Abstract: This paper proposes a system to extract images from web pages and then detect the skin color regions of these images. As part of the proposed system, using BandObject control, we built a Tool bar named 'Filter Tool Bar (FTB)' by modifying the Pavel Zolnikov implementation. The Yahoo! Team provides us with the Yahoo! SDK API, which also supports image search and is really useful. In the proposed system, we introduced three new methods for extracting images from the web pages (after loading the web page by using the proposed FTB, before loading the web page physically from the localhost, and before loading the web page from any server). These methods overcome the drawback of the regular expressions method for extracting images suggested by Ilan Assayag. The second part of the proposed system is concerned with the detection of the skin color regions of the extracted images. So, we studied two famous skin color detection techniques. The first technique is based on the RGB color space and the second technique is based on YUV and YIQ color spaces. We modified the second technique to overcome the failure of detecting complex image's background by using the saturation parameter to obtain an accurate skin detection results. The performance evaluation of the efficiency of the proposed system in extracting images before and after loading the web page from localhost or any server in terms of the number of extracted images is presented. Finally, the results of comparing the two skin detection techniques in terms of the number of pixels detected are presented.
Abstract: We proposed a new class of asymmetric turbo encoder for 3G systems that performs well in both “water fall" and “error floor" regions in [7]. In this paper, a modified (optimal) power allocation scheme for the different bits of new class of asymmetric turbo encoder has been investigated to enhance the performance. The simulation results and performance bound for proposed asymmetric turbo code with modified Unequal Power Allocation (UPA) scheme for the frame length, N=400, code rate, r=1/3 with Log-MAP decoder over Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) channel are obtained and compared with the system with typical UPA and without UPA. The performance tests are extended over AWGN channel for different frame size to verify the possibility of implementation of the modified UPA scheme for the proposed asymmetric turbo code. From the performance results, it is observed that the proposed asymmetric turbo code with modified UPA performs better than the system without UPA and with typical UPA and it provides a coding gain of 0.4 to 0.52dB.
Abstract: The growth of open networks created the interest to
commercialise it. The establishment of an electronic business
mechanism must be accompanied by a digital – electronic payment
system to transfer the value of transactions. Financial organizations
are requested to offer a secure e-payment synthesis with equivalent
level of security served in conventional paper-based payment
transactions. PKI, which is functioning as a chain of trust in security
architecture, can enable security services of cryptography to epayments,
in order to take advantage of the wider base either of
customer or of trading partners and the reduction of cost transaction
achieved by the use of Internet channels. The paper addresses the
possibilities and the implementation suggestions of PKI in relevance
to electronic payments by suggesting a framework that should be
followed.
Abstract: This paper presents an innovative computer system
that contributes to sustainable development of the enterprise. The
research refers to a rethinking of traditional systems of collaboration
and risk assessment, present in any organization, leading to a
sustainable enterprise. This concept integrates emerging tools that
allow the implementation and exploitation of the collective
intelligence of the enterprise, allowing the exchange of contextual,
agile and simplified information, and collaboration with networks of
customers and partners in an environment where risks are controlled.
Risk assessment is done in a systemic way: the enterprise as the
system compared to the contained departments and the enterprise as a
subsystem compared to: families of international standards and
sustainability-s responsibilities. The enterprise, in this systemic
vision, responds to the requirements that any existing system to
operate continuously in an indefinite future without reaching key
resource depletion. The research is done by integrating collaborative
science, engineering, management, psychology, obtaining thus a
cornerstone of sustainable development of the enterprise.
Abstract: Intelligent Transportation System integrates various modern advanced technologies into the ground transportation system, and it will be the goal of urban transport system in the future because of its comprehensive effects. However, it also brings some problems, such as project performance assessment, fairness of benefiting groups, fund management, which are directly related to its operation and implementation. Wuhan has difficulties in organizing transportation because of its nature feature (river and lake), therefore, calling Service of Taxi plays an important role in transportation. This paper researches on calling Service of Taxi in Wuhan, based on quantitative and qualitative analysis. It analyzes its operations management systematically, including business model, finance, usage analysis and users evaluation. As for business model, it is that the government leads the operation at the initial stage, and the third part dominates the operation at the mature stage, which not only eases the pressure of the third part and benefits the spread of the calling service at the initial stage, but also alleviates financial pressure of government and improve the efficiency of the operation at the mature stage. As for finance, it draws that this service will bring heavy financial burden of equipments, but it will be alleviated in the future because of its spread. As for usage analysis, through data comparison, this service can bring some benefits for taxi drivers, and time and spatial distribution of usage have certain features. As for user evaluation, it analyzes using group and the reason why choosing it. At last, according to the analysis above, the paper puts forward the potentials, limitations, and future development strategies for it.
Abstract: In this paper we would like to introduce some of the
best practices of using semantic markup and its significance in the
success of web applications. Search engines are one of the best ways
to reach potential customers and are some of the main indicators of
web sites' fruitfulness. We will introduce the most important
semantic vocabularies which are used by Google and Yahoo.
Afterwards, we will explain the process of semantic markup
implementation and its significance for search engines and other
semantic markup consumers. We will describe techniques for slow
conceiving RDFa markup to our web application for collecting Call
for papers (CFP) announcements.
Abstract: The purposes of this study are 1) to study the impact
of the 3-community-core model: House (H), Temple (T), and School
(S) with the co-operation of official departments on community
development to ASEAN economic community involvement and 2) to
study the procedures and extension of the model. The research which
is a qualitative research is based on the formal and informal
interviews. Local people in a community are observed. Group
interview is, also, operated by executors and cooperators in the
school in the community. In terms of social and cultural dimension,
the 3-community-core model consisting of house, temple and school
is the base of Thai cultures bringing about understanding, happiness
and unity to the community. The result of this research is that the
official departments in accompanied with this model developers
cooperatively work together in the community to support such factors
as budget, plan, activities. Moreover, the need of community, and the
continual result to sustain the community are satisfied by the model
implementation. In terms of the procedures of the model
implementation, executors and co-operators can work, coordinate,
think, and launch their public relation altogether. Concerning the
model development, this enables the community to achieve its goal to
prepare the community’s readiness for ASEAN Economic
Community involvement.
Abstract: In this paper, an adaptive polarized Multiple-Input
Multiple-Output (MIMO) Multicarrier Spread Spectrum Code Division Multiple Access (MC-SS-CDMA) system is designed for downlink mobile communications. The proposed system will be
examined in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) mode for both macro urban and suburban environments. For the same transmission
bandwidth, a performance comparison between both nonoverlapped and orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) schemes will be presented. Also, the proposed system will be compared with
both the closed loop vertical MIMO MC-SS-CDMA system and the
synchronous vertical STBC-MIMO MC-SS-CDMA system. As will
be shown, the proposed system introduces a significant performance
gain as well as reducing the spatial dimensions of the MIMO system
and simplifying the receiver implementation. The effect of the
polarization diversity characteristics on the BER performance will be
discussed. Also, the impact of excluding the cross-polarization MCSS-
CDMA blocks in the base station will be investigated. In addition,
the system performance will be evaluated under different Feedback
Information (FBI) rates for slowly-varying channels. Finally, a
performance comparison for vehicular and pedestrian environments
will be presented
Abstract: Since Network-on-Chip (NoC) uses network
interfaces (NIs) to improve the design productivity, by now, there
have been a few papers addressing the design and implementation of a
NI module. However, none of them considered the difference of
address encoding methods between NoC and the traditional
bus-shared architecture. On the basis of this difference, in the paper,
we introduce a transmit mechanism to solve such a problem for global
asynchronous locally synchronous (GALS) NoC. Furthermore, we
give the concrete implementation of the NI module in this transmit
mechanism. Finally, we evaluate its performance and area overhead
by a VHDL-based cycle-accurate RTL model and simulation results
confirm the validity of this address-oriented transmit mechanism.
Abstract: To respond to the Kyoto Protocol, the policy of Payment for Environmental Service (PES), which was entitled “Plain Landscape Afforestation Program (PLAP)", was certified by Executive Yuan in Taiwan on 31 August 2001 and has been implementing for six years since 1 January 2002. Although the PLAP has received a lot of positive comments, there are still many difficulties during the process of implementation, such as insufficient technology for afforestation, private landowners- low interests in participating in PLAP, insufficient subsidies, and so on, which are potential threats that hinder the PLAP from moving forward in future. In this paper, selecting Ping-Tung County in Taiwan as a sample region and targeting those private landowners with and without intention to participate in the PLAP, respectively, we conduct an empirical analysis based on the Logit model to investigate the factors that determine whether those private landowners join the PLAP, so as to realize the incentive effects of the PLAP upon the personal decision on afforestation. The possible factors that might determine private landowner-s participation in the PLAP include landowner-s characteristics, cropland characteristics, as well as policy factors. Among them, the policy factors include afforestation subsidy amount (+), duration of afforestation subsidy (+), the rules on adjoining and adjacent areas (+), and so on, which do not reach the remarkable level in statistics though, but the directions of variable signs are consistent with the intuition behind the policy. As for the landowners- characteristics, each of age (+), education level (–), and annual household income (+) variables reaches 10% of the remarkable level in statistics; as for the cropland characteristics, each of cropland area (+), cropland price (–), and the number of cropland parcels (–) reaches 1% of the remarkable level in statistics. In light of the above, the cropland characteristics are the dominate factor that determines the probability of landowner-s participation in the PLAP. In the Logit model established by this paper, the probability of correctly estimating nonparticipants is 98%, the probability of correctly estimating the participants is 71.8%, and the probability for the overall estimation is 95%. In addition, Hosmer-Lemeshow test and omnibus test also revealed that the Logit model in this paper may provide fine goodness of fit and good predictive power in forecasting private landowners- participation in this program. The empirical result of this paper expects to help the implementation of the afforestation programs in Taiwan.
Abstract: The waves of eGovernment are rising very fast
through almost all public administration, or at least most of the
public administrations around the world, and not only the public
administration, but also the entire government and all of their
organization as a whole. The government uses information
technology, and above all the internet or web network, to facilitate
the exchange of services between government agencies and citizens,
businesses, employees and other non-governmental agencies. With
efficient and transparent information exchange, the information
becomes accessible to the society (citizens, business, employees etc.),
and as a result of these processes the society itself becomes the
information society or knowledge society. This paper discusses the
knowledge management for eGovernment development in
significance and role. Also, the paper reviews the role of virtual
communities as a knowledge management mechanism to support
eGovernment in Montenegro. It explores the need for knowledge
management in eGovernment, identifies knowledge management
technologies, and highlights the challenges for developing countries,
such as Montenegro in the implementation of eGovernment. The
paper suggests that knowledge management is needed to facilitate
information exchange and transaction processing with citizens, as
well as to enable creation of knowledge society.
Abstract: .Hardware realization of a Neural Network (NN), to a large extent depends on the efficient implementation of a single neuron. FPGA-based reconfigurable computing architectures are suitable for hardware implementation of neural networks. FPGA realization of ANNs with a large number of neurons is still a challenging task. This paper discusses the issues involved in implementation of a multi-input neuron with linear/nonlinear excitation functions using FPGA. Implementation method with resource/speed tradeoff is proposed to handle signed decimal numbers. The VHDL coding developed is tested using Xilinx XC V50hq240 Chip. To improve the speed of operation a lookup table method is used. The problems involved in using a lookup table (LUT) for a nonlinear function is discussed. The percentage saving in resource and the improvement in speed with an LUT for a neuron is reported. An attempt is also made to derive a generalized formula for a multi-input neuron that facilitates to estimate approximately the total resource requirement and speed achievable for a given multilayer neural network. This facilitates the designer to choose the FPGA capacity for a given application. Using the proposed method of implementation a neural network based application, namely, a Space vector modulator for a vector-controlled drive is presented
Abstract: Image compression can improve the performance of
the digital systems by reducing time and cost in image storage
and transmission without significant reduction of the image quality.
Furthermore, the discrete cosine transform has emerged as the new
state-of-the art standard for image compression. In this paper, a
hybrid image compression technique based on reversible blockade
transform coding is proposed. The technique, implemented over
regions of interest (ROIs), is based on selection of the coefficients
that belong to different transforms, depending on the coefficients is
proposed. This method allows: (1) codification of multiple kernals
at various degrees of interest, (2) arbitrary shaped spectrum,and (3)
flexible adjustment of the compression quality of the image and the
background. No standard modification for JPEG2000 decoder was
required. The method was applied over different types of images.
Results show a better performance for the selected regions, when
image coding methods were employed for the whole set of images.
We believe that this method is an excellent tool for future image
compression research, mainly on images where image coding can
be of interest, such as the medical imaging modalities and several
multimedia applications. Finally VLSI implementation of proposed
method is shown. It is also shown that the kernal of Hartley and
Cosine transform gives the better performance than any other model.
Abstract: 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.
Abstract: This paper introduces a novel design for boring bar with enhanced damping capability. The principle followed in the design phase was to enhance the damping capability minimizing the loss in static stiffness through implementation of composite material interfaces. The newly designed tool has been compared to a conventional tool. The evaluation criteria were the dynamic characteristics, frequency and damping ratio, of the machining system, as well as the surface roughness of the machined workpieces. The use of composite material in the design of damped tool has been demonstrated effective. Furthermore, the autoregressive moving average (ARMA) models presented in this paper take into consideration the interaction between the elastic structure of the machine tool and the cutting process and can therefore be used to characterize the machining system in operational conditions.
Abstract: This study on “The relationship between human
resource practices and Firm Performance is a speculative
investigation research. The purpose of this research are (1) to provide
and to understand of HRM history and current HR practices in the
Philippines (2) to examine the extent of HRM practice among its
Philippine firms effectively; (3) to investigate the relationship
between HRM practice and firm performance in the Philippines. The
survey was done to 233 companies in the Philippines. The
questionnaire is divided into three parts a) to gathers information on
the profile of respondent, b) to measures the extent to which human
resource practices are being practiced in their organization c) to
measure the organizations performance as perceived by human
resource managers and top executives as compared with their
competitors in the same industry. As a result an interesting finding
was that almost 50 percent of firm performance is affected by the
extent of implementation of HR practices in the firm. These results
show that HR practices that are in line with the organization’s
strategic goals are important for future performance.
Abstract: Several studies have been carried out, using various techniques, including neural networks, to discriminate vigilance states in humans from electroencephalographic (EEG) signals, but we are still far from results satisfactorily useable results. The work presented in this paper aims at improving this status with regards to 2 aspects. Firstly, we introduce an original procedure made of the association of two neural networks, a self organizing map (SOM) and a learning vector quantization (LVQ), that allows to automatically detect artefacted states and to separate the different levels of vigilance which is a major breakthrough in the field of vigilance. Lastly and more importantly, our study has been oriented toward real-worked situation and the resulting model can be easily implemented as a wearable device. It benefits from restricted computational and memory requirements and data access is very limited in time. Furthermore, some ongoing works demonstrate that this work should shortly results in the design and conception of a non invasive electronic wearable device.
Abstract: This paper presents a implementation of an object tracking system in a video sequence. This object tracking is an important task in many vision applications. The main steps in video analysis are two: detection of interesting moving objects and tracking of such objects from frame to frame. In a similar vein, most tracking algorithms use pre-specified methods for preprocessing. In our work, we have implemented several object tracking algorithms (Meanshift, Camshift, Kalman filter) with different preprocessing methods. Then, we have evaluated the performance of these algorithms for different video sequences. The obtained results have shown good performances according to the degree of applicability and evaluation criteria.
Abstract: In this paper, we propose a Connect6 solver which
adopts a hybrid approach based on a tree-search algorithm and image
processing techniques. The solver must deal with the complicated
computation and provide high performance in order to make real-time
decisions. The proposed approach enables the solver to be
implemented on a single Spartan-6 XC6SLX45 FPGA produced by
XILINX without using any external devices. The compact
implementation is achieved through image processing techniques to
optimize a tree-search algorithm of the Connect6 game. The tree
search is widely used in computer games and the optimal search brings
the best move in every turn of a computer game. Thus, many
tree-search algorithms such as Minimax algorithm and artificial
intelligence approaches have been widely proposed in this field.
However, there is one fundamental problem in this area; the
computation time increases rapidly in response to the growth of the
game tree. It means the larger the game tree is, the bigger the circuit
size is because of their highly parallel computation characteristics.
Here, this paper aims to reduce the size of a Connect6 game tree using
image processing techniques and its position symmetric property. The
proposed solver is composed of four computational modules: a
two-dimensional checkmate strategy checker, a template matching
module, a skilful-line predictor, and a next-move selector. These
modules work well together in selecting next moves from some
candidates and the total amount of their circuits is small. The details of
the hardware design for an FPGA implementation are described and
the performance of this design is also shown in this paper.
Abstract: Traditional Javanese classic dance is a valuable
inheritance in Java Indonesia. Nowadays, this treasure of culture is
no longer belonging to Javanese people only. Many art departments
from universities around the world already put this as a subject in
their curriculum. Nonetheless, dance is a practical skill. It needs to be
practices so often while accompanied by an instructor to get the right
technique. An interactive Computer Aided Instruction (iCAI) that can
interactively assist the student to practice is developed. By using this
software students can conduct a self practice in studio and get some
feedbacks from the software. This CAI is not intended to replace the
instructor, but to assist them in increasing the student fly-time in
practice.