Image recoloring using specular decomposition and in-painting

ABSTRACT

Image recoloring using wavelet transform, in-painting and dichromatic reflection model is proposed. Detailed wavelet bands are passed through a sharpening filter whereas the approximation band is passed through dichromatic reflection model to extract body and specular coefficients. In-painting and white illumination minimization using erosion and Gaussian blur further enhance the image quality. The proposed technique produces better results, both qualitatively and quantitatively, in terms of edge preservation and minimization of noise, artefacts in contrast to state-of-art existing techniques.     

An X-ray micro-fluorescence study to investigate the distribution of Al, Si, P and Ca ions in the surrounding soft tissue after implantation of a calcium phosphate-mullite ceramic composite in a rabbit animal model

Synthetic calcium phosphates, despite their bioactivity, are brittle. Calcium phosphate- mullite composites have been suggested as potential dental and bone replacement materials which exhibit increased toughness. Aluminium, present in mullite, has however been linked to bone demineralisation and neurotoxicity: it is therefore important to characterise the materials fully in order to understand their in vivo behaviour. The present work reports the compositional mapping of the interfacial region of a calcium phosphate--20 wt% mullite biocomposite/soft tissue interface, obtained from the samples implanted into the long bones of healthy rabbits according to standard protocols (ISO-10993) for up to 12 weeks. X-ray micro-fluorescence was used to map simultaneously the distribution of Al, P, Si and Ca across the ceramic-soft tissue interface. A well defined and sharp interface region was present between the ceramic and the surrounding soft tissue for each time period examined. The concentration of Al in the surrounding tissue was found to fall by two orders of magnitude, to the background level, within ~35 μm of the implanted ceramic.     

Optimal sequential estimation of discrete processes with Markov interrupted observations

This short paper considers the problem of sequential estimation of discrete-time processes corrupted by additive noise when there is time-varying uncertainty regarding the presence of the process at each stage of the observation sequence. A recursive Bayes' optimal solution is derived that does not require a growing amount of memory and computation for its implementation but that, however, requires recursion on continuous functions to be performed. Digital computer implementation of the proposed algorithms is discussed and some simulation results are presented.     

Microalgae role in sustainable bioenergy generation as determined by light microscopy

The main aim of this study was to explore the role of light microscopy in the identification of microalgae as a source of study. Three microalgal species (Nostoc, Anabaena, and Volvox) were identified by light. In this study, different parameters of the oil extraction process from algae biomass were studied. The samples of Nostoc, Anabaena, and Volvox were collected from the freshwater bodies in Lahore, and the samples were identified by light microscopy. Pretreatment of algae was done which includes harvesting, drying, and grinding. The sun drying of sample was done. Solvent extraction was done for the extraction of oil from algal cells. Solvent n-hexane and diethyl ether were used alone as well as in combination. Effects of n-hexane to oil ratio, size of algal biomass, and contact time on the percentage yield of extracted oil were studied and analyzed. It was concluded that maximum amount of oil was extracted from algae by using a greater ratio of solvent to algal biomass, maximum contact time, and smaller algal biomass size. The extracted oil yield was satisfactory, demonstrating the potential of microalgae for biodiesel production. It was discovered that if algal oil is subjected to transesterification, it can be turned into biodiesel, and light microscopy can be used to assess anatomical characteristics. However, more research will be required for transesterification.     

Matching dependencies: semantics and query answering

Matching dependencies (MDs) are used to declaratively specify the identification (or matching) of certain attribute values in pairs of database tuples when some similarity conditions on other values are satisfied. Their enforcement can be seen as a natural generalization of entity resolution. In what we call the pure case of MD enforcement, an arbitrary value from the underlying data domain can be used for the value in common that is used for a matching. However, the overall number of changes of attribute values is expected to be kept to a minimum. We investigate this case in terms of semantics and the properties of data cleaning through the enforcement of MDs. We characterize the intended clean instances, and also the clean answers to queries, as those that are invariant under the cleaning process. The complexity of computing clean instances and clean query answering is investigated. Tractable and intractable cases depending on the MDs are identified and characterized.     

An innovative design of septic tank for wastewater treatment and its performance evaluation: An applicable model for developing countries

A study was carried out to evaluate the treatment efficiency of modified model of septic tank(ST)for the treatment of domestic wastewater.The objective was to explore the possibility of increasing the removal efficiency,at household level,thereby reducing cost and treatment burden on city level treatment plants.For this purpose,a bench scale model of ST was prepared and operated continuously for 78 days at different detention times i.e.,48,24 and 12 h and at two reactor temperatures viz.15°C and 25°C.Domestic wastewater was fed to the bench scale ST without pre-settling.Research was conducted under two different arrangements.Firstly,by installing baffles in the bench scale ST(called Run-1 setup),and secondly by installing perforated plates between the baffles(called Run-2 setup).Results demonstrated that Run-2 setup is better than Run-1 setup.Temperature significantly affects the efficiency.Detention time of 24 h was found feasible.Run-2 setup demonstrated a percentage BOD removal of 45%with effluent BOD of 113 mg·L~(-1)at 15°C and 85%removal with effluent BOD of 31 mg·L~(-1)at 25°C.It is concluded that if a modified design of ST using Run-2 setup is provided at household level,the effluent coming out of the house will meet the National Environmental Quality Standards(NEQS)when reactor temperature is close to 25°C.Development authorities are suggested to change their by-laws and make modified ST mandatory for all households.This may significantly reduce the cost and footprint of city level wastewater treatment plants being planned.     

Radiofrequency shielding of surface coils at 4.0 T

Because radiation loss associated with a radiofrequency (RF) coil increases as roughly the fourth power of the frequency, this loss mechanism may become important in high-field studies above 2.0 T. In this study, the contribution of radiation losses at 4.0 T were determined in a rectangular surface coil using an RF shield to modify the radiation losses. The effect of this shield was determined on coil Q, B1 distribution, and signal to noise as a function of distance between the coil and the shield. Phantoms and human tissue were evaluated to characterize the loss mechanisms. The results demonstrate a large radiation loss in the unshielded surface coil. However, the radiation losses in vivo were not dominant owing to a large inductive loss occurring from dielectric currents in the body at 170 MHz.     

Synthesis of BaWO<Subscript>4</Subscript>/NRGO–g-C<Subscript>3</Subscript>N<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanocomposites with excellent multifunctional catalytic performance via microwave approach

Novel barium tungstate/nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide-graphitic carbon nitride (BaWO₄/NRGO-g-C₃N₄) nanocomposite has been synthesized by a simple one-pot microwave technique. The synthesized nanocomposites are well characterized by diffraction, microscopic and spectroscopic techniques to study its crystal structure, elemental composition, morphological features and optical properties. The material prepared is tested for its performance as an electrocatalyst, photocatalyst and reduction catalyst. The nanocomposite catalyzed the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) dye in 120 min, reduction of 4-nitro phenol (4-NP) to 4-amino phenol (4-AP) in 60 s, showed an impressive Tafel slope of 62 mV/dec for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The observed results suggest that the nanocomposite acts as an efficient multifunctional catalyst. The reported approach provides fundamental insights which can be extended to other metal tungstate-based ternary composites for applications in the field of clean energy and environment in the future.