Multi-Camera Human Activity Monitoring

With the proliferation of security cameras, the approach taken to monitoring and placement of these cameras is critical. This paper presents original work in the area of multiple camera human activity monitoring. First, a system is presented that tracks pedestrians across a scene of interest and recognizes a set of human activities. Next, a framework is developed for the placement of multiple cameras to observe a scene. This framework was originally used in a limited X, Y, pan formulation but is extended to include height (Z) and tilt. Finally, an active dual-camera system for task recognition at multiple resolutions is developed and tested. All of these systems are tested under real-world conditions, and are shown to produce usable results. This work has been supported by the NSF through grants #IIS-0219863, #CNS-0224363, #CNS-0324864, #IIP-0443945, #CNS-0420836, #IIP-0726109, and #CNS-0708344.     

Energy use in the rural areas of India: setting up a rural energy data base

Aggregating and forecasting demand are crucial parts of energy planning. While a large number of energy consumption surveys have been conducted in the past in the rural energy sector of India, the lack of sufficient data and its compilation, coupled with doubt about the quality of data, has made the task extremely difficult. This paper summarizes our recent effort to compile, computerize and analyze data from 638 village energy consumption surveys covering over 39,000 households, carried out by different organisations between 1985 and 1989. The details of the level of information provided in the survey reports, area of survey, land use pattern, asset ownership, etc., of the collated studies are presented. Results based on the analysis of the energy consumption data compiled are then discussed. The national average for rural domestic thermal energy consumption (excluding water and space heating) estimated through this work (629 kcal or 2.63 MJ per capita daily) is much similar to the rural domestic thermal energy requirement assumed in most energy planning exercises in India in the past. The useful thermal energy consumption varies from 325 to 1065 kcal/cap/d (1.36-4.46 MJ/cap/d) in the East Coast Plain and Hills and the Eastern Himalayan Regions, respectively. Reconfirming the predominance of firewood, the data reveals that the contribution of firewood to the domestic thermal energy consumption has remained at about 58% over the last three decades; dungcake and agricultural residues contribute almost equally in the remaining share. At the national level, our estimates indicate that at least 180 million tonnes of firewood, 40 million tonnes of dungcakes and 30 million tonnes of agricultural residues were consumed in the rural sector for meeting the domestic thermal energy requirement in 1991. The paper also compares the estimates with those based on other surveys in India.     

Numerical Simulation of Anisotropic Shrinkage in a 2D Compact of Elongated Particles

Microstructural evolution during simple solid-state sintering of two-dimensional compacts of elongated particles packed in different arrangements was simulated using a kinetic, Monte Carlo model. The model used simulates curvature-driven grain growth, pore migration by surface diffusion, vacancy formation, diffusion along grain boundaries, and annihilation. Only the shape of the particles was anisotropic; all other extensive thermodynamic and kinetic properties such as surface energies and diffusivities were isotropic. We verified our model by simulating sintering in the analytically tractable cases of simple-packed and close-packed, elongated particles and comparing the shrinkage rate anisotropies with those predicted analytically. Once our model was verified, we used it to simulate sintering in a powder compact of aligned, elongated particles of arbitrary size and shape to gain an understanding of differential shrinkage. Anisotropic shrinkage occurred in all compacts with aligned, elongated particles. However, the direction of higher shrinkage was in some cases along the direction of elongation and in other cases in the perpendicular direction, depending on the details of the powder compact. In compacts of simple-packed, mono-sized, elongated particles, shrinkage was higher in the direction of elongation. In compacts of close-packed, mono-sized, elongated particles and of elongated particles with a size and shape distribution, the shrinkage was lower in the direction of elongation. The results of these simulations are analyzed, and the implication of these results is discussed.     

Short- and long-term components of working memory in the rat.

In Experiment 1 of this report, we examined the neuropharmacological nature of short-term working memory of rats trained to retrieve food from all arms of a 12-arm radial maze. Delay intervals of varying length were placed between Choices 6 and 7. Lanthanum (LaCl?) and glutamate (GLU) injected bilaterally into the hippocampus effectively impaired retention over short delay intervals, which suggests a possible role for calcium and/or potassium and for glutamate in working memory. However, another equally likely explanation for the amnesic effects of LaCl? and GLU is that these drugs impaired reference memory. To test more directly the hypothesis that LaCl?, GLU, or ANI might differentially affect working and reference memory, we tested the effects of these drugs on performance of rats trained to retrieve food from only 8 arms of the 12-arm maze in Experiment 2. The remaining 4 arms were never baited, in order to test reference memory function. We predicted that rats would make errors only in baited arms (i.e., errors of working memory). Instead, results of Experiment 2 showed that LaCl?, GLU, or ANI injection produced errors in unbaited arms even before a 120-min delay. If rats were injected with LaCl? or GLU, baited-arm errors were observed only after the delay period. No impairment of performance on baited arms were observed after injection of ANI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis and characterization of butyl acrylate/methyl methacrylate/glycidyl methacrylate latexes

The butyl acrylate (BA)/methyl methacrylate (MMA), and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) composite copolymer latex was synthesized by seeded emulsion polymerization technique taking poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) latex as the seed. Four series of experiments were carried out by varying the ratio of BA : MMA (w/w) (i.e. 3.1 : 1, 2.3 : 1, 1.8 : 1, and 1.5 : 1) and in each series GMA content was varied from 1 to 5% (w/w). The structural properties of the copolymer were analyzed by FTIR, ¹H‐, and ¹³C‐NMR. Morphological characterization was carried out using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In all the experiments, monomer conversion was ～99% and final copolymer composition was similar to that of feed composition. The incorporation of GMA into the copolymer chain was confirmed by ¹³C‐NMR. The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the copolymer latex obtained from the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) curve was comparable to the values calculated theoretically. With increase in GMA content, particles having core‐shell morphology were obtained, and there was a decrease in the particle size as we go from 2–5% (w/w) of GMA. The adhesive strength of the latexes was found to be dependent on the monomer composition. With increase in BA : MMA ratio, the tackiness of the film increased while with its decrease the hardness of the film increased. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Antimutagenicity of polyphenol-rich fractions from sorghum bicolor grain

Polyphenols extracted from a bird-resistant sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench) grain cultivar SSK30 were separated into three crude fractions: non-tannin polyphenols with small M_r (F₁); proanthocyanidins with M_r values between 2000 and 10000 (F₂); and proanthocyanidins with much larger M_r values of around 10000-50000 (F₃). Each fraction was tested for mutagenicity using mutants of Salmonella typhimurium (the Ames test) or the somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) employing Drosophilu melanogaster. None of the fractions was positive with either test. On the other hand the crude polyphenols all acted as antimutagens when coincubated with mutants of S typhimurium and standard mutagens (sodium azide, daunomycin and 2-aminofluorene). The order of antimutagenicity was F₃> F₂> F₁, a decrease with decreasing M_r. It is possible that a different mechanism of polyphenol antimutagenicity occurs against the mutagen sodium azide when compared with the mutagens daunomycin and 2-aminofluorene.     

Analytical solution of amperometric enzymatic reactions based on Homotopy perturbation method

Electrochemical polymerization is a simple and direct technique often employed for immobilizing redox enzymes at an electrode surface. Besides these, it allows precise control over the amount, spatial distribution and orientation of the enzymes. Analytical expressions pertaining to the immobilization of enzyme by electrochemical polymerization on the electrode surface were obtained by Homotopy perturbation method (HPM). This expression further distinguishes the product of the enzyme reaction at the electrode surface from those occurring alongside the polymer employed for immobilization. These analytical results are compared with the available limiting case results and they are found to be in good agreement.     

Influence of reaction conditions on the formation of nanotubes/nanoparticles of polyaniline in the presence of 1‐amino‐2‐naphthol‐4‐sulfonic acid and applications as electrostatic charge dissipation material

BACKGROUND: Poly(1‐amino‐2‐naphthol‐4‐sulfonic acid) and its copolymers with aniline are a new class of conducting polymers which can acquire intrinsic protonic doping ability, leading to the formation of highly soluble self‐doped homopolymers and copolymers. Free ? OH and ? NH₂ groups in the polymer chain can combine with other functional groups that could be present in protective paints which can thus be successfully used as antistatic materials. RESULTS: This paper reports the formation of nanotubes of polyaniline on carrying out oxidative polymerization of aniline in the presence of 1‐amino‐2‐naphthol‐4‐sulfonic acid (ANSA) in p‐toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) as an external dopant. The presence of ? SO₃H groups in the ANSA comonomer allows the copolymer to acquire intrinsic protonic doping ability. The polymerization mechanism was investigated by analysing the ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, Fourier transform infrared and X‐ray photoelectron spectra of the copolymers and homopolymers, which revealed the involvement of ? OH/? NH₂ in the reaction mechanism. Scanning and transmission electron microscopy showed how the reaction route and the presence of a dopant can affect the morphology and size of the polymers. Static decay time measurements were also carried out on conducting copolymer films prepared by blending of 1 wt% of copolymers of ANSA and aniline with low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) which showed a static decay time of 0.1 to 0.31 s on dissipating a charge from 5000 to 500 V. CONCLUSION: Copolymers of ANSA with aniline were synthesized in different reaction media, leading to the formation of nanotubes and nanoparticles of copolymer. Blends of 1 wt% of PTSA‐ and self‐doped copolymers of ANSA and aniline with LDPE can be formulated into films with effective antistatic properties. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of nitrate ions on the corrosion of stellite in permanganate media

The dissolution behaviour of stellite #3 in two oxidizing agents of equivalent acidity namely, permanganic acid (HMnO₄) and a mixture of nitric acid and potassium permanganate (NP) was evaluated. The presence of nitrate in the permanganate formulation was found to reduce its efficiency for oxidizing stellite. Electrochemical polarization and impedance studies were carried out at 90 °C in NP and HMnO₄. The redox potential of both the oxidizing agents favoured transpassive dissolution of chromium from the alloy. In NP, only the chromium depleted inter-phase boundary was attacked while most of the chromium rich carbide phases were intact. In contrast, in HMnO₄, uniform corrosion of the surface was observed. The impedance response was found to change with duration of exposure. The nitrate ions in permanganate were found to promote the repassivation of the surface. HMnO₄ was found to be a better formulation for dissolving cobalt from the alloy as compared to NP.