated. We showed that the SVM-detected ultrasound images have a very low MSE and are of good quality. The quality of the processed speckled images improved for the multi-look model. Furthermore, the contrast of the SVM detected images was higher than that of the original non-noisy images, indicating that the SVM approach increased the distance between the pixel reflectivity levels (detection hypotheses) in the original images.
Abstract: A filter is used to remove undesirable frequency information from a dynamic signal. This paper shows that the Znotch filter filtering technique can be applied to remove the noise nuisance from a machining signal. In machining, the noise components were identified from the sound produced by the operation of machine components itself such as hydraulic system, motor, machine environment and etc. By correlating the noise components with the measured machining signal, the interested components of the measured machining signal which was less interfered by the noise, can be extracted. Thus, the filtered signal is more reliable to be analysed in terms of noise content compared to the unfiltered signal. Significantly, the I-kaz method i.e. comprises of three dimensional graphical representation and I-kaz coefficient, Z∞ could differentiate between the filtered and the unfiltered signal. The bigger space of scattering and the higher value of Z∞ demonstrated that the signal was highly interrupted by noise. This method can be utilised as a proactive tool in evaluating the noise content in a signal. The evaluation of noise content is very important as well as the elimination especially for machining operation fault diagnosis purpose. The Z-notch filtering technique was reliable in extracting noise component from the measured machining signal with high efficiency. Even though the measured signal was exposed to high noise disruption, the signal generated from the interaction between cutting tool and work piece still can be acquired. Therefore, the interruption of noise that could change the original signal feature and consequently can deteriorate the useful sensory information can be eliminated.
Abstract: Rural tourism has many economical, environmental, and socio-cultural benefits. However, the development of rural tourism compared to urban tourism is also faced with several challenges added to the disadvantages of rural tourism. The aim of this study is to design a model of the factors affecting the motivations of rural tourists, in an attempt to improve the understanding of rural tourism motivation for the development of that form of tourism. The proposed model is based on a sound theoretical framework. It was designed following a literature review of tourism motivation theoretical frameworks and of rural tourism motivation factors. The tourism motivation theoretical framework that fitted to the best all rural tourism motivation factors was then chosen as the basis for the proposed model. This study hence found that the push and pull tourism motivation framework and the inner and outer directed values theory are the most adequate theoretical frameworks for the modeling of rural tourism motivation.
Abstract: Studies of vocal communication in Sooty-headed
Bulbul were carried out from January to December 2011. Vocal
recordings and behavioral observations were made in their natural
habitats at some localities of Lampang, Thailand. After editing, cuts
of high quality recordings were analyzed with the help of Avisoft-
SASLab Pro (version 4.40) software. More than one thousand
element repertoires in five groups were found within two vocal
structures. The two structures were short sounds with single element
and phrases composed of elements, the frequency ranged from 1-10
kHz. Most phrases were composed of 2 to 5 elements that were often
dissimilar in structure, however, these phrases were not as complex
as song phrases. The elements and phrases were combined to form
many patterns. The species used ten types of calls; i.e. alert, alarm,
aggressive, begging, contact, courtship, distress, exciting, flying and
invitation. Alert and contact calls were used more frequently than
other calls. Aggressive, alarm and distress calls could be used for
interspecific communication among some other bird species in the
same habitats.
Abstract: Chemical industry project management involves
complex decision making situations that require discerning abilities
and methods to make sound decisions. Project managers are faced
with decision environments and problems in projects that are
complex. In this work, case study is Research and Development
(R&D) project selection. R&D is an ongoing process for forward
thinking technology-based chemical industries. R&D project
selection is an important task for organizations with R&D project
management. It is a multi-criteria problem which includes both
tangible and intangible factors. The ability to make sound decisions
is very important to success of R&D projects. Multiple-criteria
decision making (MCDM) approaches are major parts of decision
theory and analysis. This paper presents all of MCDM approaches
for use in R&D project selection. It is hoped that this work will
provide a ready reference on MCDM and this will encourage the
application of the MCDM by chemical engineering management.
Abstract: We have previously introduced an ultrasonic imaging
approach that combines harmonic-sensitive pulse sequences with a
post-beamforming quadratic kernel derived from a second-order
Volterra filter (SOVF). This approach is designed to produce images
with high sensitivity to nonlinear oscillations from microbubble
ultrasound contrast agents (UCA) while maintaining high levels of
noise rejection. In this paper, a two-step algorithm for computing the
coefficients of the quadratic kernel leading to reduction of tissue
component introduced by motion, maximizing the noise rejection and
increases the specificity while optimizing the sensitivity to the UCA
is presented. In the first step, quadratic kernels from individual
singular modes of the PI data matrix are compared in terms of their
ability of maximize the contrast to tissue ratio (CTR). In the second
step, quadratic kernels resulting in the highest CTR values are
convolved. The imaging results indicate that a signal processing
approach to this clinical challenge is feasible.
Abstract: Recent theorizations on the cognitive process of moral
judgment have focused on the role of intuitions and emotions, marking
a departure from previous emphasis on conscious, step-by-step
reasoning. My study investigated how being in a disgusted mood state
affects moral judgment.
Participants were induced to enter a disgusted mood state through
listening to disgusting sounds and reading disgusting descriptions.
Results shows that they, when compared to control who have not been
induced to feel disgust, are more likely to endorse actions that are
emotionally aversive but maximizes utilitarian return
The result is analyzed using the 'emotion-as-information' approach
to decision making. The result is consistent with the view that
emotions play an important role in determining moral judgment.
Abstract: The purpose of this work is fast design optimization of
the seal chamber. The study includes the mass transfer between lower
and upper chamber on seal chamber for hot water application pumps.
The use of Fluent 12.1 commercial code made it possible to capture
complex flow with heat-mass transfer, radiation, Tailor instability,
and buoyancy effect. Realizable k-epsilon model was used for
turbulence modeling. Radiation heat losses were taken into account.
The temperature distribution at seal region is predicted with respect
to heat addition.
Results show the possibilities of the model simplifications by
excluding the water domain in low chamber from calculations. CFD
simulations permit to improve seal chamber design to meet target
water temperature around the seal. This study can be used for the
analysis of different seal chamber configurations.
Abstract: Personal name matching system is the core of
essential task in national citizen database, text and web mining,
information retrieval, online library system, e-commerce and record
linkage system. It has necessitated to the all embracing research in
the vicinity of name matching. Traditional name matching methods
are suitable for English and other Latin based language. Asian
languages which have no word boundary such as Myanmar language
still requires sounds alike matching system in Unicode based
application. Hence we proposed matching algorithm to get analogous
sounds alike (phonetic) pattern that is convenient for Myanmar
character spelling. According to the nature of Myanmar character, we
consider for word boundary fragmentation, collation of character.
Thus we use pattern conversion algorithm which fabricates words in
pattern with fragmented and collated. We create the Myanmar sounds
alike phonetic group to help in the phonetic matching. The
experimental results show that fragmentation accuracy in 99.32% and
processing time in 1.72 ms.
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze relationship
between gender, BMI, and lifestyle with bone mineral density
(BMD) of adolescent in urban areas . The place of this study in
Jakarta State University, Indonesia. The number of samples involved
as many as 200 people, consisting of 100 men and 100 women. BMD
was measured using Quantitative Ultrasound Bone Densitometry.
While the questionnaire used to collect data on age, gender, and
lifestyle (calcium intake, smoking habits, alcohol consumption, tea,
coffee, sports, and sun exposure). Mean age of men and women,
respectively as much as 20.7 ± 2.18 years and 21 ± 1.61 years. Mean
BMD values of men was 1.084 g/cm ² ± 0.11 while women was
0.976 g/cm ² ± 0.10. Men and women with normal BMD respectively
as much as 46.7% and 16.7%. Men and women affected by
osteopenia respectively as much as 50% and 80%. Men and women
affected by osteoporosis respectively as much as 3.3% and 3.3%.
Mean BMI of men and women, respectively as much as 21.4 ± 2.07
kg/m2 and 20.9 ± 2.06 kg/m2. Mean lifestyle score of men and
women , respectively as much as 71.9 ± 5.84 and 70.1 ± 5.67
(maximum score 100). Based on Spearman and Pearson Correlation
test, there were relationship significantly between gender and
lifestyle with BMD.
Abstract: Mammals are known to use Interaural Intensity Difference (IID) to determine azimuthal position of high frequency sounds. In the Lateral Superior Olive (LSO) neurons have firing behaviours which vary systematicaly with IID. Those neurons receive excitatory inputs from the ipsilateral ear and inhibitory inputs from the contralateral one. The IID sensitivity of a LSO neuron is thought to be due to delay differences between both ears, delays due to different synaptic delays and to intensity-dependent delays. In this paper we model the auditory pathway until the LSO. Inputs to LSO neurons are at first numerous and differ in their relative delays. Spike Timing-Dependent Plasticity is then used to prune those connections. We compare the pruned neuron responses with physiological data and analyse the relationship between IID-s of teacher stimuli and IID sensitivities of trained LSO neurons.
Abstract: In many data mining applications, it is a priori known
that the target function should satisfy certain constraints imposed
by, for example, economic theory or a human-decision maker. In this
paper we consider partially monotone prediction problems, where the
target variable depends monotonically on some of the input variables
but not on all. We propose a novel method to construct prediction
models, where monotone dependences with respect to some of
the input variables are preserved by virtue of construction. Our
method belongs to the class of mixture models. The basic idea is to
convolute monotone neural networks with weight (kernel) functions
to make predictions. By using simulation and real case studies,
we demonstrate the application of our method. To obtain sound
assessment for the performance of our approach, we use standard
neural networks with weight decay and partially monotone linear
models as benchmark methods for comparison. The results show that
our approach outperforms partially monotone linear models in terms
of accuracy. Furthermore, the incorporation of partial monotonicity
constraints not only leads to models that are in accordance with the
decision maker's expertise, but also reduces considerably the model
variance in comparison to standard neural networks with weight
decay.
Abstract: In this paper we present a hybrid search algorithm for
solving constraint satisfaction and optimization problems. This
algorithm combines ideas of two basic approaches: complete and
incomplete algorithms which also known as systematic search and
local search algorithms. Different characteristics of systematic search
and local search methods are complementary. Therefore we have
tried to get the advantages of both approaches in the presented
algorithm. The major advantage of presented algorithm is finding
partial sound solution for complicated problems which their complete
solution could not be found in a reasonable time. This algorithm
results are compared with other algorithms using the well known
n-queens problem.