Towards the automatic detection of spontaneous agreement and disagreement based on nonverbal behaviour: A survey of related cues,databases, and tools

While detecting and interpreting temporal patterns of nonverbal behavioural cues in a given context is a natural and often unconscious process for humans, it remains a rather difficult task for computer systems. Nevertheless, it is an important one to achieve if the goal is to realise a naturalistic communication between humans and machines. Machines that are able to sense social attitudes like agreement and disagreement and respond to them in a meaningful way are likely to be welcomed by users due to the more natural, efficient and human‐centred interaction they are bound to experience. This paper surveys the nonverbal behavioural cues that could be present during displays of agreement and disagreement; discusses a number of methods that could be used or adapted to detect these suggested cues; lists some publicly available databases these tools could be trained on for the analysis of spontaneous, audiovisual instances of agreement and disagreement, it examines the few existing attempts at agreement and disagreement classification, and finally discusses the challenges in automatically detecting agreement and disagreement.     

Implementations of Sorted-QR Decomposition for MIMO Receivers: Complexity,Reusability and Efficiency Analysis

Matrix decomposition of the channel matrix in the form of QR decomposition (QRD) is needed for advanced multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) demapping algorithms like sphere decoder. Due to the computation-intensive nature of the QRD, its implementation has to be highly efficient. Flexibility in several forms, e.g. support for different algorithms, reusability of wireless implementations, portability, etc. is highly sought in wireless devices. The contradictory nature of flexibility and efficiency requires tradeoffs to be made between them in system development. In this paper, we have analyzed such tradeoffs by implementing two minimum mean squared error-sorted QRD algorithms. The algorithms have been implemented in four different methods with varying degree of reusability and in five different forms of portability. The performance of the implementations is evaluated by using the real-time constraints from the LTE standard. For all the implementations, modular equations for accurately estimating the execution time are derived.     

Simulation study on acoustic streaming and convective cooling in blood vessels during a high-intensity focused ultrasound thermal ablation

This study investigates the influence of blood vessels on temperature distribution during high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) ablation of liver tumors. A three-dimensional acoustics-thermal-fluid coupling model is simulated to compute the temperature field in the hepatic cancerous region. The model is based on the linear Westervelt and bioheat equations as well as the non-linear Navier–Stokes equations for the liver parenchyma and blood vessels. The effect of acoustic streaming is also taken into account in the present HIFU simulation study. We found from this three-dimensional coupling study that in large blood vessel both the convective cooling and acoustic streaming can significantly change the temperature field and thermal lesion near blood vessels.     

Experiences in building a Grid-based platform to serve Earth observation training activities

Earth observation data processing and storing can be done nowadays only using distributed systems. Experiments dealing with a large amount of data are possible within the timeframe of a lesson and can give trainees the freedom to innovate. Following these trends and ideas, we have built a proof-of-the-concept platform, named GiSHEO, for Earth observation educational tasks. It uses Grid computing technologies to analyze and store remote sensing data, and combines them with eLearning facilities. This paper provides an overview of the GiSHEO's platform architecture and of its technical and innovative solutions.     

Anisotropic loss of toughness with physical aging of work toughened polycarbonate

We have studied the response of mechanically toughened and physically aged polycarbonate primarily using Charpy impact and ultrasonic wave speed measurements. The toughening was conducted through plastic compression on as‐received PC. The Charpy impact tests showed anisotropic toughening, both in the absorbed energy and in the mode of fracture. The amount of toughening with plastic compression, even though anisotropic, is centered around the response of annealed and quenched samples, which represent the response of an unaged PC. There was an anisotropic drop in the toughness of some samples with aging. The time of this drop was uncorrelated in the different directions and disappeared for the highly toughened samples. This transition was bimodal and statistically distributed between either a fully ductile or a fully brittle failure. As the samples were prepared in a manner to remove induced residual stresses, this drop in toughening may be associated with an intrinsic anisotropic thermal aging of the deformed material. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:794–804, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers