ON-LINE STEREO PROCESSING FOR THE SEM.

A convenient system for the rapid extraction of three dimensional information from pairs of SEM images has been constructed, eliminating the need for time-consuming photography. Results are produced in a digestable form. Distortions inherent in the SEM record display and in the photographic system are not relevant to the system described; only those arising within the column and stage need be considered.

On the spawning activities of kingfish, Scomberomorous commerson, in Oman waters

The spawning activities of kingfish, Scomberomorus commerson, in Oman waters are traced out for the first time. The possible spawning period and spawning ground are identified on the basis of collection of its eggs and larvae from Oman waters. The eggs and early larval characteristics are described suitably with photographic illustration of 4.9 mm larva. The optimum surface water temperature and salinity recorded for the occurrence of kingfish eggs and larvae are 23.57-26.05°C and 36.0-36.1‰, respectively.

Relatório do cruzeiro realizado no Banco de Sofala pelo navio "Pantikapey" de 7-23/Junho/1981: peixes pelágicos e fauna acompanhante de Carapau e Cavala

This report of the research cruise (7 to 23 June 1981) surveying pelagic marine resources of the Sofala Bank (Mozambique) describes the size composition, distribution, length-weight relationships and sex-ratio of the fish captured. Decapterus russellii, D. macrosoma, Selar crumenophthalmus and Rastrelliger kanagurta represented 21.7% of the total catch. The by-catch was also studied.

Relatório do cruzeiro realizado no Banco de Sofala pelo navio "Pantikapey" de 21 de Julho a 7 de Agosto de 1981: peixes pelágicos e fauna acompanhante de Carapau e Cavala

This report of the research cruise (21 July to 7 August, 1981) surveying pelagic marine resources of the Sofala Bank (Mozambique) describes size composition distribution, length-weight relationships and sex-ratio of the fish captured. Decapterus russellii, D. macrosoma, Selar crumenophthalmus and Rastrelliger kanagurta represented 21.7% of the total catch. The by-catch was also studied.

Estimation of fishery resources by sonar surveys

The methodology adopted by the Pelagic Fishery Project, Cochin for surveying the surface fish schools with sonar equipment, is described. The estimates of the biomass arrived at from the surveys conducted during 1975-78 are presented.

Satellite formation in drop-on-demand printing of polymer solutions

High speed photographic images of jets formed from dilute solutions of polystyrene in diethyl phthalate ejected from a piezoelectric drop-on-demand inkjet head have been analyzed in order to study the formation and distribution of drops as the ligament collapses. Particular attention has been paid to satellite drops, and their relative separation and sizes. The effect of polymer concentration was investigated. The distribution of nearest-neighbour centre spacing between the drops formed from the ligament is better described by a 2-parameter modified gamma distribution than by a Gaussian distribution. There are (at least) two different populations of satellite size relative to the main drop size formed at normal jetting velocities, with ratios of about three between the diameters of the main drop and the successive satellite sizes. The distribution of the differences in drop size between neighbouring drops is close to Gaussian, with a small non-zero mean for low polymer concentrations, which is associated with the conical shape of the ligament prior to its collapse and the formation of satellites. Higher polymer concentrations result in slower jets for the same driving impulse, and also a tendency to form ligaments with a near-constant width. Under these conditions the mean of the distribution of differences in nearest-neighbour drop size was zero.

Vegetation structure and faunal composition of Wathurana wetland ecosystem Tebuwana, Kalutara, Sri Lanka

A study was conducted in Tebuwana Wathurana Wetland ecosystem to understand its vegetation structure and faunal composition in order to assess its conservation needs. As there are no published records on the flora and fauna of Wathurana Wetlands in Tebuwana, it is necessary to understand the ecological and other relevant features in order to develop strategies to conserve this wetland. These objectives were pursued by surveying the vegetation of the wetland and by identifying fish and bird species present. A total of 66 species of flora and 61 species of fauna were identified in the survey. Of the 27 fish species recorded from the Tebuwana Wetland, 9 species were endemic and 17 species belonged to the indigenous category. With regard to the flora in the wetlands, the dominant families were Rubaceae, Fabaceae and Arecaceae. The 66 species belonged to 39 families and 61 genera while 12 species were endemic and 4 species were considered highly threatened. These flora were found in four layers. Of the 22 species of birds recorded, two species were endemic. This study revealed that these Wathurana Wetlands have a high species diversity but that they face many threats including encroachments, extraction of forest products mainly as timber, land filling, mining and occurrence of invasive species. It is essential to minimize the exploitation of natural resources from this wetland in the future and in particular to mark the boundary, conduct awareness programmes and continue research.

Statistical image modelling using interscale phase relationships of complex wavelet coefficients

A novel method for modelling the statistics of 2D photographic images useful in image restoration is defined. The new method is based on the Dual Tree Complex Wavelet Transform (DT-CWT) but a phase rotation is applied to the coefficients to create complex coefficients whose phase is shift-invariant at multiscale edge and ridge features. This is in addition to the magnitude shift invariance achieved by the DT-CWT. The increased correlation between coefficients adjacent in space and scale provides an improved mechanism for signal estimation. © 2006 IEEE.

Improving Pothole Recognition through Vision Tracking for Automated Pavement Assessment

Pavement condition assessment is essential when developing road network maintenance programs. In practice, pavement sensing is to a large extent automated when regarding highway networks. Municipal roads, however, are predominantly surveyed manually due to the limited amount of expensive inspection vehicles. As part of a research project that proposes an omnipresent passenger vehicle network for comprehensive and cheap condition surveying of municipal road networks this paper deals with pothole recognition. Existing methods either rely on expensive and high-maintenance range sensors, or make use of acceleration data, which can only provide preliminary and rough condition surveys. In our previous work we created a pothole detection method for pavement images. In this paper we present an improved recognition method for pavement videos that incrementally updates the texture signature for intact pavement regions and uses vision tracking to track detected potholes. The method is tested and results demonstrate its reasonable efficiency.

Shape-Based Retrieval of Construction Site Photographs

Digital photographs of construction site activities are gradually replacing their traditional paper based counterparts. Existing digital imaging technologies in hardware and software make it easy for site engineers to take numerous photographs of “interesting” processes and activities on a daily basis. The resulting photographic data are evidence of the “as-built” project, and can therefore be used in a number of project life cycle tasks. However, the task of retrieving the relevant photographs needed in these tasks is often burdened by the sheer volume of photographs accumulating in project databases over time and the numerous objects present in each photograph. To solve this problem, the writers have recently developed a number of complementary techniques that can automatically classify and retrieve construction site images according to a variety of criteria (materials, time, date, location, etc.). This paper presents a novel complementary technique that can automatically identify linear (i.e., beam, column) and nonlinear (i.e., wall, slab) construction objects within the image content and use that information to enhance the performance of the writers’ existing construction site image retrieval approach.

A Videogrammetric As-Built Data Collection Method for Digital Fabrication of Sheet Metal Roof Panels

A roofing contractor typically needs to acquire as-built dimensions of a roof structure several times over the course of its build to be able to digitally fabricate sheet metal roof panels. Obtaining these measurements using the exiting roof surveying methods could be costly in terms of equipment, labor, and/or worker exposure to safety hazards. This paper presents a video-based surveying technology as an alternative method which is simple to use, automated, less expensive, and safe. When using this method, the contractor collects video streams with a calibrated stereo camera set. Unique visual characteristics of scenes from a roof structure are then used in the processing step to automatically extract as-built dimensions of roof planes. These dimensions are finally represented in a XML format to be loaded into sheet metal folding and cutting machines. The proposed method has been tested for a roofing project and the preliminary results indicate its capabilities.

Age, technology prior experience and ease of use: Who's doing what?

Designers often assume that their users will have some digital technological prior experience. We examined these levels of prior experience by surveying frequency and ease of technology use with a range of technology products. 362 people participated as part of a UK nationwide larger survey of people's capabilities and characteristics to inform product design. We found that frequency and self-reported ease of use are indeed correlated for all of the products. Furthermore, both frequency and ease of use declined significantly with age for most of the products. In fact, 29% of the over 65s had never or rarely used any of the products, except for digital TV. We conclude that interfaces need to be designed carefully to avoid implicit assumptions about users' previous technology use.

A systematic approach for improving the quality of official statistics: Case of Korean information and telecommunication industry

With the rapid growth of information and communication technology (ICT) in Korea, there was a need to improve the quality of official ICT statistics. In order to do this, various factors had to be considered, such as the quality of surveying, processing, and output as well as the reputation of the statistical agency. We used PLS estimation to determine how these factors might influence customer satisfaction. Furthermore, through a comparison of associated satisfaction indices, we provided feedback to the responsible statistics agency. It appears that our model can be used as a tool for improving the quality of official ICT statistics. © 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Energy performance certification as a signal of workplace quality

Energy performance labelling and certification have been introduced widely to address market failures affecting the uptake of energy efficient technologies, by providing a signal to support decision making during contracting processes. The UK has recently introduced the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) as a signal of building energy performance. The aims of this article are: to evaluate how valid EPC's are signals of occupier satisfaction with office facilities; and to understand whether occupant attitudes towards environmental issues have affected commercial office rental values. This was achieved by surveying occupant satisfaction with their workplaces holistically using a novel multi-item rating scale which gathered 204 responses. Responses to this satisfaction scale were matched with the corresponding EPC and rental value of occupier's workplaces. The satisfaction scale was found to be both a reliable and valid measure. The analysis found that EPC asset rating correlates significantly with occupant satisfaction with all facility attributes. Therefore, EPC ratings may be considered valid signals of overall facility satisfaction within the survey sample. Rental value was found to correlate significantly only with facility aesthetics. No evidence suggests rental value has been affected by occupants' perceptions towards the environmental impact of facilities. © 2013 The Authors.