Content-based image authentication: current status, issues, and challenges

With today’s global digital environment, the Internet is readily accessible anytime from everywhere, so does the digital image manipulation software; thus, digital data is easy to be tampered without notice. Under this circumstance, integrity verification has become an important issue in the digital world. The aim of this paper is to present an in-depth review and analysis on the methods of detecting image tampering. We introduce the notion of content-based image authentication and the features required to design an effective authentication scheme. We review major algorithms and frequently used security mechanisms found in the open literature. We also analyze and discuss the performance trade-offs and related security issues among existing technologies.     

信号处理系列课程实验体系建设

从加深对信号处理系列课程的理解并巩固掌握的目的出发,在分析信号处理系列课程配套实验课程的基础上,结合武汉大学国家电工电子实验教学示范中心教改项目,提出基于网络虚拟实验室的基础实验和基于FPGA(Field Programmable Gate Array)的项目导向实验,这是两个层次分明又相互打通的信号处理系列课程实验体系,该实验体系在信号处理实验课程方面取得显著的效果。     

基于LDA模型的新闻话题的演化

新闻话题及演化的研究可以帮助人们快速了解和获取新闻内容。提出了一种挖掘新闻话题随时间变化的方法,通过话题抽取和话题关联实现话题的演化。首先应用LDA(Latent Dirichlet Allocation Model)对不同时间段的文集进行话题的自动抽取,话题数目在不同时间段是可变的;计算相邻时间段中任意两个话题的分布距离实现话题的关联。实验结果证明该方法不但可以描述同一个话题随时间的演化过程,还可以描述话题内容随时间的变化,反映了话题(或子话题)之间多对多的演化关系。     

Coordination of split deliveries in one-warehouse multi-retailer distribution systems

In this paper, we consider a distribution system where a warehouse is responsible for replenishing the inventories at multiple retailers by a fleet of vehicles of limited capacity. If a distribution policy of the system involves split deliveries, that is, the inventory of at least one retailer is replenished by using multiple vehicle routes, the coordination of the deliveries can further reduce the inventory cost of the retailer. We consider the coordination where two split deliveries are realized by direct shipping and multiple-stop shipping, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this kind of coordination was never studied in the literature but can find its application in inventory routing problems. This paper proposes and analyses a class of coordination policies for the split deliveries which can reduce the inventory costs of the retailers without increasing transportation costs. A non-linear programming model is established for formulating the class of polices. Because the optimal coordination policy corresponding to an optimal solution of the model may be hard to find and/or implement, two simple but effective coordination policies are proposed. The inventory cost savings realized by the two policies are evaluated analytically and algorithmically. Our theoretical analysis and computational experiments show that both policies are effective. Under certain conditions, they can save 50% of the inventory costs at the retailers without increasing transportation costs.     

A new heuristic algorithm for the operating room scheduling problem

Due to the great importance of operating rooms in hospitals, this paper studies an operating room scheduling problem with open scheduling strategy. According to this strategy, no time slot is reserved for a particular surgeon. The surgeons can use all available time slots. Based on Fei et al.’s model which is considered to be close to reality, we develop a heuristic algorithm to solve it. The idea of this heuristic algorithm is from dynamic programming by aggregating states to avoid the explosion of the number of states. The objective of this paper is to design an operating program to maximize the operating rooms’ use efficiency and minimize the overtime cost. Computational results show that our algorithm is efficient, especially for large size instances where our algorithm always finds feasible solutions while the algorithm of Fei et al. does not.     

Stabilization and extraction of 2D barcodes for camera phones

With the ubiquity of cellular phones, mobile applications with 2D barcodes have drawn a lot of attentions in recent years. When a user takes a barcode image with the camera in a mobile device, the captured image tends to be blurred due to camera shaking when the user presses the shutter. In addition, the captured image includes part of the complex background of the page with the barcode. In this paper, we point out that the above two issues, which have not been identified in previous works, deteriorate the accuracy of barcode recognition in the mobile computing. We then propose an efficient and effective algorithm to restore and extract 2D barcode from a complex background in a camera-shaken image. Compared with previous approaches, our algorithm outperforms in not only smaller running time but also higher accuracy of the barcode recognition in the mobile computing.     

Multi-agent collaborative 3D design with geometric model at different levels of detail

This paper presents a scheme for collaborative 3D design using product model at various levels of detail (LODs). Design features are selectively hidden at each level from certain participants, depending on their actual needs and individual accessibility in the collaboration. A tree data structure represents the feature hierarchy of CAD construction, the link between feature and LOD, and 2D mesh data for display control of each feature. An XML/XSLT-based approach is proposed to enable real-time visualization of different LOD models in distributed environment. A collaborative design system is implemented using multi-agent technologies, which focuses on function design of each agent, interactions among agents, the client–server structure, and generation of the LOD data using the XML/XSLT approach. A scenario of synchronous 3D mold assembly demonstrates that geometric categorization of product model provides an operational mechanism for assuring security of information sharing in engineering collaborations over the Internet. It also validates the effectiveness of the agent technologies for automating complex engineering activities.     

An expert system using rough sets theory for aided conceptual design of ship’s engine room automation

More and more complicated conceptual design of ship’s engine room (CDSER) heavily depends on designers’ engineering knowledge and existing ship data. To achieve intelligent design at the initial ship design stage, many researchers have made much significant progress in this field, however, most of them only focused on how to find the similar constructed ships. At present, how to utilize these existing data remains an untouched topic. In order to make good use of the existing data and reduce the dependence on designers’ experience, a novel system named Expert System for Aided Conceptual Design of Ship’s Engine Room Automation (ESACD), is elaborated in this study. With the support of the constructed Ship Data Warehouse System, two core subsystems Configuration Selection Assistant (CSA) and Design Scheme Decision Assistant (DSDA) are included in ESACD. A promising approach integrating Fuzzy c-means algorithm (FCM) and Rough Sets Theory (RST) to extract configuration rules from the stored data is adopted in CSA. According to engineers’ proposals, RST is utilized to reason knowledge in incomplete scheme information systems for getting design scheme rules in DSDA, which are useful suggestions for engineers to get better schemes at this stage. Finally, the validity and necessity of this interactive expert system are demonstrated through the CDSER of a new 50,000 DWT Handymax bulk carrier. It is proved that ESACD can efficiently facilitate rapid and intelligent design in CDSER, and reduce the cost of a new ship design.     

A geometrical optics model based on the non-Gaussian probability density distribution of sea surface slopes for wind speed retrieval at low incidence angles

In this study, a large amount of data from precipitation radar (PR) and National Data Buoy Center (NDBC) buoys are collocated for the development and validation of a Geometrical Optics Model, in order to retrieve wind speed at small incidence angles. The omni-directional model is developed based on the combination of the quasi-specular scattering theory and non-Gaussian probability density distribution of ocean surface slope, and can be applied at incidence angles as high as 15°. There are four parameters included in the proposed model: the effective Fresnel reflection coefficient, the mean square slope, and the two coefficients associated with the kurtosis of the sea surface slope distribution. Using one half of the collocated data, the dependence of the four parameters on the in situ wind speed is acquired. The results show that the effective Fresnel reflection coefficient has a decrease relative to that obtained in previous studies. We combine the proposed model with the maximum-likelihood estimation (MLE) technique to retrieve the ocean surface wind speed at the 10 m height. The retrieved wind speeds are then validated against those measured by the NDBC buoys. The comparison shows that the root mean square error (RMSE) and bias between the model retrievals and buoy observations are 1.54 m s^–1 and 0.1 m s^–1, respectively, revealing high agreements in the wind speed estimations. The results of this study indicate that the proposed model and the PR measurements at low incidence angles can provide reasonably accurate estimates of the surface wind speeds within the range of 0–20 m s^–1.