Hand Vein Image Enhancement With Radon Like Features Descriptor

Nowadays, hand vein recognition has attracted more attentions in identification biometrics systems. Generally, hand vein image is acquired with low contrast and irregular illumination. Accordingly, if you have a good preprocessing of hand vein image, we can easy extracted the feature extraction even with simple binarization. In this paper, a proposed approach is processed to improve the quality of hand vein image. First, a brief survey on existing methods of enhancement is investigated. Then a Radon Like features method is applied to preprocessing hand vein image. Finally, experiments results show that the proposed method give the better effective and reliable in improving hand vein images.

Exploring Inter-Relationships between Events to Identify Strategic Technological Competencies: A Combined Approach

The inherent complexity in nowadays- business environments is forcing organizations to be attentive to the dynamics in several fronts. Therefore, the management of technological innovation is continually faced with uncertainty about the future. These issues lead to a need for a systemic perspective, able to analyze the consequences of interactions between different factors. The field of technology foresight has proposed methods and tools to deal with this broader perspective. In an attempt to provide a method to analyze the complex interactions between events in several areas, departing from the identification of the most strategic competencies, this paper presents a methodology based on the Delphi method and Quality Function Deployment. This methodology is applied in a sheet metal processing equipment manufacturer, as a case study.

WPRiMA Tool: Managing Risks in Web Projects

Risk management is an essential fraction of project management, which plays a significant role in project success. Many failures associated with Web projects are the consequences of poor awareness of the risks involved and lack of process models that can serve as a guideline for the development of Web based applications. To circumvent this problem, contemporary process models have been devised for the development of conventional software. This paper introduces the WPRiMA (Web Project Risk Management Assessment) as the tool, which is used to implement RIAP, the risk identification architecture pattern model, which focuses upon the data from the proprietor-s and vendor-s perspectives. The paper also illustrates how WPRiMA tool works and how it can be used to calculate the risk level for a given Web project, to generate recommendations in order to facilitate risk avoidance in a project, and to improve the prospects of early risk management.

Identification of the Causes of Construction Delay in Malaysia

Construction delay is unavoidable in developing countries including Malaysia. It is defined as time overrun or extension of time for completion of a project. The purpose of the study is to determine the causes of delay in Malaysian construction industries based on previous worldwide research. The field survey conducted includes the experienced developers, consultants and contractors in Malaysia. 34 causes of the construction delay have been determined and 24 have been selected using the Rasch model analysis. The analysis result will be used as the baseline for the next research to find the causes of delay in the Malaysian construction industry taking place in Malaysian higher learning institutions.

Using ANSYS to Realize a Semi-Analytical Method for Predicting Temperature Profile in Injection/Production Well

Determination of wellbore problems during a production/injection process might be evaluated thorough temperature log analysis. Other applications of this kind of log analysis may also include evaluation of fluid distribution analysis along the wellbore and identification of anomalies encountered during production/injection process. While the accuracy of such prediction is paramount, the common method of determination of a wellbore temperature log includes use of steady-state energy balance equations, which hardly describe the real conditions as observed in typical oil and gas flowing wells during production operation; and thus increase level of uncertainties. In this study, a practical method has been proposed through development of a simplified semianalytical model to apply for predicting temperature profile along the wellbore. The developed model includes an overall heat transfer coefficient accounting all modes of heat transferring mechanism, which has been focused on the prediction of a temperature profile as a function of depth for the injection/production wells. The model has been validated with the results obtained from numerical simulation.

PmSPARQL: Extended SPARQL for Multi-paradigm Path Extraction

In the last few years, the Semantic Web gained scientific acceptance as a means of relationships identification in knowledge base, widely known by semantic association. Query about complex relationships between entities is a strong requirement for many applications in analytical domains. In bioinformatics for example, it is critical to extract exchanges between proteins. Currently, the widely known result of such queries is to provide paths between connected entities from data graph. However, they do not always give good results while facing the user need by the best association or a set of limited best association, because they only consider all existing paths but ignore the path evaluation. In this paper, we present an approach for supporting association discovery queries. Our proposal includes (i) a query language PmSPRQL which provides a multiparadigm query expressions for association extraction and (ii) some quantification measures making easy the process of association ranking. The originality of our proposal is demonstrated by a performance evaluation of our approach on real world datasets.

An Information Theoretic Approach to Rescoring Peptides Produced by De Novo Peptide Sequencing

Tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is the engine driving high-throughput protein identification. Protein mixtures possibly representing thousands of proteins from multiple species are treated with proteolytic enzymes, cutting the proteins into smaller peptides that are then analyzed generating MS/MS spectra. The task of determining the identity of the peptide from its spectrum is currently the weak point in the process. Current approaches to de novo sequencing are able to compute candidate peptides efficiently. The problem lies in the limitations of current scoring functions. In this paper we introduce the concept of proteome signature. By examining proteins and compiling proteome signatures (amino acid usage) it is possible to characterize likely combinations of amino acids and better distinguish between candidate peptides. Our results strongly support the hypothesis that a scoring function that considers amino acid usage patterns is better able to distinguish between candidate peptides. This in turn leads to higher accuracy in peptide prediction.

Mega Projects and Governmentality

Mega urban transport projects (MUTPs) are increasingly being used in urban environments to ameliorate the problem of congestion. However, a number of problems with regard to mega projects have been identified. In particular the seemingly institutionalised over estimation of economic benefits and persistent cost over runs, could mean that the wrong projects are selected, and that the projects that are selected cost more than they should. Studies to date have produced a number of solutions to these problems, perhaps most notably, the various methods for the inclusion of the private sector in project provision. However the problems have shown significant intractability in the face of these solutions. This paper provides a detailed examination of some of the problems facing mega projects and then examines Foucault-s theory of 'governmentality' as a possible frame of analysis which might shed light on the intractability of the problems that have been identified, through an identification of the art of government in which MUTPs occur.

Experimental Study on Damping Ratios of in-situ Buildings

Accurate evaluation of damping ratios involving soilstructure interaction (SSI) effects is the prerequisite for seismic design of in-situ buildings. This study proposes a combined approach to identify damping ratios of SSI systems based on ambient excitation technique. The proposed approach is illustrated with main test process, sampling principle and algorithm steps through an engineering example, as along with its feasibility and validity. The proposed approach is employed for damping ratio identification of 82 buildings in Xi-an, China. Based on the experimental data, the variation range and tendency of damping ratios of these SSI systems, along with the preliminary influence factor, are shown and discussed. In addition, a fitting curve indicates the relation between the damping ratio and fundamental natural period of SSI system.

Identification of Reusable Software Modules in Function Oriented Software Systems using Neural Network Based Technique

The cost of developing the software from scratch can be saved by identifying and extracting the reusable components from already developed and existing software systems or legacy systems [6]. But the issue of how to identify reusable components from existing systems has remained relatively unexplored. We have used metric based approach for characterizing a software module. In this present work, the metrics McCabe-s Cyclometric Complexity Measure for Complexity measurement, Regularity Metric, Halstead Software Science Indicator for Volume indication, Reuse Frequency metric and Coupling Metric values of the software component are used as input attributes to the different types of Neural Network system and reusability of the software component is calculated. The results are recorded in terms of Accuracy, Mean Absolute Error (MAE) and Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE).

Identification of Impact of Electromagnetic Fields at Low and High Frequency on Human Body

The article reviews the current state of large-scale studies about the impact of electromagnetic field on natural environment. The scenario of investigations – simulation of natural conditions at the workplace, taking into consideration the influence both low and high frequency electromagnetic fields is shown.The biological effects of low and high frequency electromagnetic fields are below presented. Results of investigation with animals are shown. The norms and regulations concerning the levels of electromagnetic field intensity are reviewed.

Implementing a Prototype System for Power Facility Management using RFID/WSN

Firstly, research and development on RFID focuses on manufacturing and retail sectors, because it can improve supply chain efficiency. But, now a variety of field is considered the next research area for Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Although RFID is infancy, RFID technology has great potential in power industry to significantly reduce cost, and improve quality of power supply. To complement the limitation of RFID, we adopt the WSN (Wireless Sensor Network) technology. However, relevant experience is limited, the challenge will be to derive requirement from business practice and to determine whether it is possible or not. To explore this issue, we conduct a case study on implementing power facility management system using RFID/WSN in Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO). In this paper we describe requirement from power industry. And we introduce design and implementation of the test bed.

A Robust Image Watermarking Scheme using Image Moment Normalization

Multimedia security is an incredibly significant area of concern. A number of papers on robust digital watermarking have been presented, but there are no standards that have been defined so far. Thus multimedia security is still a posing problem. The aim of this paper is to design a robust image-watermarking scheme, which can withstand a different set of attacks. The proposed scheme provides a robust solution integrating image moment normalization, content dependent watermark and discrete wavelet transformation. Moment normalization is useful to recover the watermark even in case of geometrical attacks. Content dependent watermarks are a powerful means of authentication as the data is watermarked with its own features. Discrete wavelet transforms have been used as they describe image features in a better manner. The proposed scheme finds its place in validating identification cards and financial instruments.

Web Service Security Method To SOA Development

Web services provide significant new benefits for SOAbased applications, but they also expose significant new security risks. There are huge number of WS security standards and processes. At present, there is still a lack of a comprehensive approach which offers a methodical development in the construction of secure WS-based SOA. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to address this needs, presenting a comprehensive method for Web Services Security guaranty in SOA. The proposed method defines three stages, Initial Security Analysis, Architectural Security Guaranty and WS Security Standards Identification. These facilitate, respectively, the definition and analysis of WS-specific security requirements, the development of a WS-based security architecture and the identification of the related WS security standards that the security architecture must articulate in order to implement the security services.

Algorithm for Bleeding Determination Based On Object Recognition and Local Color Features in Capsule Endoscopy

Automatic determination of blood in less bright or noisy capsule endoscopic images is difficult due to low S/N ratio. Especially it may not be accurate to analyze these images due to the influence of external disturbance. Therefore, we proposed detection methods that are not dependent only on color bands. In locating bleeding regions, the identification of object outlines in the frame and features of their local colors were taken into consideration. The results showed that the capability of detecting bleeding was much improved.

Wormhole Attack Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks

The nature of wireless ad hoc and sensor networks make them very attractive to attackers. One of the most popular and serious attacks in wireless ad hoc networks is wormhole attack and most proposed protocols to defend against this attack used positioning devices, synchronized clocks, or directional antennas. This paper analyzes the nature of wormhole attack and existing methods of defending mechanism and then proposes round trip time (RTT) and neighbor numbers based wormhole detection mechanism. The consideration of proposed mechanism is the RTT between two successive nodes and those nodes- neighbor number which is needed to compare those values of other successive nodes. The identification of wormhole attacks is based on the two faces. The first consideration is that the transmission time between two wormhole attack affected nodes is considerable higher than that between two normal neighbor nodes. The second detection mechanism is based on the fact that by introducing new links into the network, the adversary increases the number of neighbors of the nodes within its radius. This system does not require any specific hardware, has good performance and little overhead and also does not consume extra energy. The proposed system is designed in ad hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol and analysis and simulations of the proposed system are performed in network simulator (ns-2).

An Approach to Concerns and Aspects Mining for Web Applications

Web applications have become very complex and crucial, especially when combined with areas such as CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and BPR (Business Process Reengineering), the scientific community has focused attention to Web applications design, development, analysis, and testing, by studying and proposing methodologies and tools. This paper proposes an approach to automatic multi-dimensional concern mining for Web Applications, based on concepts analysis, impact analysis, and token-based concern identification. This approach lets the user to analyse and traverse Web software relevant to a particular concern (concept, goal, purpose, etc.) via multi-dimensional separation of concerns, to document, understand and test Web applications. This technique was developed in the context of WAAT (Web Applications Analysis and Testing) project. A semi-automatic tool to support this technique is currently under development.

Improvement Approach on Rotor Time Constant Adaptation with Optimum Flux in IFOC for Induction Machines Drives

Induction machine models used for steady-state and transient analysis require machine parameters that are usually considered design parameters or data. The knowledge of induction machine parameters is very important for Indirect Field Oriented Control (IFOC). A mismatched set of parameters will degrade the response of speed and torque control. This paper presents an improvement approach on rotor time constant adaptation in IFOC for Induction Machines (IM). Our approach tends to improve the estimation accuracy of the fundamental model for flux estimation. Based on the reduced order of the IM model, the rotor fluxes and rotor time constant are estimated using only the stator currents and voltages. This reduced order model offers many advantages for real time identification parameters of the IM.

Paremaeter Determination of a Vehicle 5-DOF Model to Simulate Occupant Deceleration in a Frontal Crash

This study has investigated a vehicle Lumped Parameter Model (LPM) in frontal crash. There are several ways for determining spring and damper characteristics and type of problem shall be considered as system identification. This study use Genetic Algorithm (GA) procedure, being an effective procedure in case of optimization issues, for optimizing errors, between target data (experimental data) and calculated results (being obtained by analytical solving). In this study analyzed model in 5-DOF then compared our results with 5-DOF serial model. Finally, the response of model due to external excitement is investigated.

Identification of the Electronic City Application Obstacles in Iran

Amazing development of the information technology, communications and internet expansion as well as the requirements of the city managers to new ideas to run the city and higher participation of the citizens encourage us to complete the electronic city as soon as possible. The foundations of this electronic city are in information technology. People-s participation in metropolitan management is a crucial topic. Information technology does not impede this matter. It can ameliorate populace-s participation and better interactions between the citizens and the city managers. Citizens can proffer their ideas, beliefs and votes through digital mass media based upon the internet and computerization plexuses on the topical matters to receive appropriate replies and services. They can participate in urban projects by becoming cognizant of the city views. The most significant challenges are as follows: information and communicative management, altering citizens- views, as well as legal and office documents Electronic city obstacles have been identified in this research. The required data were forgathered through questionnaires to identify the barriers from a statistical community comprising specialists and practitioners of the ministry of information technology and communication, the municipality information technology organization. The conclusions demonstrate that the prioritized electronic city application barriers in Iran are as follows: The support quandaries (non-financial ones), behavioral, cultural and educational plights, the security, legal and license predicaments, the hardware, orismological and infrastructural curbs, the software and fiscal problems.