This letter proposes a new kind of image quality philosophy—Modulate Quality based on Fixation Points (MQFP) based on Human Visual System (HVS) model. Dissimilar to the former HVS-based quality assessment, the new me...This letter proposes a new kind of image quality philosophy—Modulate Quality based on Fixation Points (MQFP) based on Human Visual System (HVS) model. Dissimilar to the former HVS-based quality assessment, the new measure emphasizes particularly on modeling the jumping phenomenon of human sight instead of modeling the visual perception of human. In other words, to model the HVS using fixation points and stay-frequency instead of Contrast Sensitive Function (CSF) etc. which models the visual perception of HVS. The experiment on various frequency-distortion images indicates that the new measure is correlated with the subjective judgment more than the former HVS-based measure and is a robust measure.展开更多
AIM:To determine the efficacy of perioperative parecoxib injection on postoperative pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.METHODS: A prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conduct...AIM:To determine the efficacy of perioperative parecoxib injection on postoperative pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.METHODS: A prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted on 70 patients who underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, from January 2006 to December 2007. Patients were randomized to receive either 20 mg parecoxib infusion 30 min before induction of anesthesia and at 12 h after the first dose (treatment group), or normal saline infusion, in the same schedule, as a placebo (control group). The degree of the postoperative pain was assessed every 3 h in the first 24 h after surgery, and then every 12 h the following day, using a visual analog scale. The consumption of analgesics was also recorded.RESULTS:There were 40 patients in the treatment group, and 30 patients in the control group. The pain scores at each time point, and analgesic consumption did not differ between the two groups. However,there were fewer patients in the treatment group than placebo group who required opioid infusion within the first 24 h (60% vs 37%, P=0.053).CONCLUSION: Perioperative administration of parecoxib provided no significant effect on postoperative pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. However, preoperative infusion 20 mg parecoxib could significantly reduce the postoperative opioid consumption.展开更多
Since there is lack of methodology to assess the performance of defogging algorithm and the existing assessment methods have some limitations,three new methods for assessing the defogging algorithm were proposed.One w...Since there is lack of methodology to assess the performance of defogging algorithm and the existing assessment methods have some limitations,three new methods for assessing the defogging algorithm were proposed.One was using synthetic foggy image simulated by image degradation model to assess the defogging algorithm in full-reference way.In this method,the absolute difference was computed between the synthetic image with and without fog.The other two were computing the fog density of gray level image or constructing assessment system of color image from human visual perception to assess the defogging algorithm in no-reference way.For these methods,an assessment function was defined to evaluate algorithm performance from the function value.Using the defogging algorithm comparison,the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed methods.展开更多
The performance evaluation of the process industry, which has been a popular topic nowadays, can not only find the weakness and verify the resilience and reliability of the process, but also provide some suggestions t...The performance evaluation of the process industry, which has been a popular topic nowadays, can not only find the weakness and verify the resilience and reliability of the process, but also provide some suggestions to improve the process benefits and efficiency. Nevertheless, the performance assessment principally concentrates upon some parts of the entire system at present, for example the controller assessment. Although some researches focus on the whole process, they aim at discovering the relationships between profit, society, policies and so forth, instead of relations between overall performance and some manipulated variables, that is, the total plant performance. According to the big data of different performance statuses, this paper proposes a hierarchical framework to select some structured logic rules from monitored variables to estimate the current state of the process. The variables related to safety and profits are regarded as key factors to performance evaluation. To better monitor the process state and observe the performance variation trend of the process, a classificationvisualization method based on kernel principal component analysis(KPCA) and self-organizing map(SOM) is established. The dimensions of big data produced by the process are first reduced by KPCA and then the processed data will be mapped into a two-dimensional grid chart by SOM to evaluate the performance status. The monitoring method is applied to the Tennessee Eastman process. Monitoring results indicate that off-line and on-line performance status can be well detected in a two-dimensional diagram.展开更多
The accuracy of the traditional assessment method of the quality of experience(Qo E) has been facing challenges with the growth of high-definition(HD) video streaming services.Image display-quality damage is the main ...The accuracy of the traditional assessment method of the quality of experience(Qo E) has been facing challenges with the growth of high-definition(HD) video streaming services.Image display-quality damage is the main factor that affects the Qo E in HD video services through UDP network transmission.In this paper,we introduce a novel objective factor known as image damage accumulation(IDA) to assess user's Qo E in HD video services.First,this paper quantitatively analyzed the effect on user quality of experience by IDA and established a mapping relationship between mean opinion scores and IDA.Furthermore,the probability of image damage caused by compression and transmission were analyzed.Based on this analysis,an objective Qo E assessment and prediction method for HD video stream service that evaluated the user experience according to IDA are proposed.The proposed method can achieve assessment and prediction accuracy on three distinct subjective tests.展开更多
While quality assessment is essential for testing, optimizing, benchmarking, monitoring, and inspecting related systems and services, it also plays an essential role in the design of virtually all visual signal proces...While quality assessment is essential for testing, optimizing, benchmarking, monitoring, and inspecting related systems and services, it also plays an essential role in the design of virtually all visual signal processing and communication algorithms, as well as various related decision-making processes. In this paper, we first provide an overview of recently derived quality assessment approaches for traditional visual signals (i.e., 2D images/videos), with highlights for new trends (such as machine learning approaches). On the other hand, with the ongoing development of devices and multimedia services, newly emerged visual signals (e.g., mobile/3D videos) are becoming more and more popular. This work focuses on recent progresses of quality metrics, which have been reviewed for the newly emerged forms of visual signals, which include scalable and mobile videos, High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, image segmentation results, 3D images/videos, and retargeted images.展开更多
The paper addresses the disconnected students experience between evaluating their own writing and traditional evaluation methods, despite effective discussion and analysis in the classroom, especially, wide when stude...The paper addresses the disconnected students experience between evaluating their own writing and traditional evaluation methods, despite effective discussion and analysis in the classroom, especially, wide when students' reading skills are limited. The paper considers the application of flipping students' intense interest and intimate comprehension of video gaming into a lens for evaluating their writing. The sophisticated storylines in some literacy-laden video games rivet students' attention in higher order applications while the intricate plots and characters mirror those literary elements taught in print media. Garner comprehension is demandingly complex; transferring literary elements from the game storyline to their writing provides the comprehension carry-over for effective self-evaluation. They can "see" as a metaphor, those parallel concepts from screen to print, from playing strengths to reading and writing, for them, literary qualities become more transparent, and thus more accessible.展开更多
To investigate presence and extent of eosinophilic cholangitis (EC) as well as IgG4-related disease in patients with indeterminate biliary stricture (IBS).METHODSAll patients with diagnosis of sclerosing cholangitis (...To investigate presence and extent of eosinophilic cholangitis (EC) as well as IgG4-related disease in patients with indeterminate biliary stricture (IBS).METHODSAll patients with diagnosis of sclerosing cholangitis (SC) and histopathological samples such as biopsies or surgical specimens at University Hospital Frankfurt from 2005-2015 were included. Histopathological diagnoses as well as further clinical course were reviewed. Tissue samples of patients without definite diagnosis after complete diagnostic work-up were reviewed regarding presence of eosinophilic infiltration and IgG4 positive plasma cells. Eosinophilic infiltration was as well assessed in a control group of liver transplant donors and patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis.RESULTSone hundred and thirty-five patients with SC were included. In 10/135 (13.5%) patients, no potential cause of IBS could be identified after complete diagnostic work-up and further clinical course. After histopathological review, a post-hoc diagnosis of EC was established in three patients resulting in a prevalence of 2.2% (3/135) of all patients with SC as well as 30% (3/10) of patients, where no cause of IBS was identified. 2/3 patients with post-hoc diagnosis of EC underwent surgical resection with suspicion for malignancy. Diagnosis of IgG4-related cholangitis was observed in 7/135 patients (5.1%), whereas 3 cases were discovered in post-hoc analysis. 6/7 cases with IgG4-related cholangitis (85.7%) presented with eosinophilic infiltration in addition to IgG4 positive plasma cells. There was no patient with eosinophilic infiltration in the control group of liver transplant donors (n = 27) and patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (n = 14).CONCLUSIONEC is an underdiagnosed benign etiology of SC and IBS, which has to be considered in differential diagnosis of IBS.展开更多
The paper first introduces and analyzes the merits and demerits of some traditional methods of evaluating the grade of clothing fit. Then a computer-aided evaluating method is put forward. In this process two groups a...The paper first introduces and analyzes the merits and demerits of some traditional methods of evaluating the grade of clothing fit. Then a computer-aided evaluating method is put forward. In this process two groups are needed. The control group is made up of people who wear maillot while the experimental group consists of those who wear target clothes to be evaluated. People in these two groups are taken photos respectively from front, back and lateral sides. The photos are input computer and receive a series of image processing using Open CV which provides the open source library function including image preprocessing, edge detection and image segmentation, etc. Finally, taking the clothing ease into account, the processed data is used for region matching and evaluating the grade of clothing fit.展开更多
A semi-reference image quality assessment metric based on similarity measurement for synthesized virtual viewpoint image (VVI) in free-viewpoint television system (FFV) is proposed in this paper. The key point of ...A semi-reference image quality assessment metric based on similarity measurement for synthesized virtual viewpoint image (VVI) in free-viewpoint television system (FFV) is proposed in this paper. The key point of the proposed metric is taking resemblant information between VVI and its neighbor view images for quality assessment to make our metric to be extended to multi-semi-reference image quality assessment easily. The proposed metric first extracts impact factors from image features, then combines an image synthesis technique and similarity functions, in which, disparity information are taken into account for registering the resemblant regions. Experiments are divided into three phases. Phase I is to verify the validation of the proposed metric by taking impaired images and original reference into account. The experimental results show the agreement between evaluation scores and bio-characteristic of human visual system. Phase II shows the accordance with Phase I by taking neighbor view as reference. The proposed metric can be taken as a full reference one to evaluate the image quality even though the original reference is absent. Phase III is then performed to evaluate the quality of WI. Evaluation scores in the experimental results are able to evaluate the quality of VVI.展开更多
Apostichopus japonicus(Holothuroidea,Echinodermata) is an ecological and economic species in East Asia.Conventional biometric monitoring method includes diving for samples and weighing above water,with highly variable...Apostichopus japonicus(Holothuroidea,Echinodermata) is an ecological and economic species in East Asia.Conventional biometric monitoring method includes diving for samples and weighing above water,with highly variable in weight measurement due to variation in the quantity of water in the respiratory tree and intestinal content of this species.Recently,video survey method has been applied widely in biometric detection on underwater benthos.However,because of the high flexibility of A.japonicus body,video survey method of monitoring is less used in sea cucumber.In this study,we designed a model to evaluate the wet weight of A.japonicus,using machine vision technology combined with a support vector machine(SVM) that can be used infield surveys on the A.japonicus population.Continuous dorsal images of free-moving A.japonicus individuals in seawater were captured,which also allows for the development of images of the core body edge as well as thorn segmentation.Parameters that include body length,body breadth,perimeter and area,were extracted from the core body edge images and used in SVM regression,to predict the weight of A.japonicus and for comparison with a power model.Results indicate that the use of SVM for predicting the weight of 33 A.japonicus individuals is accurate(R^2=0.99) and compatible with the power model(R^2=0.96).The image-based analysis and size-weight regression models in this study may be useful in body weight evaluation of A.japonicus in lab and field study.展开更多
To improve students' reading skill through VMQ4R-EIM and to reflect the English instructional process implemented by the teacher in the secondary school, and finally the teacher can introspect his English instruction...To improve students' reading skill through VMQ4R-EIM and to reflect the English instructional process implemented by the teacher in the secondary school, and finally the teacher can introspect his English instructional activities, there are 40 students as the research subjects of this CAR (classroom action research) and it used spriral method from Kemmis and McTaggart with four stages (plan, action, observation, reflection). The research result showed that there was significant reading skill improvement to secondary school students. In the first cycle, the student's reading skill improved to 62% and the observation result reached to 65%. In the second cycle, the student reading skill improved to 97% and the observation result reached to 95%. The VMQ4R-EIM can improve secondary school students' reading skill. The research implication is the VMQ4R-EIM that is one way to be implemented by the English teacher in order to improve and make the students motivated and active in attending the instructional process展开更多
The assessment of population structure and abundance of fish assemblages associated with artificial reefs(ARs) is an important aspect of AR management.In the present study,we used a DiveOperated Stereo Video(stereo-DO...The assessment of population structure and abundance of fish assemblages associated with artificial reefs(ARs) is an important aspect of AR management.In the present study,we used a DiveOperated Stereo Video(stereo-DOV) technique to assess the population structure and abundance of Sebastes schlegeli associated with two metallic,and three wooden,vessel reefs in Haizhou Bay during 2012 and2013.The study used video systems to obtain length measurements and estimates of abundance.The size composition of S.schlegeli differed among reefs and individuals around vessel reefs were all adults,with total lengths(TL) of >20 cm.Juvenile fish were encountered by divers in a rocky area near the island away from the vessel reefs.The largest individual S.schlegeli(with the highest TL) among five reefs were found around a metallic vessel reef in both 2012 and 2013.TL of S.schlegeli from all reefs increased by an average of 3.2 cm(P<0.05) from 2012 to 2013,with an estimated mean weight increase of 250.4 g(P<0.05).The video survey also indicated a decrease in the biomass of schools near two metallic vessels between the years.Stereo-video technology was found to be suitable for rockfish surveys around the reefs.展开更多
A profound understanding of the costs to perform condition assessment on buried drinking water pipeline infrastructure is required for enhanced asset management. Toward this end, an automated and uniform method of col...A profound understanding of the costs to perform condition assessment on buried drinking water pipeline infrastructure is required for enhanced asset management. Toward this end, an automated and uniform method of collecting cost data can provide water utilities a means for viewing, understanding, interpreting and visualizing complex geographically referenced cost information to reveal data relationships, patterns and trends. However, there has been no standard data model that allows automated data collection and interoperability across platforms. The primary objective of this research is to develop a standard cost data model for drinking water pipeline condition assessment projects and to conflate disparate datasets from differing utilities. The capabilities of this model will be further demonstrated through performing trend analyses. Field mapping files will be generated from the standard data model and demonstrated in an interactive web map created using Google Maps API (application programming interface) for JavaScript that allows the user to toggle project examples and to perform regional comparisons. The aggregation of standardized data and further use in mapping applications will help in providing timely access to condition assessment cost information and resources that will lead to enhanced asset management and resource allocation for drinking water utilities.展开更多
Present research is inspired to study the effects and influences of customer ratings and reviews on choosing a hostel accommodation. The hostel industry is one of the fastest growing fields of tourism. Several studies...Present research is inspired to study the effects and influences of customer ratings and reviews on choosing a hostel accommodation. The hostel industry is one of the fastest growing fields of tourism. Several studies already exist about the influences of ratings, concentrating mainly on hotels. However, using the same results for hostels, might lead to false conclusions. Not only the natures of the two accommodations are different, so as the customers. Hostels target mainly youth travelers, which includes the age group from 20 to 35 years. Youth travelers, often called "Generation Y" have specific expectations, needs, and budget which indicate the importance of study at this field as well. The research studies the youth traveler's booking habits, expectations before arriving to the accommodation, how often they leave reviews and rate hostels, what is the most important aspect when they are choosing the establishment, importance of how high the rating is, whether they read the reviews before booking an accommodation, and what a hostel has to have to give them 100% rating and a good review.展开更多
This paper explores brain CT slices segmentation technique and some related problems, including contours segmentation algorithms, edge detector, algorithm evaluation and experimental results. This article describes a ...This paper explores brain CT slices segmentation technique and some related problems, including contours segmentation algorithms, edge detector, algorithm evaluation and experimental results. This article describes a method for contour-based segmentation of anatomical structures in 3D medical data sets. With this method, the user manually traces one or more 2D contours of an anatomical structure of interest on parallel planes arbitrarily cutting the data set. The experimental results showes the segmentation based on 3D brain volume and 2D CT slices. The main creative contributions in this paper are: (1) contours segmentation algorithm; (2) edge detector; (3) algorithm evaluation.展开更多
Due to the substantial role of bridges in transportation networks and in accordance with the limited funding for bridge management, remediation strategies have to be prioritised. A conservative bridge assessment will ...Due to the substantial role of bridges in transportation networks and in accordance with the limited funding for bridge management, remediation strategies have to be prioritised. A conservative bridge assessment will result in unnecessary actions, such as costly bridge strengthening or repairs. On the other hand, any bridge maintenance negligence and delayed actions may lead to heavy future costs or degraded assets. The accuracy of decisions developed by any manager or bridge engineer relies on the accuracy of the bridge condition assessment which emanates from visual inspection. Many bridge rating systems are based on a very subjective procedure and are associated with uncertainty and personal bias. The developing condition rating method described herein is an important step in adding more holism and objectivity to the current approaches. Structural importance and material vulnerability are the two main factors that should be considered in the evaluation of element structural index and the causal factor as the representative of age, environment, road class and inspection is implemented as a coefficient to the OSCI (overall structural condition index). The AHP (analytical hierarchy process) has been applied to evaluate the priority vector of the causal parameters.展开更多
The paradigms of old media are replaced by new forms of creativity and delivery of content by those who strive to enhance innovative ways of communication and learning based on universally accepted guidelines. These u...The paradigms of old media are replaced by new forms of creativity and delivery of content by those who strive to enhance innovative ways of communication and learning based on universally accepted guidelines. These ubiquitous rules of design are what scholars in the field of call as the principles of design. Particularly when instructional effectiveness of a new message is under close lens, instructional designers unanimously accept and implement these design principles in the process of planning and designing products for consumers and/or learners With today's digital revolution and technological break-throughs, instructional designers need to keep seeking new forms of design, communication, and learning with various forms of instructional media and innovative, technology-rich design techniques. Given this educational milieu in an ever-growing digital world of learning and instruction, this paper will focus on eliciting some of these most innovative and outstanding instructional design (ID) products and evaluate their effectiveness in learning and teaching environments based on an army of ID principles generally accepted by the scholars of the field.展开更多
The increasing number of pathological occurrences is found in reinforced concrete structures, so does the demand for inspection and maintenance services in residential communities in the state of Pernambuco, which aim...The increasing number of pathological occurrences is found in reinforced concrete structures, so does the demand for inspection and maintenance services in residential communities in the state of Pernambuco, which aim to detect damage to the structure in a timely manner to minimize repair costs, thus applying preventive maintenance in order to guarantee the estimated useful life of the project for the building. However, it is observed that the practice of periodic inspections is not yet part of the culture of a certain segment of the population that does not have economic means and knowledge of the importance of maintenance to ensure the integrity of the structure. It was used in this work an inspection script with use of tests and methodology to quantify damage and to check the state of degradation of two residential buildings with more than 20 years and built near the seafront where environmental aggression is strong. The deterioration found in each of the buildings has been differentiated due to different corrective maintenance performed at every building. The last maintenance, performed in Building A, was performed by corrective hand of unskilled labour guided by the community itself, which has no expertise in the field of civil engineering. In Building B, the situation is similar, compounded by the opinion of some tenants that there is no need for this routine, even the structure being in critical condition, as was confirmed with the application of the methodology employ. There should be a legislation that governs the execution of inspections and maintenance programs in addition to the existing technical standards. The methodologies presented suitable for checking the degree of degradation of the structures and performed tests confirmed the diagnosis obtained by visual inspection and quantification of damage.展开更多
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.60372068) and theGuangdong Province Science Foundation (No.011628).
文摘This letter proposes a new kind of image quality philosophy—Modulate Quality based on Fixation Points (MQFP) based on Human Visual System (HVS) model. Dissimilar to the former HVS-based quality assessment, the new measure emphasizes particularly on modeling the jumping phenomenon of human sight instead of modeling the visual perception of human. In other words, to model the HVS using fixation points and stay-frequency instead of Contrast Sensitive Function (CSF) etc. which models the visual perception of HVS. The experiment on various frequency-distortion images indicates that the new measure is correlated with the subjective judgment more than the former HVS-based measure and is a robust measure.
基金Supported by Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital Research Project Grant
文摘AIM:To determine the efficacy of perioperative parecoxib injection on postoperative pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy.METHODS: A prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted on 70 patients who underwent elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy under general anesthesia at Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, from January 2006 to December 2007. Patients were randomized to receive either 20 mg parecoxib infusion 30 min before induction of anesthesia and at 12 h after the first dose (treatment group), or normal saline infusion, in the same schedule, as a placebo (control group). The degree of the postoperative pain was assessed every 3 h in the first 24 h after surgery, and then every 12 h the following day, using a visual analog scale. The consumption of analgesics was also recorded.RESULTS:There were 40 patients in the treatment group, and 30 patients in the control group. The pain scores at each time point, and analgesic consumption did not differ between the two groups. However,there were fewer patients in the treatment group than placebo group who required opioid infusion within the first 24 h (60% vs 37%, P=0.053).CONCLUSION: Perioperative administration of parecoxib provided no significant effect on postoperative pain relief after laparoscopic cholecystectomy. However, preoperative infusion 20 mg parecoxib could significantly reduce the postoperative opioid consumption.
基金Projects(91220301,61175064,61273314)supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of ChinaProject(126648)supported by the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of Central South University,ChinaProject(2012170301)supported by the New Teacher Fund for School of Information Science and Engineering,Central South University,China
文摘Since there is lack of methodology to assess the performance of defogging algorithm and the existing assessment methods have some limitations,three new methods for assessing the defogging algorithm were proposed.One was using synthetic foggy image simulated by image degradation model to assess the defogging algorithm in full-reference way.In this method,the absolute difference was computed between the synthetic image with and without fog.The other two were computing the fog density of gray level image or constructing assessment system of color image from human visual perception to assess the defogging algorithm in no-reference way.For these methods,an assessment function was defined to evaluate algorithm performance from the function value.Using the defogging algorithm comparison,the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and reliability of the proposed methods.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(61590923,61422303,21376077)
文摘The performance evaluation of the process industry, which has been a popular topic nowadays, can not only find the weakness and verify the resilience and reliability of the process, but also provide some suggestions to improve the process benefits and efficiency. Nevertheless, the performance assessment principally concentrates upon some parts of the entire system at present, for example the controller assessment. Although some researches focus on the whole process, they aim at discovering the relationships between profit, society, policies and so forth, instead of relations between overall performance and some manipulated variables, that is, the total plant performance. According to the big data of different performance statuses, this paper proposes a hierarchical framework to select some structured logic rules from monitored variables to estimate the current state of the process. The variables related to safety and profits are regarded as key factors to performance evaluation. To better monitor the process state and observe the performance variation trend of the process, a classificationvisualization method based on kernel principal component analysis(KPCA) and self-organizing map(SOM) is established. The dimensions of big data produced by the process are first reduced by KPCA and then the processed data will be mapped into a two-dimensional grid chart by SOM to evaluate the performance status. The monitoring method is applied to the Tennessee Eastman process. Monitoring results indicate that off-line and on-line performance status can be well detected in a two-dimensional diagram.
基金supported by the 863 Program(2014AA01A701)NSFC(61271187)+1 种基金the PAPD fundthe CICAEET fund
文摘The accuracy of the traditional assessment method of the quality of experience(Qo E) has been facing challenges with the growth of high-definition(HD) video streaming services.Image display-quality damage is the main factor that affects the Qo E in HD video services through UDP network transmission.In this paper,we introduce a novel objective factor known as image damage accumulation(IDA) to assess user's Qo E in HD video services.First,this paper quantitatively analyzed the effect on user quality of experience by IDA and established a mapping relationship between mean opinion scores and IDA.Furthermore,the probability of image damage caused by compression and transmission were analyzed.Based on this analysis,an objective Qo E assessment and prediction method for HD video stream service that evaluated the user experience according to IDA are proposed.The proposed method can achieve assessment and prediction accuracy on three distinct subjective tests.
基金partially supported by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong SAR, China (Project CUHK 415712)the Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund (AcRF) Tier 2 in Singapore under Grant No. T208B1218
文摘While quality assessment is essential for testing, optimizing, benchmarking, monitoring, and inspecting related systems and services, it also plays an essential role in the design of virtually all visual signal processing and communication algorithms, as well as various related decision-making processes. In this paper, we first provide an overview of recently derived quality assessment approaches for traditional visual signals (i.e., 2D images/videos), with highlights for new trends (such as machine learning approaches). On the other hand, with the ongoing development of devices and multimedia services, newly emerged visual signals (e.g., mobile/3D videos) are becoming more and more popular. This work focuses on recent progresses of quality metrics, which have been reviewed for the newly emerged forms of visual signals, which include scalable and mobile videos, High Dynamic Range (HDR) images, image segmentation results, 3D images/videos, and retargeted images.
文摘The paper addresses the disconnected students experience between evaluating their own writing and traditional evaluation methods, despite effective discussion and analysis in the classroom, especially, wide when students' reading skills are limited. The paper considers the application of flipping students' intense interest and intimate comprehension of video gaming into a lens for evaluating their writing. The sophisticated storylines in some literacy-laden video games rivet students' attention in higher order applications while the intricate plots and characters mirror those literary elements taught in print media. Garner comprehension is demandingly complex; transferring literary elements from the game storyline to their writing provides the comprehension carry-over for effective self-evaluation. They can "see" as a metaphor, those parallel concepts from screen to print, from playing strengths to reading and writing, for them, literary qualities become more transparent, and thus more accessible.
文摘To investigate presence and extent of eosinophilic cholangitis (EC) as well as IgG4-related disease in patients with indeterminate biliary stricture (IBS).METHODSAll patients with diagnosis of sclerosing cholangitis (SC) and histopathological samples such as biopsies or surgical specimens at University Hospital Frankfurt from 2005-2015 were included. Histopathological diagnoses as well as further clinical course were reviewed. Tissue samples of patients without definite diagnosis after complete diagnostic work-up were reviewed regarding presence of eosinophilic infiltration and IgG4 positive plasma cells. Eosinophilic infiltration was as well assessed in a control group of liver transplant donors and patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis.RESULTSone hundred and thirty-five patients with SC were included. In 10/135 (13.5%) patients, no potential cause of IBS could be identified after complete diagnostic work-up and further clinical course. After histopathological review, a post-hoc diagnosis of EC was established in three patients resulting in a prevalence of 2.2% (3/135) of all patients with SC as well as 30% (3/10) of patients, where no cause of IBS was identified. 2/3 patients with post-hoc diagnosis of EC underwent surgical resection with suspicion for malignancy. Diagnosis of IgG4-related cholangitis was observed in 7/135 patients (5.1%), whereas 3 cases were discovered in post-hoc analysis. 6/7 cases with IgG4-related cholangitis (85.7%) presented with eosinophilic infiltration in addition to IgG4 positive plasma cells. There was no patient with eosinophilic infiltration in the control group of liver transplant donors (n = 27) and patients with primary sclerosing cholangitis (n = 14).CONCLUSIONEC is an underdiagnosed benign etiology of SC and IBS, which has to be considered in differential diagnosis of IBS.
文摘The paper first introduces and analyzes the merits and demerits of some traditional methods of evaluating the grade of clothing fit. Then a computer-aided evaluating method is put forward. In this process two groups are needed. The control group is made up of people who wear maillot while the experimental group consists of those who wear target clothes to be evaluated. People in these two groups are taken photos respectively from front, back and lateral sides. The photos are input computer and receive a series of image processing using Open CV which provides the open source library function including image preprocessing, edge detection and image segmentation, etc. Finally, taking the clothing ease into account, the processed data is used for region matching and evaluating the grade of clothing fit.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 60672073,60872094)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (NCET-06-0537)the Natural Science Foundation of Ningbo (No. 2007A610037).
文摘A semi-reference image quality assessment metric based on similarity measurement for synthesized virtual viewpoint image (VVI) in free-viewpoint television system (FFV) is proposed in this paper. The key point of the proposed metric is taking resemblant information between VVI and its neighbor view images for quality assessment to make our metric to be extended to multi-semi-reference image quality assessment easily. The proposed metric first extracts impact factors from image features, then combines an image synthesis technique and similarity functions, in which, disparity information are taken into account for registering the resemblant regions. Experiments are divided into three phases. Phase I is to verify the validation of the proposed metric by taking impaired images and original reference into account. The experimental results show the agreement between evaluation scores and bio-characteristic of human visual system. Phase II shows the accordance with Phase I by taking neighbor view as reference. The proposed metric can be taken as a full reference one to evaluate the image quality even though the original reference is absent. Phase III is then performed to evaluate the quality of WI. Evaluation scores in the experimental results are able to evaluate the quality of VVI.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers(No.U1406403)the National Key Technology Research and Development Program of China(No.2011BAD13B02)+1 种基金the National Marine Public Welfare Research Project(No.201205023)the Strategic Priority Research Program of Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.XDA11020404)
文摘Apostichopus japonicus(Holothuroidea,Echinodermata) is an ecological and economic species in East Asia.Conventional biometric monitoring method includes diving for samples and weighing above water,with highly variable in weight measurement due to variation in the quantity of water in the respiratory tree and intestinal content of this species.Recently,video survey method has been applied widely in biometric detection on underwater benthos.However,because of the high flexibility of A.japonicus body,video survey method of monitoring is less used in sea cucumber.In this study,we designed a model to evaluate the wet weight of A.japonicus,using machine vision technology combined with a support vector machine(SVM) that can be used infield surveys on the A.japonicus population.Continuous dorsal images of free-moving A.japonicus individuals in seawater were captured,which also allows for the development of images of the core body edge as well as thorn segmentation.Parameters that include body length,body breadth,perimeter and area,were extracted from the core body edge images and used in SVM regression,to predict the weight of A.japonicus and for comparison with a power model.Results indicate that the use of SVM for predicting the weight of 33 A.japonicus individuals is accurate(R^2=0.99) and compatible with the power model(R^2=0.96).The image-based analysis and size-weight regression models in this study may be useful in body weight evaluation of A.japonicus in lab and field study.
文摘To improve students' reading skill through VMQ4R-EIM and to reflect the English instructional process implemented by the teacher in the secondary school, and finally the teacher can introspect his English instructional activities, there are 40 students as the research subjects of this CAR (classroom action research) and it used spriral method from Kemmis and McTaggart with four stages (plan, action, observation, reflection). The research result showed that there was significant reading skill improvement to secondary school students. In the first cycle, the student's reading skill improved to 62% and the observation result reached to 65%. In the second cycle, the student reading skill improved to 97% and the observation result reached to 95%. The VMQ4R-EIM can improve secondary school students' reading skill. The research implication is the VMQ4R-EIM that is one way to be implemented by the English teacher in order to improve and make the students motivated and active in attending the instructional process
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC)-Shandong Joint Fund for Marine Science Research Centers(No.U1406403)the National Key Technology Research and Development Program of China(No.2011BAD13B02)+1 种基金the National Marine Public Welfare Research Project(No.201205023)the Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Science and Engineering,State Oceanic Administration(No.MESE-2013-05)
文摘The assessment of population structure and abundance of fish assemblages associated with artificial reefs(ARs) is an important aspect of AR management.In the present study,we used a DiveOperated Stereo Video(stereo-DOV) technique to assess the population structure and abundance of Sebastes schlegeli associated with two metallic,and three wooden,vessel reefs in Haizhou Bay during 2012 and2013.The study used video systems to obtain length measurements and estimates of abundance.The size composition of S.schlegeli differed among reefs and individuals around vessel reefs were all adults,with total lengths(TL) of >20 cm.Juvenile fish were encountered by divers in a rocky area near the island away from the vessel reefs.The largest individual S.schlegeli(with the highest TL) among five reefs were found around a metallic vessel reef in both 2012 and 2013.TL of S.schlegeli from all reefs increased by an average of 3.2 cm(P<0.05) from 2012 to 2013,with an estimated mean weight increase of 250.4 g(P<0.05).The video survey also indicated a decrease in the biomass of schools near two metallic vessels between the years.Stereo-video technology was found to be suitable for rockfish surveys around the reefs.
文摘A profound understanding of the costs to perform condition assessment on buried drinking water pipeline infrastructure is required for enhanced asset management. Toward this end, an automated and uniform method of collecting cost data can provide water utilities a means for viewing, understanding, interpreting and visualizing complex geographically referenced cost information to reveal data relationships, patterns and trends. However, there has been no standard data model that allows automated data collection and interoperability across platforms. The primary objective of this research is to develop a standard cost data model for drinking water pipeline condition assessment projects and to conflate disparate datasets from differing utilities. The capabilities of this model will be further demonstrated through performing trend analyses. Field mapping files will be generated from the standard data model and demonstrated in an interactive web map created using Google Maps API (application programming interface) for JavaScript that allows the user to toggle project examples and to perform regional comparisons. The aggregation of standardized data and further use in mapping applications will help in providing timely access to condition assessment cost information and resources that will lead to enhanced asset management and resource allocation for drinking water utilities.
文摘Present research is inspired to study the effects and influences of customer ratings and reviews on choosing a hostel accommodation. The hostel industry is one of the fastest growing fields of tourism. Several studies already exist about the influences of ratings, concentrating mainly on hotels. However, using the same results for hostels, might lead to false conclusions. Not only the natures of the two accommodations are different, so as the customers. Hostels target mainly youth travelers, which includes the age group from 20 to 35 years. Youth travelers, often called "Generation Y" have specific expectations, needs, and budget which indicate the importance of study at this field as well. The research studies the youth traveler's booking habits, expectations before arriving to the accommodation, how often they leave reviews and rate hostels, what is the most important aspect when they are choosing the establishment, importance of how high the rating is, whether they read the reviews before booking an accommodation, and what a hostel has to have to give them 100% rating and a good review.
文摘This paper explores brain CT slices segmentation technique and some related problems, including contours segmentation algorithms, edge detector, algorithm evaluation and experimental results. This article describes a method for contour-based segmentation of anatomical structures in 3D medical data sets. With this method, the user manually traces one or more 2D contours of an anatomical structure of interest on parallel planes arbitrarily cutting the data set. The experimental results showes the segmentation based on 3D brain volume and 2D CT slices. The main creative contributions in this paper are: (1) contours segmentation algorithm; (2) edge detector; (3) algorithm evaluation.
文摘Due to the substantial role of bridges in transportation networks and in accordance with the limited funding for bridge management, remediation strategies have to be prioritised. A conservative bridge assessment will result in unnecessary actions, such as costly bridge strengthening or repairs. On the other hand, any bridge maintenance negligence and delayed actions may lead to heavy future costs or degraded assets. The accuracy of decisions developed by any manager or bridge engineer relies on the accuracy of the bridge condition assessment which emanates from visual inspection. Many bridge rating systems are based on a very subjective procedure and are associated with uncertainty and personal bias. The developing condition rating method described herein is an important step in adding more holism and objectivity to the current approaches. Structural importance and material vulnerability are the two main factors that should be considered in the evaluation of element structural index and the causal factor as the representative of age, environment, road class and inspection is implemented as a coefficient to the OSCI (overall structural condition index). The AHP (analytical hierarchy process) has been applied to evaluate the priority vector of the causal parameters.
文摘The paradigms of old media are replaced by new forms of creativity and delivery of content by those who strive to enhance innovative ways of communication and learning based on universally accepted guidelines. These ubiquitous rules of design are what scholars in the field of call as the principles of design. Particularly when instructional effectiveness of a new message is under close lens, instructional designers unanimously accept and implement these design principles in the process of planning and designing products for consumers and/or learners With today's digital revolution and technological break-throughs, instructional designers need to keep seeking new forms of design, communication, and learning with various forms of instructional media and innovative, technology-rich design techniques. Given this educational milieu in an ever-growing digital world of learning and instruction, this paper will focus on eliciting some of these most innovative and outstanding instructional design (ID) products and evaluate their effectiveness in learning and teaching environments based on an army of ID principles generally accepted by the scholars of the field.
文摘The increasing number of pathological occurrences is found in reinforced concrete structures, so does the demand for inspection and maintenance services in residential communities in the state of Pernambuco, which aim to detect damage to the structure in a timely manner to minimize repair costs, thus applying preventive maintenance in order to guarantee the estimated useful life of the project for the building. However, it is observed that the practice of periodic inspections is not yet part of the culture of a certain segment of the population that does not have economic means and knowledge of the importance of maintenance to ensure the integrity of the structure. It was used in this work an inspection script with use of tests and methodology to quantify damage and to check the state of degradation of two residential buildings with more than 20 years and built near the seafront where environmental aggression is strong. The deterioration found in each of the buildings has been differentiated due to different corrective maintenance performed at every building. The last maintenance, performed in Building A, was performed by corrective hand of unskilled labour guided by the community itself, which has no expertise in the field of civil engineering. In Building B, the situation is similar, compounded by the opinion of some tenants that there is no need for this routine, even the structure being in critical condition, as was confirmed with the application of the methodology employ. There should be a legislation that governs the execution of inspections and maintenance programs in addition to the existing technical standards. The methodologies presented suitable for checking the degree of degradation of the structures and performed tests confirmed the diagnosis obtained by visual inspection and quantification of damage.