Telescience aspects of the Electrophoresis Visualisation Experiment II (TEM 04-2) on TEXUS 28

The Electrophoresis Visualisation Experiment I was successfully performed on TEXUS 27 in autumn campaign 1990. The second experiment used an extended Telescience Facility for operation from the ground operation center in the launch site of Kiruna, Sweden. Additional Telescience pathway from the CNES in Toulouse using a satellite link was also supported.     

A new adaptive mean frequency estimator: application to constant variance color flow mapping

A class of adapted mean frequency estimators is proposed for color flow mapping. These estimators can be fitted to the specific characteristics of a given Doppler signal to optimize the compromise between the range of analysable frequencies and the variance of mean frequency estimation. A sub-optimal estimator is derived for real-time applications, and an adaptive criterion based on the Doppler signal variance is developed for color flow mapping applications. Its performance is compared to that of the usual correlation phase estimator on simulated Doppler signals and on synthetic Doppler images. An improvement in image quality is achieved, mainly for low signal-to-noise ratio Doppler signals.     

Adaptive noise smoothing filter for images with signal-dependent noise

In this paper, we consider the restoration of images with signal-dependent noise. The filter is noise smoothing and adapts to local changes in image statistics based on a nonstationary mean, nonstationary variance (NMNV) image model. For images degraded by a class of uncorrelated, signal-dependent noise without blur, the adaptive noise smoothing filter becomes a point processor and is similar to Lee's local statistics algorithm [16]. The filter is able to adapt itself to the nonstationary local image statistics in the presence of different types of signal-dependent noise. For multiplicative noise, the adaptive noise smoothing filter is a systematic derivation of Lee's algorithm with some extensions that allow different estimators for the local image variance. The advantage of the derivation is its easy extension to deal with various types of signal-dependent noise. Film-grain and Poisson signal-dependent restoration problems are also considered as examples. All the nonstationary image statistical parameters needed for the filter can be estimated from the noisy image and no a priori information about the original image is required.     

Backshapes of seated persons—how close can the interface be designed?

The backshapes of 114 seated persons were measured. The horizontal and vertical positions of various spinal landmarks are given for male and female subjects and for those with lordotic, straight and kyphotic backs.     

Correcting working postures in industry: A practical method for analysis

A practical method for identifying and evaluating poor working postures, ie, the Ovako Working Posture Analysing System (OWAS), is presented. The method consists of two parts. The first is an observational technique for evaluating working postures. It can be used by work-study engineers in their daily routine and it gives reliable results after a short training period. The second part of the method is a set of criteria for the redesign of working methods and places. The criteria are based on evaluations made by experienced workers and ergonomics experts. They take into consideration factors such as health and safety, but the main emphasis is placed on the discomfort caused by the working postures. The method has been extensively used in the steel company which participated in its development. Complete production lines have already been redesigned on the basis of information gathered from OWAS, the result being more comfortable workplaces as well as a positive effect on production quality.