Automatic player position detection in basketball games

This paper presents us with a framework for the automatic player position detection (APPD) in the game of basketball. Court players are detected in the images broadcasted via television stations. In them, at any point of time, the view is from only one camera. This makes the detection process much more difficult. The player detection is based on the mixture of non-oriented pictorial structures. The detection of body parts is performed by the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. The results of these detections are combined together with constraints on their locations, which specify the position of one body part with respect to the parent body part. In order to train the whole model, we used a latent form of SVM called the latent SVM (LSVM). Such approach generated the statistical accuracy of about 82 %, which represents one of the best results in basketball player detection framework. Beside players, the algorithm detected a certain number of false positive objects. These are mostly people from the audience and the referees as well. This paper contains a simple and robust solution to remove them all, based on the play court boundaries and the histogram comparison. Separating players in different teams is done by k-means clustering. The inputs to this algorithm are saturation histograms calculated on the jerseys. A spatial transformation is determined by the detected play court boundaries and the actual court measures. Using this transformation, points representing the location of detected players in TV images are mapped to the actual location of players on the court, which was the main goal of our research. The proposed solution is sound and efficient. In addition, it is backed up by the experimental results obtained using the model of the actual footage of basketball games.     

Singularity-free time integration of rotational quaternions using non-redundant ordinary differential equations

A novel ODE time stepping scheme for solving rotational kinematics in terms of unit quaternions is presented in the paper. This scheme inherently respects the unit-length condition without including it explicitly as a constraint equation, as it is common practice. In the standard algorithms, the unit-length condition is included as an additional equation leading to kinematical equations in the form of a system of differential-algebraic equations (DAEs). On the contrary, the proposed method is based on numerical integration of the kinematic relations in terms of the instantaneous rotation vector that form a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) on the Lie algebra \(\mathit{so}(3)\) of the rotation group \(\mathit{SO}(3)\). This rotation vector defines an incremental rotation (and thus the associated incremental unit quaternion), and the rotation update is determined by the exponential mapping on the quaternion group. Since the kinematic ODE on \(\mathit{so}(3)\) can be solved by using any standard (possibly higher-order) ODE integration scheme, the proposed method yields a non-redundant integration algorithm for the rotational kinematics in terms of unit quaternions, avoiding integration of DAE equations. Besides being ‘more elegant’—in the opinion of the authors—this integration procedure also exhibits numerical advantages in terms of better accuracy when longer integration steps are applied during simulation. As presented in the paper, the numerical integration of three non-linear ODEs in terms of the rotation vector as canonical coordinates achieves a higher accuracy compared to integrating the four (linear in ODE part) standard-quaternion DAE system. In summary, this paper solves the long-standing problem of the necessity of imposing the unit-length constraint equation during integration of quaternions, i.e. the need to deal with DAE’s in the context of such kinematical model, which has been a major drawback of using quaternions, and a numerical scheme is presented that also allows for longer integration steps during kinematic reconstruction of large three-dimensional rotations.     

Mathematical programming synthesis of non-isothermal water networks by using a compact/reduced superstructure and an MINLP model

The synthesis problems of non-isothermal water networks, combining heat exchanger network and water network (WN), usually consist of a significant number of constraints and variables, namely, flow rates, contaminant concentrations, temperatures and a large number of non-linear terms. In most cases, solving medium and large-scale synthesis problems is computationally too expensive and challenging. In order to circumvent that problem, we propose a compact superstructure and mixed-integer non-linear programming model for the simultaneous synthesis of non-isothermal WNs. The proposed superstructure includes heat integration stages enabling direct and indirect heat exchanges with a manageable number of hot and cold streams. This reduces the models size enabling easier solutions of the synthesis problems using local solvers. In addition, a superstructure reduction strategy is proposed making the superstructure flexible and adaptable for different types of problems, namely, pinched and threshold, and providing additional reduction of connections within the proposed superstructure. The proposed model is solved using a two-step solution strategy including initialisation and design steps. The model is applied to the examples of different complexities including single and multiple contaminant problems, and water-using and wastewater treatment units. Using the proposed iterative strategy, the improved locally optimal solutions are identified for most examples, minimising the total annual cost of the overall network.     

Synthesis of regional networks for the supply of energy and bioproducts

This article presents a method for the synthesis of regional renewable energy supply chains, based on Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP). This method addresses the challenges presented by biomass resources. The main challenges are the distributive and varied availabilities regarding both location and time. This work also aims to maximise the economically viable utilisation of resources, accounting for the competition between energy and food production. A four-layer supply chain superstructure has been developed, which includes the harvesting, preparation, core processing and distribution of products. This considered system’s boundaries involve a region, which is then divided into zones for optimising conversion operations and transportation flows. An MILP model has been formulated with profit maximisation as the optimisation criterion. The environmental impact is evaluated by the carbon footprint. The sensitivity of the optimal solutions is analysed for different regions’ sizes, transportation costs, pre-processing alternatives and the co-production of food and energy.     

A Highly Linear Broadband CMOS LNA Employing Noise and Distortion Cancellation

A broadband inductorless low-noise amplifier (LNA) design that utilizes simultaneous noise and distortion cancellation is presented. Concurrent cancellation of the intrinsic third-order distortion from individual stages is exhibited with the common-gate and common-source cascade. The LNA is then limited by the second-order interaction between the common source and common gate stages, which is common in all cascade amplifiers. Further removal of this third-order distortion is achieved by incorporating a second-order-distortion-free circuit technique in the common gate stage. Implemented in 0.13 m CMOS technology, this LNA achieved 16 dBm in both the 900 MHz and 2 GHz bands. Measurements demonstrate that the LNA has a minimum internal gain of 14.5 dB, noise figure of 2.6 dB from 800 MHz to 2.1GHz while drawing 11.6 mA from 1.5 V supply voltage.     

Enzymatic saccharification of canola meal

For the enzymatic saccharification of canola meal by enzyme preparations from Trichoderma reesei as well as by commercially available hemicellulase and multienzyme preparations, a pretreatment consisting of autoclaving is necessary. These enzyme preparations hydrolysed over 20% (w/w) of pretreated canola meal, which constitutes over 70% saccharification of the total polysaccharides present in canola meal. The results show that saccharification of canola meal is mainly brought about by hemicellulases capable of degrading arabinogalactan, arabinoglucan, galactan and galactomannan, while cellulases and xylanases play a minor role. These hemicellulases were found to be more stable at 50°C than cellulases or xylanases. This pretreatment also released water-soluble polysaccharides consisting mainly of arabinose and glucose. Trichoderma reesei was unable to produce enzymes capable of hydrolysing this polysaccharide when cultivated on canola meal as substrate.     

Decrease of the chlorogenic acid content in commercial sunflower meal using a polyphenol oxidase preparation secreted by the white‐rot fungus Trametes versicolor ATCC 42530

BACKGROUND: Sunflower meal (SFM) is a by‐product from the oil extraction process from sunflower seeds. The meal is used as a protein supplement in the livestock diet. However, relatively high levels of polyphenols, among which chlorogenic (CGA) and caffeic acids are in larger amounts, in the meal compromises its use for animal feed and human consumption. The aim of this work was to investigate an enzymatic process for upgrading the quality of SFM by decreasing its CGA content using an enzyme preparation from the white‐rot fungus Trametes versicolor. RESULTS: The effects of pH, temperature, enzyme and meal concentrations, and mass transfer on the decrease of the CGA content in SFM were investigated. It was found that: (1) the optimum pH and temperature were 3.4 and 45 °C, respectively. (2) The system was saturated with the enzyme when its concentration was 5 nkat/mL of liquid phase; (3) the agitation speed of the system influenced the extraction of CGA from the meal; and (4) the conversion of CGA in the SFM system increased in the presence of larger volumes of liquid phase. CONCLUSIONS: The enzyme preparation used in the experiments is able to decrease successfully the CGA content in SFM. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Aluminium content of beers

 The aluminium (Al) concentration in different brands of beers packaged in Al cans and glass bottles was measured at the end of the shelf-life of the beer, by the Zeeman graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (ZGFAAS) method. The results show that in all cases a brand of beer packaged in an Al can has a higher Al content than the same brand bottled in glass. The measurements of the Al concentration in some Al-canned beers throughout 12 months of storage show that a relatively small increase of the Al concentration in beers occurs throughout storage. All these results indicate that some Al is taken up by the beer in Al cans, presumably through the slight and slow dissolution of Al from the can wall, due to some defects in the protective lacquer layer. The evaluated daily intake of Al (0.256 mg) possible through the consumption of beer was practically negligible in relation to both the total daily dietary Al intake and the tolerable daily Al intake. Thus, beers are an insignificant source of dietary Al intake and it appears that the Al intake from beers (due to the low content of Al in beers and its low bioavailability) should not be a cause for concern with regard to Al toxicity for the human body. Received: 22 April 1996     

High-temperature dielectric response of ferroelectric relaxors

It has long been considered that polar nanoregions in relaxors form at Burns temperature T(d) ≈ 600K. High-temperature dielectric investigations of Pb(Mg(1/3)Nb(2/3)) O(3) (PMN) single crystal, PMN-PbTiO(3) ceramics, and (Pb,La) (Zr,Ti)O(3) ceramics reveal, however, that dielectric dispersion, detected around 600K, is due to the Maxwell-Wagner-type contributions of surface layers. The intrinsic response was analyzed in terms of the universal scaling, taking into account the asymptotic and the correction-to-scaling behavior, and the results imply much higher T(d) or formation of polar nanoregions in a broad temperature range. High values of the dielectric constant indicate, however, that polar order already exists at the highest measured temperatures of 800K. The obtained critical exponents indicate critical behavior associated with universality classes typically found in spin glasses.     

Placer gold in SW-Bulgaria: Past and present

Gold mining and beneficiation in SW-Bulgaria dates back to antiquity. Investigations of the area have made unique discoveries. Small archaeological gold artifacts (ringlets, wire etc.) of yet unknown age, as well as gold prills and beads from melting, have been found together with native gold. Occasionally, platinumgroup minerals (PGM), e.g. osmium-iridium-rutheniumalloys, are associated with gold and other heavy minerals in placers. The beneficiation of precious metals (panning by gravity separation) also included underground mining of auriferous conglomerates.