A study in facial regions saliency: a fuzzy measure approach

People recognize familiar faces in a similar way by using interior facial features (facial regions) such as eyes, nose, mouth, etc. However, the importance of these regions in the realization of face identification and a quantification of the impact of such regions on the recognition process could vary from one region to another. An intuitively appealing observation is that of monotonicity: the more regions are taken into account in the recognition process, the better. From a formal point of view, the relevance of the facial regions and an aggregation of these pieces of experimental evidence can be described in the formal setting of fuzzy measures. Fuzzy measures are of particular interest with this regard given their monotonicity property (which stands in a clear contrast with the more restrictive additivity property inherent to probability–like measures). In this study, we concentrate on the construction of fuzzy measures (more specifically, $ \lambda $ -fuzzy measure) and characterize their performance in the problem of face recognition using a collection of experimental data.     

Lipid peroxidation during n−3 fatty acid and vitamin E supplementation in humans

The purpose of this study was to investigate in healthy humans the effect of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) intake, alone or in combination with dL-α-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E) supplements on lipid peroxidation. Eightly men were randomly assigned in a double-blind fashion to take daily for 6 wk either menhaden oil (6.26 g, n−3 fatty acids) or olive oil supplements with either vitamin E (900 IU) or its placebo. Antioxidant vitamins, phospholipid composition, malondialdehyde (MDA), and lipid peroxides were measured in the plasma at baseline and week 6. At the same time, breath alkane output was measured. Plasma α-tocopherol concentration increased in those receiving vitamin E (P<0.0001). In those supplemented with n−3 fatty acids, EPA and DHA increased in plasma phospholipids (P<0.0001) and plasma MDA and lipid peroxides increased (P<0.001 and P<0.05, respectively). Breath alkane output did not change significantly and vitamin E intake did not prevent the increase in lipid peroxidation during menhaden oil supplementation. The results demonstrate that supplementing the diet with n−3 fatty acids resulted in an increase in lipid peroxidation, as measured by plasma MDA release and lipid peroxide products, which was not suppressed by vitamin E supplementation.     

Efficient Timing Budget Management for Accuracy Improvement in a Collaborative Object Tracking System

This paper presents the idea of managing the comprising computations of an application performed by an embedded networked system. An efficient algorithm for exploiting the timing slack of building blocks of the application is proposed. The slack of blocks can be utilized by replacing them with slower but cheaper, i.e. better, modules and by assigning the computations to the proper resources. Thus, our approach manages the comprising computations and system resources and can indirectly assist the realtime scheduling of computations on system resources. This is performed without compromising the timing constraints of the application and can lead to significant improvements in power dissipation, computation accuracy or other metrics of the application domain. Our algorithm is well-suited for arbitrary tree computations. Moreover, it delivers solutions that are desirably close to the optimal solution. Experimental results for a number of object tracking applications implemented in an networked system with embedded computation resources, exhibit a significant amount of slack utilization. Soheil Ghiasi received his B.S. from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 1998, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2002 and 2004, respectively. Currently, he is an assistant professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Davis. His research interests include different aspects of Embedded and Reconfigurable system design. Elaheh Bozorgzadeh received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran in 1998, M.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Northwestern University in 2000, and Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2003. She is currently as assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Irvine. Her research interest includes VLSI CAD, design automation for embedded systems, and reconfigurable computing. She is a member of ACM and IEEE. Karlene Nguyen received her B.S. and M.S. from University of California, Los Angeles in 2001 and 2003, respectively. She has been working with Prof. Majid Sarrafzadeh for her M.S. degree. Her research interests include embedded hardware and software design. Majid Sarrafzadeh received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. in 1982, 1984, and 1987 respectively from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He joined Northwestern University as an Assistant Professor in 1987. In 2000, he joined the Computer Science Department at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). His recent research interests lie in the area of Embedded and Reconfigurable Computing, VLSI CAD, and design and analysis of algorithms. Dr. Sarrafzadeh is a Fellow of IEEE for his contribution to “Theory and Practice of VLSI Design.” He received an NSF Engineering Initiation award, two distinguished paper awards in ICCAD, and the best paper award in DAC. He has served on the technical program committee of numerous conferences in the area of VLSI Design and CAD, including ICCAD, DAC, EDAC, ISPD, FPGA, and DesignCon. He has served as committee chairs of a number of these conferences. He is on the executive committee/steering committee of several conferences such as ICCAD, ISPD, and ISQED. He is the program committee chair of ICCAD 2004. Professor Sarrafzadeh has published approximately 250 papers, is a co-editor of the book “Algorithmic Aspects of VLSI Layout” (1994 by World Scientific), and co-author of the book “An Introduction to VLSI Physical Design” (1996 by McGraw Hill). Dr. Sarrafzadeh is an Associate Editor of ACM Transaction on Design Automation (TODAES) and an Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design (TCAD) and ACM Transactions on design Automation (TODAES). Dr. Sarrafzadeh has collaborated with many industries in the past fifteen years including IBM, Motorola, and many CAD industries. He is the architect of the physical design subsystem of Monterey Design Systems main product. He is a co-founder of Hier Design, Inc.     

Constrained Bayes estimation in small area models with functional measurement error

In survey sampling, policy decisions regarding allocation of resources to subgroups, called small areas, or determination of subgroups with specific properties in a population are based on reliable estimates of small area parameters. However, the information is often collected at a different scale than these subgroups. Hence, we need to estimate characteristics of subgroups based on the coarser scale data. One of the main interests in small area estimation is to produce an ensemble of small area parameters whose distribution across small areas is close to the corresponding distribution of true parameters. In this paper, we consider the unit-level nested error linear regression model which is commonly used in small area estimation. We study the case where the covariate in the model is assumed to have measurement error. To study this complex model, we propose to use constrained Bayes method to estimate the true covariate to build the small area Bayes predictor. We also provide some measures of performance such as sensitivity, specificity, and positive/negative predictive values for the constructed Bayes predictor. We estimate the model parameters using the method of moments and Bayesian approach to get corresponding empirical and hierarchical Bayes predictors. The performance of our proposed approach is evaluated through a simulation study and a real data application.     

Rapid synthesis of flower-like ZnO nanostructures

Flower-like ZnO nanostructures were prepared via microwave assisted heating in the presence and absence of ionic liquid (IL). X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy SEM and room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra have been employed for characterization of the products. The SEM image illustrates the surface of flower-like ZnO prepared in the presence of IL is not smooth and consists of nanoparticles with grain size of about 48 nm. PL spectra of flower-like ZnO in absence and presence IL reveal similar photoluminescence features: a strong UV, weak blue and green-yellow emissions peak at a bout 393 nm, 448 nm and 583 nm respectively. The strong UV photoluminescence and the weak green emission indicate the good crystallization quality of the flower-like nanostructure. The results show that imidazolium-based IL can be used as template for achieving very high level control over the size and shape of nanostructures. The approach developed in this work can potentially be used as a viable method for making various other uniform nanostructures in the presence of IL. This method is simple, fast, low-cost and suitable for large-scale production of ZnO nanostructures.     

Adsorptive separation of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> and CH<Subscript>4</Subscript> by the broom sorghum based activated carbon functionalized by diethanolamine

A low-cost activated carbon (AC) was produced from the broom sorghum stalk using KOH as the chemical activating agent, and then the surface of AC was functionalized with diethanolamine to enhance CO₂/CH4 selectivity. Characteristics of pristine and DEA-functionalized ACs were determined through different analyses such as Boehm’s method, BET, FT-IR, SEM, and TGA. The adsorption behavior of pure carbon dioxide and pure methane on these adsorbents was investigated in a temperature range of 288-308 K and pressure range of 0-25 bar using an apparatus based on a volumetric method. Results indicated that amine functionalization significantly improved the selectivity of CO₂/CH₄. The enhancement of CO₂ ideal adsorption selectivity over CH₄ from 1.51 for the pristine AC to 5.75 for the AC-DEA was attributed to adsorbate-adsorbent chemical interaction. The present DEA-functionalized AC adsorbent can be a good candidate for applications in natural gas and landfill gas purifications.     

Development of 3D Scanning System for Robotic Plasma Processing of Medical Products with Complex Geometries

This paper describes the development of an intelligent automated control system of a robot manipulator for plasma treatment of medical implants with complex shapes. The two-layer coatings from the Ti wire and hydroxyapatite powders are applied on the surface of Ti medical implants by microplasma spraying to increase the biocompatibility of implants. The coating process requires precise control of a number of parameters, particularly the plasma spray distance and plasma jet traverse velocity. Thus, the development of the robotic plasma surface treatment involves automated path planning. The key idea of the proposed intelligent automatic control system is the use of data of preliminary three-dimensional (3D) scanning of the processed implant by the robot manipulator. The segmentation algorithm of the point cloud from laser scanning of the surface is developed. This methodology is suitable for robotic 3D scanning systems with both non-contact laser distance sensors and video cameras, used in additive manufacturing and medicine.     

Effect of ARB Cycle Number and Second Phase Content on Mechanical properties and Microstructure of Pb–Ag Composite

A solid state method has been found for manufacturing of lead–silver composites for use as anodes in electrowinning production. Mechanical properties and microstructure of composite were characterized via peeling, tensile and microhardness tests, and scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and fractography. Based on the peeling test results, maximum bond strength was achieved in the presence of 0.125 wt% of Ag (1.8 N/mm). Best mechanical properties were achieved in the Pb–0.5 wt% Ag composite after 10 ARB cycles by the enhanced tensile strength rising up to 50%, yield strength up to 170%, shear strength up to 63% and hardness up to 2.6 times higher, and the strain decreasing to 68% lower. These advanced properties led to higher stiffness and considerable enhancements in dimensional stability of the anodes and they improved creep characteristics. The advanced properties of the processed Pb–Ag composite anodes could be introduced as certification for slower anode failure, upkeep, surcharge and capital expenditure of industries with essential lead anode requirement.     

Solubility and thermodynamics of lamotrigine in carbitol + water mixtures from T = (293.2 to 313.2) K

The solubility of lamotrigine (LTG) are measured in aqueous mixtures of carbitol at temperatures ranging from 293.2 to 313.2 K. LTG solubility increases with increasing mass fraction of carbitol, and maximum solubility is observed in neat carbitol. Four cosolvency mathematical models; i.e., Yalkowsky model, Jouyban–Acree model, Jouyban–Acree–van’t Hoff model and modified Wilson model are fitted to the experimental results, and back-calculation is performed by using the solubility data in monosolvents in which the mean relative deviation of the investigated models are 64.8%, 9.0%, 7.2%, and 46.7%, respectively. Furthermore, the apparent thermodynamic properties of the dissolution process are computed according to van’t Hoff and Gibbs equations. The preferential solvation is analyzed based on the inverse Kirkwood-Buff integrals by using the solubility values at 298.2 K. LTG is preferentially solvated by water in water-rich mixtures (0.00?<?x₁?<?0.12) and by carbitol in mixtures with solvent composition of 0.12?<?x₁?<?1.00.