Development of head detection and tracking systems for visual surveillance

This paper proposes a technique for the detection of head nod and shake gestures based on eye tracking and head motion decision. The eye tracking step is divided into face detection and eye location. Here, we apply a motion segmentation algorithm that examines differences in moving people’s faces. This system utilizes a Hidden Markov Model-based head detection module that carries out complete detection in the input images, followed by the eye tracking module that refines the search based on a candidate list provided by the preprocessing module. The novelty of this paper is derived from differences in real-time input images, preprocessing to remove noises (morphological operators and so on), detecting edge lines and restoration, finding the face area, and cutting the head candidate. Moreover, we adopt a K-means algorithm for finding the head region. Real-time eye tracking extracts the location of eyes from the detected face region and is performed at close to a pair of eyes. After eye tracking, the coordinates of the detected eyes are transformed into a normalized vector of x-coordinate and y-coordinate. Head nod and shake detector uses three hidden Markov models (HMMs). HMM representation of the head detection can estimate the underlying HMM states from a sequence of face images. Head nod and shake can be detected by three HMMs that are adapted by a directional vector. The directional vector represents the direction of the head movement. The vector is HMMs for determining neutral as well as head nod and shake. These techniques are implemented on images, and notable success is notified.     

Isolation and structural elucidation of a new tadalafil analogue in health supplements: bisprenortadalafil

A new tadalafil analogue was found, along with nortadalafil, using HPLC-DAD during the inspection of a health product sold without official approval. The analogue was separated using a semi-preparative HPLC system and its structure was determined by a combination of mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. The compound was identified as a tadalafil analogue in which the N-methyl group of tadalafil was replaced with a tadalafil precursor moiety. Nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy experiments suggested a cis-relationship between the substituents on a piperidine ring in the tadalafil moiety.     

A rapid method for the simultaneous determination of 25 anti-hypertensive compounds in dietary supplements using ultra-high-pressure liquid chromatography

A novel, stable, simple and specific ultra-performance liquid chromatography method with ultraviolet detection (205 nm) for the simultaneous analysis of 25 anti-hypertensive substances was developed. The method was validated according to the International Conference of Harmonisation guidelines with respect to linearity, accuracy, precision, limit of detection (LOD), limit of quantitation (LOQ) and stability. From the ultra-performance liquid chromatography results, we identified the LOD and LOQ of solid samples to be 0.20–1.00 and 0.60–3.00 μg ml^?1, respectively, while those of liquid samples were 0.30–1.20 and 0.90–3.60 μg ml^?1, respectively. The linearity exceeded 0.9999, and the intra- and inter-day precisions were 0.15–6.48% and 0.28–8.67%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day accuracies were 82.25–111.42% and 80.70–115.64%, respectively, and the stability was lower than 12.9% (relative standard deviation). This method was applied to the monitoring of 97 commercially available dietary supplements obtained in Korea, such as pills, soft capsules, hard capsules, liquids, powders and tablets. The proposed method is accurate, precise and of high quality, and can be used for the routine, reproducible analysis and control of 25 anti-hypertensive substances in various dietary supplements. The work presented herein may help to prevent incidents related to food adulteration and restrict the illegal food market.     

Estimation of moving information for tracking of moving objects

Tracking of moving objects within video streams is a complex and time-consuming process. Large number of moving objects increases the time for computation of tracking the moving objects. Because of large computations, there are real-time processing problems in tracking of moving objects. Also, the change of environment causes errors in estimation of tracking information. In this paper, we present a new method for tracking of moving objects using optical flow motion analysis. Optical flow represents an important family of visual information processing techniques in computer vision. Segmenting an optical flow field into coherent motion groups and estimating each underlying motion are very challenging tasks when the optical flow field is projected from a scene of several moving objects independently. The problem is further complicated if the optical flow data are noisy and partially incorrect. Optical flow estimation based on regulation method is an iterative method, which is very sensitive to the noisy data. So we used the Combinatorial Hough Transform (CHT) and Voting Accumulation for finding the optimal constraint lines. To decrease the operation time, we used logical operations. Optical flow vectors of moving objects are extracted, and the moving information of objects is computed from the extracted optical flow vectors. The simulation results on the noisy test images show that the proposed method finds better flow vectors and more correctly estimates the moving information of objects in the real time video streams.     

Silane-based hydrogen storage materials for fuel cell application: Hydrogen release via methanolysis and regeneration by hydride reduction from organosilanes

A series of cyclic- and linear organosilanes, 1-5, was prepared and examined as potential hydrogen storage materials. When a stoichiometric amount of methanol was added to a mixture of cyclic organosilane, (CH₂SiH₂)₃ (1) or (CH₂SiH₂CHSiH₃)₂ (2), and 5 mol% NaOMe, rapid hydrogen release was observed at room temperature within 10-15 s. The hydrogen storage capacities of compounds 1 and 2 were estimated to be 3.70 and 4.04 wt.-% H₂, respectively. However, to ensure the complete methanolysis from organosilanes including methanol evaporation at exothermic dehydrogenation condition, two equivs of methanol were used. The resulting methoxysilanes, (CH₂Si(OMe)₂)₃ (6) and (CH₂Si(OMe)₂CHSi(OMe)₃)₂ (7), were regenerated to the starting organosilanes in high yields by LiAlH₄ reduction. Linear organosilanes, SiH₃CH₂SiH₂CH₂SiH₃ (3), SiH₃CH₂CH(SiH₃)₂ (4), and SiH₃CH₂CH(SiH₃)CH₂SiH₃ (5) also showed fast hydrogen release kinetics at room temperature with hydrogen storage capacities of 4.26, 4.55, and 4.27 wt.% H₂, respectively; the corresponding methoxysilanes were successfully regenerated by LiAlH₄. Compound 1 was further tested as hydrogen source for fuel cell operation.     

Ambipolar field effect in the ternary topological insulator (Bi(x)Sb(1-x))2Te3 by composition tuning

Topological insulators exhibit a bulk energy gap and spin-polarized surface states that lead to unique electronic properties, with potential applications in spintronics and quantum information processing. However, transport measurements have typically been dominated by residual bulk charge carriers originating from crystal defects or environmental doping, and these mask the contribution of surface carriers to charge transport in these materials. Controlling bulk carriers in current topological insulator materials, such as the binary sesquichalcogenides Bi2Te3, Sb2Te3 and Bi2Se3, has been explored extensively by means of material doping and electrical gating, but limited progress has been made to achieve nanostructures with low bulk conductivity for electronic device applications. Here we demonstrate that the ternary sesquichalcogenide (Bi(x)Sb(1-x))2Te3 is a tunable topological insulator system. By tuning the ratio of bismuth to antimony, we are able to reduce the bulk carrier density by over two orders of magnitude, while maintaining the topological insulator properties. As a result, we observe a clear ambipolar gating effect in (Bi(x)Sb(1-x))2Te3 nanoplate field-effect transistor devices, similar to that observed in graphene field-effect transistor devices. The manipulation of carrier type and density in topological insulator nanostructures demonstrated here paves the way for the implementation of topological insulators in nanoelectronics and spintronics.     

Empirical Analysis of the Impact of 2003 Blackout on Security Values of U.S. Utilities and Electrical Equipment Manufacturing Firms

On August 14, 2003, the U.S. faced the largest blackout in history, which left over 50 million people without electricity in eight U.S. states and part of Canada. This paper investigates the effects of the blackout on the security values of the U.S. electric utilities and manufacturing firms in the electric power equipment industry, using an event study method. The results of this empirical study show that the electric utilities were negatively affected, but the electrical equipment manufacturing firms were significantly, positively affected.     

HPLC-MS/MS analysis of 9 artificial sweeteners in imported foods

An analytical method for the simultaneous determination of 9 artificial sweeteners (acesulfame-K, cyclamate, sodium saccharin, aspartame, alitame, neotame, sucralose, dulcin, and neohesperidine dihydrochalcone) in imported foods by HPLC-MS/MS was developed. Samples were extracted with buffer solution (pH 4.5). The supernatant was analyzed by HPLC-MS/MS after centrifugation and filtration. The sample was separated on a thermo hypersil BPS C₁₈ (250×3 mm, 5-μm) column, and detected by MS/MS with selective reaction monitoring (SRM) mode. The correlation coefficients (r ²) of the calibration curve were >0.99. The recoveries were 90.0–107.5% with good coefficients of variation of 1.8–8.6%. The limits of detection and limits of quantification were between 0.001 and 0.375 mg/mL and between 0.003 and 1.125 mg/mL, respectively. The proposed method has been successfully applied to the determination of the 9 sweeteners in various foods.

     

Isolation and structural identification of a novel minoxidil analogue in an illegal dietary supplement: triaminodil

A new minoxidil analogue was detected in an illegal dietary supplement advertised as a hair-growth treatment. The analogue was identified using ultra-performance liquid chromatography (UPLC), high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HR-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The compound was structurally elucidated as a minoxidil analogue in which the piperidinyl group of minoxidil was replaced with a pyrrolidinyl group corresponding to a molecular formula of C₈H₁₃N₅O. The new analogue has been named triaminodil. As this is the first report of the compound, there are no chemical, toxicology or pharmacological data available.