500 research outputs found
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Fast and Effective Copy-Move Detection of Digital Audio Based on Auto Segment
No full textDetecting digital audio forgeries is a significant research focus in the field of audio forensics. In this article, the authors focus on a special form of digital audio forgery—copy-move—and propose a fast and effective method to detect doctored audios. First, the article segments the input audio data into syllables by voice activity detection and syllable detection. Second, the authors select the points in the frequency domain as feature by applying discrete Fourier transform (DFT) to each audio segment. Furthermore, this article sorts every segment according to the features and gets a sorted list of audio segments. In the end, the article merely compares one segment with some adjacent segments in the sorted list so that the time complexity is decreased. After comparisons with other state of the art methods, the results show that the proposed method can identify the authentication of the input audio and locate the forged position fast and effectively
Exploring Information Technology and Total Quality Management Implementation by Food and Drink Manufacturing Enterprises
No full textThe purpose of this study was to examine the implementation of Total Quality Management (TQM) as a business strategy in the Greek food and drink industry, along with the examination of the Information Technology (IT) adoption in the field. A research project was carried out in the sector companies based in Greece, using the questionnaire method. Findings showed a strong relation between IT implementation and impact of IT on TQM. Company size also seemed to affect TQM implementation, and the majority of IT implementation constructs, while company performance was not significant in terms of net profit margin and value added per employee
Antecedents of Electronic Commerce in Developing Economies
No full textOne of the objectives of this article is to investigate the extent to which several factors that might affect electronic commerce (EC) usage are implemented and EC is used in a developing country. The article also aims to identify the factors that actually influence the use of EC in a developing country context. The author used annual survey data obtained over a 5-year period from 2009 to 2013 to test several hypotheses. This is probably the first article to assess the changes in these factors' effects on firms' usage of EC over several years. Findings suggest that there are major gaps in the implementation of these factors. There were no major changes or developments in technology availability and EC infrastructure over the five-year period. In fact, there was a general deterioration in the other factors that could facilitate EC usage. In addition, there were no changes in the extent to which EC was used over the same period. Implications of these findings for managers and researchers are discussed
Breaking Steganography: Slight Modification with Distortion Minimization
No full textThis article describes how to overcome the shortage of steganalysis for small capacity-based embedding. A slight modification method is proposed to break steganography. For a given image, traditional steganalysis methods are first used to achieve a preliminary result. For the “clear” image judged by steganalysis, it is still suspicious because of the incompleteness of steganalysis for small capacity. Thus, slight modifications are made to break the possibility of covert communication. The modifications are made on the locations with minimal distortion to guarantee high quality of the modified image. To this end, a proposed distortion minimization based algorithm using slight modification. Experimental results show that the error rate of secret data extraction is around 50% after implementation, which indicates that the covert communication of steganography is destroyed completely
Online or Offline Services for Urban Neighbourhoods?: Conceptualisation of Research Problems
No full textServices originally developed as natural concentrations of human activity, reflecting the Christallerian hierarchy of central places. Today, those natural mechanisms are challenged by strong competition from online facilities. More and more services are offered by the internet and this affects the traditional ‘bricks-and-mortar' urban development. In this article, the main research problems of the inter-relatedness of real and virtual environments are defined in the context of urban neighbourhood service centres. The process of conversion from offline services into online ones is treated as a canvas for building a comprehensive research model for studying the development of the contemporary urban services sector in the local scale. Particular research questions and hypotheses are formulated and followed by a set of methods for further empirical research
Stochastic Model for Preventing Blackouts: A Live Case
No full textPower system blackouts cause huge financial losses for the society and power utilities. Two types of blackouts have been identified. One involving load loss due to transmission lines reaching its limits and other involving failures of multiple transmission lines. Technologically advanced electricity transmission networks work in a financially just manner if a high rate of availability of the transmission networks is accomplished. Keeping this concept in mind, it is imperative to conduct the examination of transmission network availability, to design reliable electrical systems. This article discusses the stochastic availability modeling and analysis in transmission lines. The same is applied to a case of GED and the results obtained are discussed with the proper conclusion
Human vs. AI: An Assessment of the Translation Quality Between Translators and Machine Translation
No full textAs one of the most important applications of AI, machine translation has always been the hot topic among scholars in linguistics, computer science, cognitive science and other areas. This article made an assessment of translations of 4 selected major online machine translation platforms from perspectives of efficiency, operating mode and condition. The outputs of machine and human were compared by employing new “6-4” table and comprehensive error rate. The assessment shows that although the quality of machine translation is improving, the gap still exists between the quality of machine translation and human translation. Based on the research findings, the author predicts that machine translation cannot possibly replace human translation and the two will continue to coexist in the foreseeable future
Sidney Shapiro's Translatorial Agency: A Diachronic Perspective
No full textTranslatorial agencies have gained wider currency in contemporary translation studies. Efforts have been made to delve into it from both translators' individual habits and the contextual elements of their work. But there is still relatively little work done on the variety of translatorial agencies exercised in different actual working conditions. Drawing on available studies and archival primary sources, this article tries to look into the development of translatorial agencies over time and space by uncovering the translator Sidney Shapiro's changeable textual, paratextual and extratextual agency in different translation networks in which he had been involved. The central argument of the article is that the extent to which translatorial agencies are influenced by other actors in the same network depends on whether the translator has the chance, ability, and willingness to negotiate with them
Moving K-12 Coursework Online: Considerations and Strategies
No full textOnline learning is part of the future of K-12 education. However, few online K-12 instructors have been formally trained in online pedagogy. This chapter describes best practices in creating online courses for K-12 students. Many aspects of online learning are the same regardless of the age of the students taking the courses, but adolescents often experience online instruction differently than university students or adult learners. Although far from comprehensive, this chapter describes basic guidelines and offers recommendations for K-12 educators wishing to create engaging online learning opportunities for their students
Transforming Public Procurement Contracts Into Smart Contracts
No full textThe terms governing the provision of supplies, services, or works by an economic operator to a governmental entity are set into a public contract that is signed, following a procurement process. This article explores whether the public administration can utilise smart contracts to incorporate the terms governing the provision of supplies, services, or works. The fundamental elements of a contract are assessed, in order to determine whether a smart contract can be considered as fulfilling these requirements. Following this assessment, the main hurdles to the use of smart contracting are examined and a possible solution proposed. The case for utilising smart contracting within the realm of public procurement is finally advocated