Adaptive reversible data hiding for JPEG images with multiple two-dimensional histograms

Joint photographic experts group (JPEG) can provide good quality with small file size but also eliminate extensively the redundancies of images. Therefore, hiding data into JPEG images in terms of maintaining high visual quality at small file sizes has been a great challenge for researchers. In this paper, an adaptive reversible data hiding method for JPEG images containing multiple two-dimensional (2D) histograms is proposed. Adaptability is mainly reflected in three aspects. The first one is to preferentially select sharper histograms for data embedding after $K$ histograms are established by constructing the $k$th ($k\in \{1,2,\dots ,K\}$) histogram using the $k$th non-zero alternating current (AC) coefficient of all the quantized discrete cosine transform blocks. On the other hand, to fully exploit the strong correlation between coefficients of one histogram, the smoothness of each coefficient is estimated by a block smoothness estimator so that a sharply-distributed 2D-histogram is constructed by combining two coefficients with similar smoothness into a pair. The pair corresponding to low complexity is selected priorly for data embedding, leading to high embedding performance while maintaining low file size. Besides, we design multiple embedding strategies to adaptively select the embedding strategy for each 2D histogram. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve higher rate–distortion performance which maintaining lower file storage space, compared with previous studies.     

Semi-supervised Learning with Graph Convolutional Networks Based on Hypergraph

Neural Processing Letters - Graph convolutional networks (GCNs), which rely on graph structures to aggregate information of neighbors to output robust node embeddings, have been becoming a popular...     

Revealing the role of Ni2+ ions in inducing the synthesis of porous carbon balls: A novel substrate to enhance the Pt catalytic activity towards methanol-oxidation

Carbon-based materials have been often employed as electrocatalytic substrates because of their large surface area/highly porous structure. Similar to carbon substrates, the non-carbon related materials such as transition metals also play an important role in improving catalytic performance. However, the simultaneous synthesis and metallic functionalization of carbon substrates is a highly challenging issue. Herein, a hydrothermal method has been used for the preparation of Ni-functionalized porous carbon balls. The significant role of Ni²⁺ ions in the synthesis of porous carbon balls has been confirmed. The results of transmission electron microscopy indicate that, the as-prepared porous carbon balls were suitable for the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles with small particle size (less than 4 nm). In addition to providing the OH_ads species, the Ni can also modify the surface electronic structure of Pt. Electrochemical measurements results reveal that, under the strong interactions between Ni and Pt, the as-prepared porous carbon balls supported Pt nanoparticles (Pt/Ni-CB) catalyst possesses excellent electrocatalytic activity, stability and CO anti-poisoning capability towards methanol electrooxidation reaction (MOR). This work opens a novel idea for the construction of the metal functionalization of carbon substrates and their subsequent applications in other electrocatalytic reactions.     

Effect of coral sand powders and seawater salinity on the impact mechanical properties of cemented coral sand

Coral sand is one kind of the important building materials in coral reef engineering practice. The use of cement as a stabilizing agent can significantly improve the mechanical properties of coral sands and is widely applied in the subbase engineering construction in coral reef islands. Cement-stabilized coral sand structures may contain high contents of fine coral particles and salinity because of the high crushability of coral sands and the existence of seawater surrounding them. In this study, the effects of coral sand powders and seawater salinity on the dynamic mechanical properties of cemented coral sand (CCS) were investigated through the split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) tests and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis. It was found that the strength (i.e., the peak stress) of CCS specimens increased firstly and then decreased with the increase of powder content. The specimens reached the maximum peak stress when 3% powder content was included. The initial improvement of CCS strength was attributed to the pore-filling effect of coral powders, namely, the micro pores of the CCS specimens could be more effectively filled with higher percentages of coral powders being used in the experiments. However, excessive coral powders resulted in the reduction of specimen strength because these powders could easily be cemented into agglomerates by absorbing water from the specimens. These agglomerates could reduce the cementation strength between the coarse coral particles and the cement. Meanwhile, the peak stress of CCS specimens was found to be negatively correlated with the average strain rate and the ultimate strain. The degree of specimen fracture was found to be correlated with the amount of specific energy absorption during the tests. Furthermore, the “sulfate attack” caused by the inclusion of salinity of water had different influences on the CCS specimens with different coral powder contents. The ettringite and gypsum produced in “sulfate attack” could fill the pores and lead to cracking of the specimens, significantly affecting the specimen strength.     

Observation of table-like magnetocaloric effect and large refrigerant capacity in Nd6Fe13Pd1–xCux compounds

The table-like magnetocaloric effect is significant for the magnetic refrigeration applications above 20 K based on the Ericsson cycle. Herein, we prepared a series of Nd₆Fe₁₃Pd_1–xCu_x (x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.15) compounds by the arc-melting method. These compounds show the single crystalline phase in the tetragonal Nd₆Fe₁₃Si-type structure with the space group I4/mcm. A magnetic phase transition from ferromagnetism to antiferromagnetism and a metamagnetic transition from the antiferromagnetic state to the ferromagnetic state are observed in each of the compounds. The compounds exhibit table-like magnetocaloric effects with large refrigerant capacities. A constant ΔS_M in a temperature span of 40 K in the Nd₆Fe₁₃Pd_0.85Cu_0.15 compound are observed. For a field change of 0–5 T, the peak values of –ΔS_M for the Nd₆Fe₁₃Pd_0.95Cu_0.05, Nd₆Fe₁₃Pd_0.90Cu_0.10, and Nd₆Fe₁₃Pd_0.85Cu_0.15 compounds are estimated to be 4.8, 4.6 and 4.4 J/(kg·K) with corresponding refrigerant capacity values of 323, 331 and 316 J/kg, respectively. The obtained table-like magnetocaloric effects with large refrigerant capacities as well as fairly small thermal and magnetic hysteresis deem these series of compounds good candidates for single-phase magnetic refrigeration based on the Ericsson cycle.     

Adaptive Graph Learning for Semi-supervised Self-paced Classification

Neural Processing Letters - Semi-supervised learning techniques have been attracting increasing interests in many machine learning fields for its effectiveness in using labeled and unlabeled...     

稀土灼烧过程温湿度场仿真分析

影响稀土灼烧工艺的因素十分复杂,关系产品质量稳定及能耗,现行工艺存在优化空间。通过剖析灼烧窑中温度和湿度分布状况,运用κ-ε双方程湍流模型、流体传热、多孔介质传热等理论,按特定组分运输模式,建立灼烧过程质量、动量和能量耦合传递数学模型。设置不同边界导入Fluent环境对数学模型进行仿真试验,完成数据处理实现工艺参数优化。结果表明所建模型能准确反映灼烧窑中温湿度场分布及变化,且最终仿真结果与实际灼烧后的产品湿度含量相符合。     

Effect of phosphogypsum on saline-alkalinity and aggregate stability of bauxite residue

A column experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of phosphogypsum (PG) on the saline- alkalinity, and aggregate stability of bauxite residue. Results showed that: with increasing leaching time, the concentrations of saline-alkali ions decreased while the concentration increased in bauxite residue leachate; compared with CK (control group) treatment, pH, electric conductivity (EC), exchangeable sodium percentage (ESP), sodium absorption ratio (SAR), and exchangeable Na⁺ content of bauxite residue were reduced following PG treatment; average particle sizes in aggregates following CK and PG treatments were determined to be 155 and 193 nm, respectively. SR-μCT test results also confirmed that bauxite residue following PG treatment acquired larger aggregates and larger pore diameter. These results indicate that the PG treatment could significantly modulate the saline-alkalinity, and simultaneously enhance aggregate stability of bauxite residue, which provides a facile approach to reclaim bauxite residue disposal areas.     

Ultra-high temperature ceramics based on ZrB2 obtained by pressureless sintering with addition of Cr3C2, Mo2C,and WC

ZrB₂-MeC and ZrB₂-19 vol% SiC-Me_xC_y where Me=Cr, Mo, W were obtained by pressureless sintering. The capability to promote densification of ZrB₂ and ZrB₂-SiC matrices is the highest for WC and lowest for Cr₃C₂. The interaction between the components results in the formation of new phases, such as MeB (MoB, CrB, WB), a solid solution based on ZrC, and a solid solution based on ZrB₂. The addition of Cr₃C₂ decreases the mechanical properties. On the other hand, the addition of Mo₂C or WC to ZrB₂-19 vol% SiC composite ceramics leads increased mechanical properties. Long-term oxidation of ceramics at 1500 °C for 50 h showed that, in binary ZrB₂-Me_xC_y, a protective oxide scale does not form on the surface thus leading to the destruction of the composite. On the contrary, triple composites showed high oxidation resistance, due to the formation of dense oxide scale on the surface, with ZrB₂-SiC-Mo₂C displaying the best performance.     

Hematite crystal growth in high-temperature lead-free multicomponent alkali borosilicate glass frit for red overglaze enamels

To elucidate the crystal growth process of hematite in high-temperature lead-free multicomponent alkali borosilicate glass, which is essentially important to control the color of red overglaze enamels, frit and hematite mixture is heat-treated and subjected to microscopic observations. Hematite particles slightly grew due to sintering at low temperature. Once the glass matrix formed near the softening point of frit, hematite dissolved into glass fluid. Hematite crystal growth concomitantly ensued with decrease in the number of hematite particles via Ostwald ripening as the temperature increased. The grown particles exhibited an anisotropic morphology with straight outlines reflecting crystal planes, the morphology of which is completely different from those grown by sintering and particles prior to heating. These results suggest that comprehensive understanding of frit and hematite from the perspectives of glass science and chemistry as well as powder technology are important to truly control the color of red overglaze enamels.