Generic nonsinusoidal phase error correction for three-dimensional shape measurement using a digital video projector

A structured light system using a digital video projector is widely used for 3D shape measurement. However, the nonlinear gamma of the projector causes the projected fringe patterns to be nonsinusoidal, which results in phase error and therefore measurement error. It has been shown that, by using a small look-up table (LUT), this type of phase error can be reduced significantly for a three-step phase-shifting algorithm. We prove that this algorithm is generic for any phase-shifting algorithm. Moreover, we propose a new LUT generation method by analyzing the captured fringe image of a flat board directly. Experiments show that this error compensation algorithm can reduce the phase error to at least 13 times smaller.     

A survey of the health and safety conditions of apartment buildings in Hong Kong

A high-density built environment poses challenges to the idea of sustainable development in respect of health (e.g. SARS outbreak) and safety (e.g. fire and structural problems). To examine the seriousness of the high-density problem, this study aims to survey the health and safety performance of apartment buildings in a densely populated city, Hong Kong, using a simplified assessment scheme. An assessment scheme based on a hierarchy of building performance indicators concerning the quality of: (a) architectural design, (b) building services design, (c) the surrounding environment, (d) operations and maintenance, and (e) management approaches was developed. One hundred forty (140) apartment buildings were surveyed and assessed through site inspections, desk searches, and interviews. A performance analysis was conducted to examine and compare the overall health and safety performance of the buildings. We found that there were considerable variations in health and safety conditions across buildings, even though they are located within a single district. Most of the variations in building health and safety conditions were attributed to differences in building management systems rather than building design. Enhancing strategic management approaches (e.g. a better delineation of owners’ rights and duties) appears to be the most critical factor that underperformers should consider in order to improve their buildings.     

Predicting yearly energy recovery and dehumidification enhancement with a heat pipe heat exchanger using typical meteorological year data in the tropics

An investigation was carried out to study the effect of an air-to-air heat pipe heat exchanger on the energy recovery and dehumidification enhancement of the air conditioning system in tropical climates. For this purpose, the performance of a heat pipe heat exchanger, which was experiencing tropical ambient air in its evaporator section and fan coil unit, was monitored during one week of operation (168 hours) to find out the relevant performance characteristic curves. Then, empirical equations, which were extracted from the performance characteristic curves, were employed for the hour-by-hour prediction of energy recovery by the heat pipe heat exchanger and dehumidification for the whole year using TRNSYS software. The investigation showed that the heat pipe heat exchanger can pay for itself in 1.9 years. Moreover, it was shown that the dehumidification capability of the cooling coil can enhance up to 6% with the added heat pipe heat exchanger.     

Comparison of wipe materials and wetting agents for pesticide residue collection from hard surfaces

Different wipe materials and wetting agents have been used to collect pesticide residues from surfaces, but little is known about their comparability. To inform the selection of a wipe for the National Children's Study, the analytical feasibility, collection efficiency, and precision of Twillwipes wetted with isopropanol (TI), Ghost Wipes (GW), and Twillwipes wetted with water (TW), were evaluated. Wipe samples were collected from stainless steel surfaces spiked with high and low concentrations of 27 insecticides, including organochlorines, organophosphates, and pyrethroids. Samples were analyzed by GC/MS/SIM. No analytical interferences were observed for any of the wipes. The mean percent collection efficiencies across all pesticides for the TI, GW, and TW were 69.3%, 31.1%, and 10.3% at the high concentration, respectively, and 55.6%, 22.5%, and 6.9% at the low concentration, respectively. The collection efficiencies of the TI were significantly greater than that of GW or TW (p < 0.0001). Collection efficiency also differed significantly by pesticide (p < 0.0001) and spike concentration (p < 0.0001). The pooled coefficients of variation (CVs) of the collection efficiencies for the TI, GW, and TW at high concentration were 0.08, 0.17, and 0.24, respectively. The pooled CV of the collection efficiencies for the TI, GW, and TW at low concentration were 0.15, 0.19, and 0.36, respectively. The TI had significantly lower CVs than either of the other two wipes (p = 0.0008). Though the TI was superior in terms of both accuracy and precision, it requires multiple preparation steps, which could lead to operational challenges in a large-scale study.     

Using rapid indicators for Enterococcus to assess the risk of illness after exposure to urban runoff contaminated marine water

Background

Traditional fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) measurement is too slow (>18 h) for timely swimmer warnings.

Objectives

Assess relationship of rapid indicator methods (qPCR) to illness at a marine beach impacted by urban runoff.

Methods

We measured baseline and two-week health in 9525 individuals visiting Doheny Beach 2007-08. Illness rates were compared (swimmers vs. non-swimmers). FIB measured by traditional (Enterococcus spp. by EPA Method 1600 or Enterolert™, fecal coliforms, total coliforms) and three rapid qPCR assays for Enterococcus spp. (Taqman, Scorpion-1, Scorpion-2) were compared to health. Primary bacterial source was a creek flowing untreated into ocean; the creek did not reach the ocean when a sand berm formed. This provided a natural experiment for examining FIB-health relationships under varying conditions.

Results

We observed significant increases in diarrhea (OR 1.90, 95% CI 1.29-2.80 for swallowing water) and other outcomes in swimmers compared to non-swimmers. Exposure (body immersion, head immersion, swallowed water) was associated with increasing risk of gastrointestinal illness (GI). Daily GI incidence patterns were different: swimmers (2-day peak) and non-swimmers (no peak). With berm-open, we observed associations between GI and traditional and rapid methods for Enterococcus; fewer associations occurred when berm status was not considered.

Conclusions

We found increased risk of GI at this urban runoff beach. When FIB source flowed freely (berm-open), several traditional and rapid indicators were related to illness. When FIB source was weak (berm-closed) fewer illness associations were seen. These different relationships under different conditions at a single beach demonstrate the difficulties using these indicators to predict health risk.     

Residue-specific mass signatures for the efficient detection of protein modifications by mass spectrometry

Currently available mass spectrometric (MS) techniques lack specificity in identifying protein modifications because molecular mass is the only parameter used to characterize these changes. Consequently, the suspected modified peptides are subjected to tandem MS/MS sequencing that may demand more time and sample. We report the use of stable isotope-enriched amino acids as residue-specific "mass signatures" for the rapid and sensitive detection of protein modifications directly from the peptide mass map (PMM) without enrichment of the modified peptides. These mass signatures are easily recognized through their characteristic spectral patterns and provide fingerprints for peptides containing the same content of specific amino acid residue(s) in a PMM. Without the need for tandem MS/MS sequencing, a peptide and its modified form(s) can readily be identified through their identical fingerprints, regardless of the nature of modifications. In this report, we demonstrate this strategy for the detection of methionine oxidation and protein phosphorylation. More interestingly, the phosphorylation of a histone protein, H2A.X, obtained from human skin fibroblast cells, was effectively identified in response to low-dose radiation. In general, this strategy of residue-specific mass tagging should be applicable to other posttranslational modifications.     

Keyword guessing attacks on secure searchable public key encryption schemes with a designated tester

The first searchable public key encryption scheme with designated testers (dPEKS) known to be secure against keyword guessing attacks was due to Rhee et al. [H.S. Rhee, W. Susilo, and H.J. Kim, Secure searchable public key encryption scheme against keyword guessing attacks, IEICE Electron. Express 6(5) (2009), pp. 237–243]. Recently, some dPEKS schemes, including the Rhee et al. scheme, were found to be vulnerable to keyword guessing attacks by a malicious server. However, the Rhee et al. dPEKS scheme and its improved variants are still known to be secure against keyword guessing attack by the outsider attacker to date. In this paper, we present a keyword guessing attack by the outsider attacker on the existing dPEKS schemes. We first describe the attack scenario which is possible in the current nature of the Internet and public key encryption with keyword search applications, e.g. email routing. We then demonstrate the detailed attack steps on the Rhee et al. scheme as an attack instance. We emphasize that our attack is generic and it equally applies to all existing dPEKS schemes that claim to be secure against keyword guessing attacks by the outsider attacker.