Emergent semantics through interaction in image databases

In this paper, we briefly discuss some aspects of image semantics and the role that it plays for the design of image databases. We argue that images don't have an intrinsic meaning, but that they are endowed with a meaning by placing them in the context of other images and by the user interaction. From this observation, we conclude that, in an image, database users should be allowed to manipulate not only the individual images, but also the relation between them. We present an interface model based on the manipulation of configurations of images     

Evaluating Electronic Voting Systems Equipped with Voter-Verified Paper Records

Despite their widespread deployment, questions about electronic voting systems' performance emerge following many elections. To encourage full public confidence in the electoral process, some researchers recommend equipping electronic voting machines with voter-verifiable audit trails that print out paper records that voters can read and verify. In this article, the authors report on their analysis and testing of one US state's criteria for direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting machines equipped with voter-verified paper-record (VVPR) systems. The criteria and analysis cover various categories, including privacy, security, verification, integrity, functionality, and examination. The authors describe their testing methodologies, discuss issues exhibited by different voting systems, and propose solutions to address those issues.     

Influence of dietary iron deficiency on acute metal intoxication

The frequent difficulties encountered in the diagnosis of pediatric sarcomas, caused by the lack of observable differentiation at the light microscopic level, has led to the routine use of immunohistochemistry in pediatric surgical pathology. To a large degree the advent of this staining technique has led to the correct assessment of many perplexing lesions that previously would have been given inconclusive diagnoses. However, with increased usage and testing, it has become apparent that there are few, if any, "magic bullets" in immunohistochemistry for pediatric pathologists. Thus, it behooves diagnosticians to be careful in the usage of this technique, to be aware of possible discrepancies in its results, and to remember the ancillary nature of its application. The following article will review selected markers commonly used in pediatric surgical pathology, from both previous reports and the author's perspective, and will briefly consider several new phenotypic markers which have potential utility with childhood sarcomas.     

A study of the oxidation kinetics of CuFeO2 in the Cu-Fe-O system

The oxidation kinetics of CuFeO₂ in the Cu-Fe-O system have been studied between 500 and 900° C in an atmosphere containing 1 vol% oxygen in a nitrogen stream using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It was found that addition of Fe₂O₃ to the CuFeO₂ caused a decrease in the oxidation rate while addition of CuO caused an increase. On increasing the concentration of Fe₂O₃ the activation energy was found to increase from ~ 18 kcal mol^–1 to ~ 45 kcal mol^–1 and the exponent n in Avrami's equationf=1-exp (–kt ⁿ) was also observed to increase, from 1.3 to 2.3. On adding CuO to the CuFeO₂ in the Cu-Fe-O system the activation energy decreased from ~ 18 kcal mol^–1 to ~ 8 kcal mol^–1. The variation in both values indicates changes in the oxidation mechanisms. The microstructural changes associated with oxidation have been studied using optical microscopy. A model has been proposed to explain the results.     

A clustering performance measure based on fuzzy set decomposition

Clustering is primarily used to uncover the true underlying structure of a given data set and, for this purpose, it is desirable to subject the same data to several different clustering algorithms. This paper attempts to put an order on the various partitions of a data set obtained from different clustering algorithms. The goodness of each partition is expressed by means of a performance measure based on a fuzzy set decomposition of the data set under consideration. Several experiments reported in here show that the proposed performance measure puts an order on different partitions of the same data which is consistent with the error rate of a classifier designed on the basis of the obtained cluster labelings.     

Optimal quadtrees for image segments

Quadtrees are compact hierarchical representations of images. In this paper, we define the efficiency of quadtrees in representing image segments and derive the relationship between the size of the enclosing rectangle of an image segment and its optimal quadtree. We show that if an image segment has an enclosing rectangle having sides of lengths x and y, such that 2N-1 × max (x, y) ? 2N, then the optimal quadtree may be the one representing an image of size 2N × 2N or 2N+1 × 2N+1. It is shown that in some situations the quadtree corresponding to the larger image has fewer nodes. Also, some necessary conditions are derived to identify segments for which the larger image size results in a quadtree which is no more expensive than the quadtree for the smaller image size.     

Minimal pathset and minimal cutsets using search technique

Application of graph theory to reliability analysis was first made in 1970 ^[1]. Over the years, a large number of computer programmes have been developed to determine the spanning trees, the minimal paths and cutsets, which are essential for determining the reliability of the network. In recent years, there has been an interest 2., 4. in developing small desk top calculators for specific purposes, which could be used by the designers of transportation systems, communication systems, etc. In this article the authors present an approach to design a microprocessor based equipment to determine minimal pathset and minimal cutset from the incidence matrix of the graph. The authors have presented a new design approach, based on search technique. The salient feature of the new approach is a novel tracing process in which the desired graph is traced by operating a set of constraints. The new design approach has already been used by the authors to develop a microprocessor based spanning tree generator 2., 3..     

An intrinsic dimensionality estimator from near-neighbor information

The intrinsic dimensionality of a set of patterns is important in determining an appropriate number of features for representing the data and whether a reasonable two- or three-dimensional representation of the data exists. We propose an intuitively appealing, noniterative estimator for intrinsic dimensionality which is based on nearneighbor information. We give plausible arguments supporting the consistency of this estimator. The method works well in identifying the true dimensionality for a variety of artificial data sets and is fairly insensitive to the number of samples and to the algorithmic parameters. Comparisons between this new method and the global eigenvalue approach demonstrate the utility of our estimator.     

Optical properties of CdS sintered film

Chemical method has been used to prepare cadmium sulphide by using cadmium, hydrochloric acid and H₂S. The reflection spectra of covered and uncovered sintered films of CdS have been recorded by ‘Hitachi spectrophotometer’ over the wavelength range 300–700 nm. The energy band gaps of these films have been calculated from reflection spectra. It is found that the energy band gap of both films is same as 2.41 eV. It is indicated that energy band gap of these films does not change. This value of band gap is in good agreement with the value reported by other workers. The measurement of photocurrent has also been carried out using Keithley High Resistance meter/ Electrometer. This film shows the high photosensitivity and high photocurrent decay. Thus so obtained films are suitable for fabrication of photo detectors and solar cells.