Preserving interactions among moving objects in surveillance video synopsis

Video synopsis is an effective solution for fast browsing and retrieval of long surveillance videos. It aims to shorten long video sequences into its equivalent compact video representation by rearranging the video events in the temporal domain and/or spatial domain. Conventional video synopsis methods focus on reducing the collisions between tubes and maintaining their chronological order, which may alter the original interactions between tubes due to improper tube rearrangement. In this paper, we present an approach to preserve the relationships among tubes (tracks of moving objects) of the original video in the synopsis video. First, a recursive tube-grouping algorithm is proposed to determine the behavior interactions among tubes in a video and group the related tubes together to form tube sets. Second, to preserve the discovered relationships, a spatio-temporal cube voting algorithm is proposed. This cube voting method optimally rearranges the tube sets in the synopsis video, minimizing false collisions between tubes. Third, a method to estimate the duration of the synopsis video is proposed based on an entropy measure of tube collisions. The extensive experimental results demonstrate that the proposed video synopsis framework condenses videos by preserving the original tube interactions and reducing false tube collisions.

     

Influence of iron doping towards the physicochemical and biological characteristics of hydroxyapatite

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is the naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite and the most studied material as a bone substituent. Considering HAP's inherent properties, this study explored changes in HAP's characteristics from doping with other metals such as Fe. To form pure HAP and Fe-HAP with different amounts of Fe, we used the hydrothermal approach, and the composites that formed were thoroughly analyzed for their crystallinity, surface bonding, morphology, magnetic behavior, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and in vitro cytotoxicity. The powder XRD studies confirmed the samples' crystallinity, and the lowest crystalline size was 19.7 nm in 10Fe-HAP. The FTIR analysis confirmed the formation of HAP by the hydroxyl, phosphate, and carbonate groups. The FESEM demonstrated that the morphology of the pure HAP was rod-shaped, which transformed into spheres after Fe doping. The EDS analysis confirmed the successful formation of HAP and Fe-HAP composites. The magnetic studies indicated the diamagnetic behavior of the pure HAP, while the Fe-doped HAPs had a superparamagnetic nature with saturation magnetizations (M_s) of 2Fe-HAP, 4Fe-HAP, and 10Fe-HAP at 0.0062, 0.0092, and 0.029 emu/g respectively. Assessment of the mechanical properties, biocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and cytotoxicity indicated that the Fe-doped HAPs were superior to the pure HAP, and among the Fe-HAPs, the 10Fe-HAP) had the highest amount of Fe and the best characteristics. The studies also indicated that Ca²⁺ interactions influenced the cells via HAP doping with that of Fe, equally increasing the physicochemical and biological properties.     

Natural rubber (Hevea Brasiliensis)-based quasi-solid electrolyte as a potential candidate for arresting recombination and improving performance in aqueous dye-sensitized solar cells

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - We successfully fabricated dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing a quasi-solid state electrolyte based on pristine insulator natural...     

In Situ Liquid-Cell TEM Observation of Multiphase Classical and Nonclassical Nucleation of Calcium Oxalate

Calcium oxalate (CaOx) is the major phase in kidney stones and the primary calcium storage medium in plants. CaOx can form crystals with different lattice types, water contents, and crystal structures. However, the conditions and mechanisms leading to nucleation of particular CaOx crystals are unclear. Here, liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy and atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are used to study in situ CaOx nucleation at different conditions. The observations reveal that rhombohedral CaOx monohydrate (COM) can nucleate via a classical pathway, while square COM can nucleate via a non-classical multiphase pathway. Citrate, a kidney stone inhibitor, increases the solubility of calcium by forming calcium-citrate complexes and blocks oxalate ions from approaching calcium. The presence of multiple hydrated ionic species draws additional water molecules into nucleating CaOx dihydrate crystals. These findings reveal that by controlling the nucleation pathways one can determine the macroscale crystal structure, hydration state, and morphology of CaOx.     

A mathematical model and solution methods for rail freight transportation planning in an Indian food grain supply chain

This paper addresses the rail transportation of food grains undertaken by Food Corporation of India (FCI) to meet the requirements of the food security programme called Public Distribution System (PDS). The research focuses on improving the allocation of railway rakes transporting food grains to a set of storage warehouses. A penalty factor based approach is adopted to represent the considerations in transportation planning and three penalty factors such as rake penalty factor, weekly penalty factor and capacity utilization penalty factor are introduced for the purpose. The single source - multiple destination problem is formulated and solved using exact method to minimize the sum of these three penalty factor values, termed total penalty. Further, a heuristic named optimum rake allocation algorithm is developed and tested using a set of 35 problem instances. The proposed heuristic is found to be highly efficient in terms of solution quality and computation time. A case study of FCI Kerala Region is also carried out to validate the formulated model and the proposed heuristic. The work provides valuable insights into the practical issues encountered in rail freight transportation planning and proposes an effective solution methodology to address them.     

New approach for prediction of influence of vehicle dynamics parameters on instability of unmanned track vehicle using robotic approach

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology - Achieving stability of unmanned, heavy tracked vehicles is challenging, especially under conditions of teleoperation because the remote operator...     

Enhanced selectivity to benzaldehyde in the liquid phase oxidation of benzyl alcohol using nanocrystalline ZSM-5 zeolite catalyst

In the present paper, nanocrystalline hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolites were successfully synthesized by the hydrothermal method in the presence of tetrapropylammonium hydroxide as a single template with the gel composition of 58SiO₂:Al₂O₃:20TPAOH:1,500H₂O. The prepared zeolite catalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Nitrogen adsorption–desorption (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) techniques. The formation of pure and highly crystalline ZSM-5 zeolite phase is confirmed by XRD. The IR vibration band at 550 cm^?1 is assigned to the double 5-rings of MFI-type zeolites. N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherms showed that the synthesized product had high BET surface area and possessed composite pore structures with both micro and mesopores. The catalytic performance of hierarchical ZSM-5 zeolite was investigated in the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BzOH) with hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) under mild conditions. The results showed that the conversion of BzOH and the selectivity to benzaldehyde were about 94 and about 99 % respectively, when using 0.08 g ZSM-5 catalyst with acetonitrile as the solvent and H₂O₂ as the oxidant at 90 °C. This catalyst can be retrieved and reprocessed for five times without a significant loss in its activity and selectivity.     

The Impact of International Crises on Maritime Transportation Based Global Value Chains

Networks and Spatial Economics - International trade has evolved into global value chains, a worldwide network highly impacted by global crises. Since maritime transportation is the most important...     

New insights into the mechanisms of carbon dioxide mineralization by portlandite

Portlandite (Ca(OH)₂; also known as calcium hydroxide or hydrated lime), an archetypal alkaline solid, interacts with carbon dioxide (CO₂) via a classic acid–base “carbonation” reaction to produce a salt (calcium carbonate: CaCO₃) that functions as a low-carbon cementation agent, and water. Herein, we revisit the effects of reaction temperature, relative humidity (RH), and CO₂ concentration on the carbonation of portlandite in the form of finely divided particulates and compacted monoliths. Special focus is paid to uncover the influences of the moisture state (i.e., the presence of adsorbed and/or liquid water), moisture content and the surface area-to-volume ratio (s_a/v, mm⁻¹) of reactants on the extent of carbonation. In general, increasing RH more significantly impacts the rate and thermodynamics of carbonation reactions, leading to high(er) conversion regardless of prior exposure history. This mitigated the effects (if any) of allegedly denser, less porous carbonate surface layers formed at lower RH. In monolithic compacts, microstructural (i.e., mass-transfer) constraints particularly hindered the progress of carbonation due to pore blocking by liquid water in compacts with limited surface area to volume ratios. These mechanistic insights into portlandite's carbonation inform processing routes for the production of cementation agents that seek to utilize CO₂ borne in dilute (≤30 mol%) post-combustion flue gas streams.