Abstract: This paper proposes new enhancement models to the
methods of nonlinear anisotropic diffusion to greatly reduce speckle
and preserve image features in medical ultrasound images. By
incorporating local physical characteristics of the image, in this case
scatterer density, in addition to the gradient, into existing tensorbased
image diffusion methods, we were able to greatly improve the
performance of the existing filtering methods, namely edge
enhancing (EE) and coherence enhancing (CE) diffusion. The new
enhancement methods were tested using various ultrasound images,
including phantom and some clinical images, to determine the
amount of speckle reduction, edge, and coherence enhancements.
Scatterer density weighted nonlinear anisotropic diffusion
(SDWNAD) for ultrasound images consistently outperformed its
traditional tensor-based counterparts that use gradient only to weight
the diffusivity function. SDWNAD is shown to greatly reduce
speckle noise while preserving image features as edges, orientation
coherence, and scatterer density. SDWNAD superior performances
over nonlinear coherent diffusion (NCD), speckle reducing
anisotropic diffusion (SRAD), adaptive weighted median filter
(AWMF), wavelet shrinkage (WS), and wavelet shrinkage with
contrast enhancement (WSCE), make these methods ideal
preprocessing steps for automatic segmentation in ultrasound
imaging.
Abstract: To meet the demands of wireless sensor networks
(WSNs) where data are usually aggregated at a single source prior to
transmitting to any distant user, there is a need to establish a tree
structure inside any given event region. In this paper , a novel
technique to create one such tree is proposed .This tree preserves the
energy and maximizes the lifetime of event sources while they are
constantly transmitting for data aggregation. The term Decentralized
Lifetime Maximizing Tree (DLMT) is used to denote this tree.
DLMT features in nodes with higher energy tend to be chosen as data
aggregating parents so that the time to detect the first broken tree link
can be extended and less energy is involved in tree maintenance. By
constructing the tree in such a way, the protocol is able to reduce the
frequency of tree reconstruction, minimize the amount of data loss
,minimize the delay during data collection and preserves the energy.
Abstract: Telemedicine is brought to life by contemporary changes of our world and summarizes the entire range of services that are at the crossroad of traditional healthcare and information technology. It is believed that eHealth can help in solving critical issues of rising costs, care for ageing and housebound population, staff shortage. It is a feasible tool to provide routine as well as specialized health service as it has the potential to improve both the access to and the standard of care. eHealth is no more an optional choice. It has already made quite a way but it still remains a fantastic challenge for the future requiring cooperation and coordination at all possible levels. The strategic objectives of this paper are: 1. To start with an attempt to clarify the mass of terms used nowadays; 2. To answer the question “Who needs eHealth"; 3. To focus on the necessity of bridging telemedicine and medical (health) informatics as well as on the dual relationship between them; as well as 4. To underline the need of networking in understanding, developing and implementing eHealth.
Abstract: Human skull is shown to exhibit numerous sexually dimorphic traits. Estimation of sex is a challenging task especially when a part of skull is brought for medicolegal investigation. The present research was planned to evaluate the sexing potential of the dimensions of foramen magnum in forensic identification by craniometric analysis. Length and breadth of the foramen magnum was measured using Vernier calipers and the area of foramen magnum was calculated. The length, breadth, and area of foramen magnum were found to be larger in males than females. Sexual dimorphism index was calculated to estimate the sexing potential of each variable. The study observations are suggestive of the limited utility of the craniometric analysis of foramen magnum during the examination of skull and its parts in estimation of sex.
Abstract: Automatic segmentation of skin lesions is the first step
towards the automated analysis of malignant melanoma. Although
numerous segmentation methods have been developed, few studies
have focused on determining the most effective color space for
melanoma application. This paper proposes an automatic segmentation
algorithm based on color space analysis and clustering-based histogram
thresholding, a process which is able to determine the optimal
color channel for detecting the borders in dermoscopy images. The
algorithm is tested on a set of 30 high resolution dermoscopy images.
A comprehensive evaluation of the results is provided, where borders
manually drawn by four dermatologists, are compared to automated
borders detected by the proposed algorithm, applying three previously
used metrics of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity and a new metric
of similarity. By performing ROC analysis and ranking the metrics,
it is demonstrated that the best results are obtained with the X and
XoYoR color channels, resulting in an accuracy of approximately
97%. The proposed method is also compared with two state-of-theart
skin lesion segmentation methods.
Abstract: In this paper a novel approach for generalized image
retrieval based on semantic contents is presented. A combination of
three feature extraction methods namely color, texture, and edge
histogram descriptor. There is a provision to add new features in
future for better retrieval efficiency. Any combination of these
methods, which is more appropriate for the application, can be used
for retrieval. This is provided through User Interface (UI) in the
form of relevance feedback. The image properties analyzed in this
work are by using computer vision and image processing algorithms.
For color the histogram of images are computed, for texture cooccurrence
matrix based entropy, energy, etc, are calculated and for
edge density it is Edge Histogram Descriptor (EHD) that is found.
For retrieval of images, a novel idea is developed based on greedy
strategy to reduce the computational complexity. The entire system
was developed using AForge.Imaging (an open source product),
MATLAB .NET Builder, C#, and Oracle 10g. The system was tested
with Coral Image database containing 1000 natural images and
achieved better results.
Abstract: This paper presents a generalized form of the
mechanistic deconvolution technique (GMD) to modeling image sensors applicable in various pan–tilt planes of view. The mechanistic deconvolution technique (UMD) is modified with the
given angles of a pan–tilt plane of view to formulate constraint parameters and characterize distortion effects, and thereby, determine
the corrected image data. This, as a result, does not require experimental setup or calibration. Due to the mechanistic nature of
the sensor model, the necessity for the sensor image plane to be
orthogonal to its z-axis is eliminated, and it reduces the dependency on image data. An experiment was constructed to evaluate the
accuracy of a model created by GMD and its insensitivity to changes in sensor properties and in pan and tilt angles. This was compared
with a pre-calibrated model and a model created by UMD using two sensors with different specifications. It achieved similar accuracy
with one-seventh the number of iterations and attained lower mean error by a factor of 2.4 when compared to the pre-calibrated and
UMD model respectively. The model has also shown itself to be robust and, in comparison to pre-calibrated and UMD model, improved the accuracy significantly.
Abstract: Among the numerous economic evaluation techniques currently available, Multi-criteria Spatial Analysis lends itself to solving localization problems of property complexes and, in particular, production plants. The methodology involves the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and the mapping overlay technique, which overlaps the different information layers of a territory in order to obtain an overview of the parameters that characterize it. This first phase is used to detect possible settlement surfaces of a new agglomeration, subsequently selected through Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), so as to choose the best alternative. The result ensures the synthesis of a multidimensional profile that expresses both the quantitative and qualitative effects. Each criterion can be given a different weight.
Abstract: Education, as the most important resource in any country, has multiplying effects on all facets of development in a society. The new social realities, particularly the interplay between democratization of education; unprecedented developments in IT sector; emergence of knowledge society, liberalization of economy and globalization have greatly influenced the educational process of all nations. This turbulence entails upon education to undergo dramatic changes to keep up with the new expectations. Growth of entrepreneurship among Indian women is highly important for empowering them and this is highly essential for socio-economic development of a society. Unfortunately in India there is poor acceptance of entrepreneurship among women as unfounded myths and fears restrain them to be enterprising. To remove these inhibitions, education system needs to be re-engineered to make entrepreneurship more acceptable. This paper empirically analyses the results of a survey done on around 500 female graduates in North India to measure and evaluate various entrepreneurial traits present in them. A formative model has been devised in this context, which should improve the teaching-learning process in our education system, which can lead to sustainable growth of women entrepreneurship in India.
Abstract: The growing interest in the issue of intangible assets not only in the scientific community but also in some professional bodies internationally can be explained by several points of view. From the business perspective, enterprises are increasingly motivated by external and internal forces to measure and proactively manage their intangibles. With respect to the issue of intangibles, goodwill has been debated in many countries throughout the world. Despite the numerous efforts and the existence of international accounting standards there is not yet a common accepted accounting treatment for goodwill. This study attempts on the one hand to impress the accounting treatment of goodwill internationally, on the other hand analyses the major subjects in relation to the accounting treatment of goodwill in Greece, since 2005, year where the international accounting standards have been in use for the Greek listed companies. The results indicate that the accounting treatment for the goodwill in Greece, despite the effort for accounting harmonization in Europe from 2005, sustains many differences especially for the no listed companies.
Abstract: Interaction effects of xanthan gum (XG), carboxymethyl
cellulose (CMC), and locust bean gum (LBG) on the flow properties
of oil-in-water emulsions were investigated by a mixture design
experiment. Blends of XG, CMC and LBG were prepared according
to an augmented simplex-centroid mixture design (10 points) and used
at 0.5% (wt/wt) in the emulsion formulations. An appropriate
mathematical model was fitted to express each response as a function
of the proportions of the blend components that are able to
empirically predict the response to any blend of combination of the
components. The synergistic interaction effect of the ternary
XG:CMC:LBG blends at approximately 33-67% XG levels was
shown to be much stronger than that of the binary XG:LBG blend at
50% XG level (p < 0.05). Nevertheless, an antagonistic interaction
effect became significant as CMC level in blends was more than 33%
(p < 0.05). Yield stress and apparent viscosity (at 10 s-1) responses
were successfully fitted with a special quartic model while flow
behaviour index and consistency coefficient were fitted with a full
quartic model (R2
adjusted ≥ 0.90). This study found that a mixture
design approach could serve as a valuable tool in better elucidating
and predicting the interaction effects beyond the conventional twocomponent
blends.
Abstract: A low bit rate still image compression scheme by
compressing the indices of Vector Quantization (VQ) and generating
residual codebook is proposed. The indices of VQ are compressed by
exploiting correlation among image blocks, which reduces the bit per
index. A residual codebook similar to VQ codebook is generated that
represents the distortion produced in VQ. Using this residual
codebook the distortion in the reconstructed image is removed,
thereby increasing the image quality. Our scheme combines these two
methods. Experimental results on standard image Lena show that our
scheme can give a reconstructed image with a PSNR value of 31.6 db
at 0.396 bits per pixel. Our scheme is also faster than the existing VQ
variants.
Abstract: Rapid growth of distance learning resulted in
importance to conduct research on students- satisfaction with distance
learning because differences in students- satisfaction might influence
educational opportunities for learning in a relevant Web-based
environment. In line with this, this paper deals with satisfaction of
students with distance module at Faculty of organizational sciences
(FOS) in Serbia as well as some factors affecting differences in their
satisfaction . We have conducted a research on a population of 68
first-year students of distance learning studies at FOS. Using
statistical techniques, we have found out that there is no significant
difference in students- satisfaction with distance learning module
between men and women. In the same way, we also concluded that
there is a difference in satisfaction with distance learning module
regarding to student-s perception of opportunity to gain knowledge as
the classic students.
Abstract: Cloud computing is becoming more and more matured over the last few years and consequently the demands for better cloud services is increasing rapidly. One of the research topics to improve cloud services is the desktop computing in virtualized environment. This paper aims at the development of an adaptive virtual desktop service in cloud computing platform based on our previous research on the virtualization technology. We implement cloud virtual desktop and application software streaming technology that make it possible for providing Virtual Desktop as a Service (VDaaS). Given the development of remote desktop virtualization, it allows shifting the user’s desktop from the traditional PC environment to the cloud-enabled environment, which is stored on a remote virtual machine rather than locally. This proposed effort has the potential to positively provide an efficient, resilience and elastic environment for online cloud service. Users no longer need to burden the platform maintenances and drastically reduces the overall cost of hardware and software licenses. Moreover, this flexible remote desktop service represents the next significant step to the mobile workplace, and it lets users access their desktop environments from virtually anywhere.
Abstract: To overcome the product overload of Internet
shoppers, we introduce a semantic recommendation procedure which
is more efficient when applied to Internet shopping malls. The
suggested procedure recommends the semantic products to the
customers and is originally based on Web usage mining, product
classification, association rule mining, and frequently purchasing.
We applied the procedure to the data set of MovieLens Company for
performance evaluation, and some experimental results are provided.
The experimental results have shown superior performance in
terms of coverage and precision.
Abstract: Implicit equations play a crucial role in Engineering.
Based on this importance, several techniques have been applied to
solve this particular class of equations. When it comes to practical
applications, in general, iterative procedures are taken into account.
On the other hand, with the improvement of computers, other
numerical methods have been developed to provide a more
straightforward methodology of solution. Analytical exact approaches
seem to have been continuously neglected due to the difficulty
inherent in their application; notwithstanding, they are indispensable
to validate numerical routines. Lagrange-s Inversion Theorem is a
simple mathematical tool which has proved to be widely applicable to
engineering problems. In short, it provides the solution to implicit
equations by means of an infinite series. To show the validity of this
method, the tree-parameter infiltration equation is, for the first time,
analytically and exactly solved. After manipulating these series,
closed-form solutions are presented as H-functions.
Abstract: The most planted cover crops in the Czech Republic
are mustard (Sinapis alba) and phacelia (Phacelia tanacetifolia
Benth.). A field trial was executed to evaluate root system size (RSS)
in eight varieties of mustard and five varieties of phacelia on two
locations, in three BBCH phases and in two years. The relationship
between RSS and aboveground biomass was inquired. The root
system was assessed by measuring its electric capacity. Aboveground
mass and root samples to be evaluated by means of a digital image
analysis were recovered in the BBCH phase 70. The yield of
aboveground biomass of mustard was always statistically
significantly higher than that of phacelia. Mustard showed a
statistically significant negative correlation between root length
density (RLD) within 10 cm and aboveground biomass weight (r = -
0.46*). Phacelia featured a statistically significant correlation
between aboveground biomass production and nitrate nitrogen
content in soil (r=0.782**).
Abstract: One of the ubiquitous routines in medical practice is searching through voluminous piles of clinical documents. In this paper we introduce a distributed system to search and exchange clinical documents. Clinical documents are distributed peer-to-peer. Relevant information is found in multiple iterations of cross-searches between the clinical text and its domain encyclopedia.
Abstract: The impact of OO design on software quality
characteristics such as defect density and rework by mean of
experimental validation. Encapsulation, inheritance, polymorphism,
reusability, Data hiding and message-passing are the major attribute
of an Object Oriented system. In order to evaluate the quality of an
Object oriented system the above said attributes can act as indicators.
The metrics are the well known quantifiable approach to express any
attribute. Hence, in this paper we tried to formulate a framework of
metrics representing the attributes of object oriented system.
Empirical Data is collected from three different projects based on
object oriented paradigms to calculate the metrics.
Abstract: The similarity comparison of RNA secondary
structures is important in studying the functions of RNAs. In recent
years, most existing tools represent the secondary structures by
tree-based presentation and calculate the similarity by tree alignment
distance. Different to previous approaches, we propose a new method
based on maximum clique detection algorithm to extract the maximum
common structural elements in compared RNA secondary structures.
A new graph-based similarity measurement and maximum common
subgraph detection procedures for comparing purely RNA secondary
structures is introduced. Given two RNA secondary structures, the
proposed algorithm consists of a process to determine the score of the
structural similarity, followed by comparing vertices labelling, the
labelled edges and the exact degree of each vertex. The proposed
algorithm also consists of a process to extract the common structural
elements between compared secondary structures based on a proposed
maximum clique detection of the problem. This graph-based model
also can work with NC-IUB code to perform the pattern-based
searching. Therefore, it can be used to identify functional RNA motifs
from database or to extract common substructures between complex
RNA secondary structures. We have proved the performance of this
proposed algorithm by experimental results. It provides a new idea of
comparing RNA secondary structures. This tool is helpful to those
who are interested in structural bioinformatics.