Using entropy based mean shift filter and modified watershed transform for grain segmentation

Life science research aims to continuously improve the quality and standard of human life. One of the major challenges in this area is to maintain food safety and security. A number of image processing techniques have been used to investigate the quality of food products. In this paper,we propose a new algorithm to effectively segment connected grains so that each of them can be inspected in a later processing stage. One family of the existing segmentation methods is based on the idea of watersheding, and it has shown promising results in practice.However,due to the over-segmentation issue,this technique has experienced poor performance in various applications,such as inhomogeneous background and connected targets. To solve this problem,we present a combination of two classical techniques to handle this issue.In the first step,a mean shift filter is used to eliminate the inhomogeneous background, where entropy is used to be a converging criterion. Secondly,a color gradient algorithm is used in order to detect the most significant edges, and a marked watershed transform is applied to segment cluttered objects out of the previous processing stages. The proposed framework is capable of compromising among execution time, usability, efficiency and segmentation outcome in analyzing ring die pellets. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach is effectiveness and robust.

Dissolved uranium, radium and radon evolution in the Continental Intercalaire aquifer, Algeria and Tunisia

Natural, dissolved 238U-series radionuclides (U, 226Ra, 222Rn) and activity ratios (A.R.s: 234U/238U; 228Ra/226Ra) in Continental Intercalaire (CI) groundwaters and limited samples from the overlying Complexe Terminal (CT) aquifers of Algeria and Tunisia are discussed alongside core measurements for U/Th (and K) in the contexts of radiological water quality, geochemical controls in the aquifer, and water residence times. A redox barrier is characterised downgradient in the Algerian CI for which a trend of increasing 234U/238U A.R.s with decreasing U-contents due to recoil-dominated 234U solution under reducing conditions allows residence time modelling ∼500 ka for the highest enhanced A.R. = 3.17. Geochemical modelling therefore identifies waters towards the centre of the Grand Erg Oriental basin as palaeowaters in line with reported 14C and 36Cl ages. A similar 234U/238U trend is evidenced in a few of the Tunisian CI waters. The paleoage status of these waters is affirmed by both noble gas recharge temperatures and simple modelling of dissolved, radiogenic 4He-contents both for sampled Algerian and Tunisian CI and CT waters. For the regions studied these waters therefore should be regarded as “fossil” waters and treated effectively as a non-renewable resource.

VEDA:Variation-aware energy-efficient discrete Wavelet Transform architecture

In this paper, we present a unified approach to an energy-efficient variation-tolerant design of Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) in the context of image processing applications. It is to be noted that it is not necessary to produce exactly correct numerical outputs in most image processing applications. We exploit this important feature and propose a design methodology for DWT which shows energy quality tradeoffs at each level of design hierarchy starting from the algorithm level down to the architecture and circuit levels by taking advantage of the limited perceptual ability of the Human Visual System. A unique feature of this design methodology is that it guarantees robustness under process variability and facilitates aggressive voltage over-scaling. Simulation results show significant energy savings (74% - 83%) with minor degradations in output image quality and avert catastrophic failures under process variations compared to a conventional design. © 2010 IEEE.

The solvable Lie group N_{6, 28}: an example of an almost C_0(\mathcal{K})-C*-algebra

Motivated by the description of the C*-algebra of the affine automorphism group N6,28 of the Siegel upper half-plane of degree 2 as an algebra of operator fields defined over the unitary dual View the MathML source of the group, we introduce a family of C*-algebras, which we call almost C0(K), and we show that the C*-algebra of the group N6,28 belongs to this class.

Autism in the air: using Point of View Video Priming and Natural Environment Teaching to help children with autism travel by plane

This paper describes a study that used video materials and visits to an airport to prepare children on the autism spectrum for travel by plane. Twenty parents and carers took part in the study with children aged from 3 to 16 years. The authors explain that the methods they used were based on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) research; a video modeling technique called Point-Of-View Video-priming and during visits to an airport they used procedures known as Natural Environment Teaching. The findings suggest that using video and preparing children by taking them through what is likely to happen in the real environment when they travel by plane is effective and the authors suggest these strategies could be used to support children with autism with other experiences they need or would like to engage in such as visits to the dentist or hairdressers and access to leisure centres and other public spaces.