Discrimination of green tea quality using the electronic nose technique and the human panel test, comparison of linear and nonlinear classification tools

Electronic nose (E-nose) technique was attempted to discriminate green tea quality instead of human panel test in this work. Four grades of green tea, which were classified by the human panel test, were attempted in the experiment. First, the E-nose system with eight metal oxide semiconductors gas sensors array was developed for data acquisition; then, the characteristic variables were extracted from the responses of the sensors; next, the principal components (PCs), as the input of the discrimination model, were extracted by principal component analysis (PCA); finally, three different linear or nonlinear classification tools, which were K-nearest neighbors (KNN), artificial neural network (ANN) and support vector machine (SVM), were compared in developing the discrimination model. The number of PCs and other model parameters were optimized by cross-validation. Experimental results showed that the performance of SVM model was superior to other models. The optimum SVM model was achieved when 4 PCs were included. The back discrimination rate was equal to 100% in the training set, and predictive discrimination rate was equal to 95% in the prediction set, respectively. The overall results demonstrated that E-nose technique with SVM classification tool could be successfully used in discrimination of green tea's quality, and SVM algorithm shows its superiority in solution to classification of green tea's quality using E-nose data.     

Formal model for assigning human resources to teams in software projects

Context

Human resources play a critical role in software project success. However, people are still the least formalized factor in today’s process models. Generally, people are assigned to roles and project teams are formed on the basis of project leaders’ experience of people, constraints (e.g. availability) and skill requirements. Yet this process has to take multiple factors into account. Few works in the literature model this process. Most of these are informal proposals focusing on the individual assignment of people to project tasks and do not consider other aspects like team formation as a whole.

Objective

In this paper we formulate a formal model for assigning human resources to software project teams. Additionally, we describe the key results of the knowledge management process enacted to output the elements of the model.

Method

The model elements were identified using the Delphi expert consultation method and applying psychological tests. The proposed model was implemented in a software tool and validated on two software development organization assignment scenarios.

Results

We built a formal model for the process of assigning human resources to software project teams. This model takes into account as many factors as possible and aids the assignment of individuals to project roles, as well as the formation of the team as a whole.We found that the rules that were identified to form software development project teams are useful. From the tests we found that model implementation was feasible (all the executions of the implemented problem-solving algorithms output feasible solutions in response times that can be considered as acceptable).

Conclusion

Using the Delphi method we were able to propose software project roles and competences. Psychological tests and data mining tools identified useful rules for forming software project teams. These were used to build a formal model. This model was built into a tool that returns role assignments in acceptable response times. This decision support tool helps managers assign people to roles and to form teams. Using the tool, project leaders can flexibly evaluate different team make-ups, taking into account several factors, as well as different constraints and objectives.     

Application of wearable sensors for human gait analysis using fuzzy computational algorithm

The authors have developed and tested a wearable inertial sensor system for the acquisition of gait features. The sensors were placed on anatomical segments of the lower limb: foot, shank, thigh, and hip, and the motion data were then captured in conjunction with 3D ground reaction forces (GRFs). The method of relational matrix was applied to develop a rule-based system, an intelligent fuzzy computational algorithm. The rule-based system provides a feature matrix model representing the strength of association or interaction amongst the elements of the gait functions (limb-segments accelerations and GRFs) throughout the gait cycle. A comparison between the reference rule-based data and an input test data was evaluated using a fuzzy similarity algorithm. This system was tested and evaluated using two subject groups: 10 healthy subjects were recruited to establish the reference fuzzy rule-base, and 4 relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis subjects were used as an input test data; and the grade of similarity between them was evaluated. This similarity provides a quantitative assessment of mobility state of the impaired subject. This algorithmic tool may be helpful to the clinician in the identification of pathological gait impairments, prescribe treatment, and assess the improvements in response to therapeutic intervention.     

Social signal processing: Survey of an emerging domain

The ability to understand and manage social signals of a person we are communicating with is the core of social intelligence. Social intelligence is a facet of human intelligence that has been argued to be indispensable and perhaps the most important for success in life. This paper argues that next-generation computing needs to include the essence of social intelligence – the ability to recognize human social signals and social behaviours like turn taking, politeness, and disagreement – in order to become more effective and more efficient. Although each one of us understands the importance of social signals in everyday life situations, and in spite of recent advances in machine analysis of relevant behavioural cues like blinks, smiles, crossed arms, laughter, and similar, design and development of automated systems for social signal processing (SSP) are rather difficult. This paper surveys the past efforts in solving these problems by a computer, it summarizes the relevant findings in social psychology, and it proposes a set of recommendations for enabling the development of the next generation of socially aware computing.     

PC作为S7—200PLC系统人机界面的一种应用实例

在西门子S7—200PLC系统中,通常所配置的人机界面大多采用西门子专用的TP170、TP27、OP37等系列触摸屏。一旦这些触摸屏发生故障和损坏,难以采购和维修,且备件成本较高。本案例采用当今流行的通用PC机来代替TP27和OP37等专用HMI设备,并实现了PC机与S7—200PLC之间的数据通信,为PLC系统触摸屏的通用化改造提供了一个应用实例。     

Estimating body shape of dressed humans

The paper presents a method to estimate the detailed 3D body shape of a person even if heavy or loose clothing is worn. The approach is based on a space of human shapes, learned from a large database of registered body scans. Together with this database we use as input a 3D scan or model of the person wearing clothes and apply a fitting method, based on ICP (iterated closest point) registration and Laplacian mesh deformation. The statistical model of human body shapes enforces that the model stays within the space of human shapes. The method therefore allows us to compute the most likely shape and pose of the subject, even if it is heavily occluded or body parts are not visible. Several experiments demonstrate the applicability and accuracy of our approach to recover occluded or missing body parts from 3D laser scans.     

A Visualization Based Approach for Digital Signature Authentication

We propose a visualization based approach for digital signature authentication. Using our method, the speed and pressure aspects of a digital signature process can be clearly and intuitively conveyed to the user for digital signature authentication. Our design takes into account both the expressiveness and aesthetics of the derived visual patterns. With the visual aid provided by our method, digital signatures can be authenticated with better accuracy than using existing methods—even novices can examine the authenticity of a digital signature in most situations using our method. To validate the effectiveness of our method, we conducted a comprehensive user study which confirms positively the advantages of our approach. Our method can be employed as a new security enhancement measure for a range of business and legal applications in reality which involve digital signature authorization and authentication.     

Instructional animations can be superior to statics when learning human motor skills

Based on the assumption of a working memory processor devoted to human movement, cognitive load theory is used to explore some conditions under which animated instructions are hypothesised to be more effective for learning than equivalent static graphics. Using paper-folding tasks dealing with human movement, results from three experiments confirmed our hypothesis, indicating a superiority of animation over static graphics. These results are discussed in terms of a working memory processor that may be facilitated by our mirror-neuron system and may explain why animated instructional animations are superior to static graphics for cognitively based tasks that involve human movement.     

投影深度向量分解融合PEMS的视角不变人体动作识别

针对摄像机内部参数的不确定性和投影平面选择难的问题,提出一种新的投影深度算法用于视角不变的动作识别,该算法采用对称镜面提取平面(PEMS)策略,有效解决了投影平面选择难的问题。首先通过摄像机组观察获得3D动作姿势,然后运用PEMS策略从场景中提取平面,相对于提取平面估计身体点的投影深度,最后使用这个信息进行动作识别。该算法的核心是投影平面的提取和投影深度组成向量的求解。利用本文算法在CMU MoCap数据集、TUM数据集和多视图IXMAS数据集上进行测试,精度可分别高达94%、91%和90%,且在较少动作实例情况下,仍然能够准确定义新动作。比较表明,本文算法的人体动作识别性能明显优于其他几种较新的算法。