6664 research outputs found
Sort by
Unseen to seen by digital steganography
No full textIn this digital era, most of the daily works of users are captured in digital forms like image, audio, video, or even text. These may contain sensitive, confidential, or private information as well. To keep these, there are different techniques exercised over the years like chest, coffer, repository, treasury, etc. Sometimes such ways of hiding information attract unintended users. Therefore, steganography has been applied to digital objects in a new form called digital steganography. This chapter enforces identifying methods in digital steganography. The basic model of any type of digital steganography is composed of three types of objects: cover object, text to be hidden, and stego object. Depending on the type of cover object, different types of digital steganography methods have been defined. Only data hiding in text is discussed
A survey on blockchain‐enabled smart grids: advances, applications and challenges
Get PDFElectric power grid infrastructure has revolutionized our world and changed the way of living. So has blockchain technology. The hierarchical electric power grid has been shifting from a centralized structure to a decentralized structure to achieve higher flexibility and stability, and blockchain technology has been widely adopted in the energy sector to deal with grid management, billing, metering, and so on, because of its nature of decentralization. Here, the aim is to provide a multi-dimensional review on the technological advances of the blockchain in smart grids. Its corresponding applications based on these advances, including company projects and use cases, are summarized. Furthermore, the security threat issues in smart grids, Ethereum Virtual Machine (i.e. the operating environment of consensus mechanisms), and smart contracts are analysed, with a brief conclusion to manifest the prior tasks in building secure blockchain-based infrastructures in smart grids. As such, the challenges and features of different protocols and their applicability in each use case are identified to provide an insightful guide for future research studies
Protecting victim and witness statement: examining the effectiveness of a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence and a cognitive interview
Get PDFInformation of high evidentiary quality plays a crucial role in forensic investigations. Research shows that information provided by witnesses and victims often provide major leads to an inquiry. As such, statements should be obtained in the shortest possible time following an incident. However, this is not achieved in many incidents due to demands on resources. This intersectional study examined the effectiveness of a chatbot (the AICI), that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and a cognitive interview (CI) to help record statements following an incident. After viewing a sexual harassment video, the present study tested recall accuracy in participants using AICI compared to other tools (i.e., Free Recall, CI Questionnaire, and CI Basic Chatbot). Measuring correct items (including descriptive items) and incorrect items (errors and confabulations), it was found that the AI CI elicited more accurate information than the other tools. The implications on society include AI CI provides an alternative means of effectively and efficiently recording high-quality evidential statements from victims and witnesses
Aptasensor for quantification of leptin through PCR amplification of short DNA-aptamers
Get PDFProtein quantification is traditionally performed through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), which involves long preparation times. To overcome this, new approaches use aptamers as an alternative to antibodies. In this paper, we present a new approach to quantify proteins with short DNA aptamers through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) resulting in shorter protocol times with comparatively improved limits of detection. The proposed method includes a novel way to quantify both the target protein and the corresponding short DNA-aptamers simultaneously, which also allows us to fully characterize the performance of aptasensors. Human leptin is used as a target protein to validate this technique, because it is considered an important biomarker for obesity-related studies. In our experiments, we achieved the lowest limit of detection of 100 pg/mL within less than 2 h, a limit affected by the dissociation constant of the leptin aptamer, which could be improved by selecting a more specific aptamer. Because of the simple and inexpensive approach, this technique can be employed for Lab-On-Chip implementations and for rapid “on-site” quantification of proteins
Quantitative analysis of internal components of the human crystalline lens during accommodation in adults
Get PDFObjectives. To quantitatively analyze changes in the inner components of the human crystalline lens during accommodation in adults.
Methods. Eyes of 23 subjects were sequentially examined using CASIA2 Optical Coherence Tomography under 0D, -3D and -6D accommodation states. The anterior chamber depth (ACD), anterior and posterior crystalline lens radius of the curvature (ALRC and PLRC) were obtained using built-in software. The lens thickness (LT), lenticular nucleus thickness (NT), anterior cortex thickness (ACT), posterior cortex thickness (PCT), anterior and posterior lenticular nucleus radius of the curvature (ANRC and PNRC), anterior and posterior lenticular nucleus vertex (ANV and PNV) were quantified manually with the Image-pro plus software.
Results. During accommodation, the ACD became significantly shallower and LT significantly increased. For changes in the lens, the ALRC decreased by an average magnitude （related to accommodative stimuli） 0.44 mm/D and PLRC decreased 0.09 mm/D. There was no difference for the ACT and PCT in different accommodation states. For lenticular nucleus response, NT increased on average by 30μm/D. Both the ANRC and PNRC decreased on average by 212 μm/D and 115 μm/D respectively. The ANV moved forward on average by 0.07mm under -3D accommodative stimuli and 0.16mm for -6D. However, there was no statistically significant difference between different accommodation states in the PNV movement.
Conclusion. Under accommodation stimulation, lens thickness changed mainly due to the lenticular nucleus, but not the cortex. For the lenticular nucleus, both the ANRC and PNRC decreased and ANRC changed the most. The anterior surface of the nucleus moved forward while the posterior surface of the nucleus moved backward but only slightly.
Keywords: crystalline lens, lenticular nucleus, lenticular cortex, accommodatio
Making records within records: manufacturing phonographic ‘otherness’ in sample-based Hip Hop production
Get PDFBorne out of a wider exploration of hip hop music practices that substitute copyrighted samples with the creation of original source content, the chapter questions what qualities render new sonic constructs into phonographic objects that are aesthetically desirable for—and usable in the context of—sample-based hip hop record production. Furthermore, if all digital audio recording can be described as a form of sampling, then what mechanisms, processes, and practices imbue sonic signatures of phonographic ‘otherness’ into these objects, and how can this ‘otherness’ be defined? Extending beyond a deterministic approach that simply maps signal flow variables to the forging of phonographic signatures, the chapter deploys an autoethnographic approach to illustrate the effect of phonographic ‘context’ on contemporary beat-making. By synthesizing the technical with the aesthetic, the chapter uncovers nuanced mixing phenomena at the heart of how this ‘otherness’ is negotiated and constructed in practice, extending our understanding of record production as (a form of material) composition
Towards 6DOF: 3D Audio for virtual, augmented and mixed realities
No full textThe production of audio for virtual, augmented and mixed reality (‘XR’) is on the verge of rapid growth - disrupting traditional methods of audio production and necessitating the development of new skills, new working methods and new technologies to accommodate these changes. Worldwide adoption of XR headsets and applications has significant growth forecast for the coming decade. Consumer spending is growing, with Sony’s PSVR headset leading the charge, and increased spending can be seen in entertainment, retail, manufacturing, logistics and many other industries. These applications require adaptive, procedural audio that can interact with inputs from users and their environments. XR applications require audio that give semblance to ‘real-world’ sound and that provide spatial information that will guide, inform and entertain the user. This chapter discusses the recent history of procedural and spatial audio and how they combine to produce convincing and entertaining 'Six-Degrees of Freedom' (6DOF) audio for XR applications. 6DOF applications are an opportunity for engineers and artists to present audio information in new and deeply immersive ways, and the chapter will look at practical approaches to the production of music and sound in this arena. The discussion encapsulates the thoughts and opinions of leading exponents in the videogames, music and entertainment industries, and provides practical information on creating high-quality immersive music and sound for ‘XR’ applications. The chapter provides a theoretical framework to understand the technologies and workflows involved in producing XR audio, a description of the hardware and software commonly being used, along with descriptions of the best working practices of leading producers. The discussion will look at both the limitations and opportunities offered by these new technologies, and will seek to clarify the landscape and provide a practical grounding for engineers working in the field. This chapter will talk to producers of procedural and adaptive music about music system design and will look at how music can be composed, engineered and deployed in XR environments. It will look at the new creative possibilities engendered by a 6DOF audio approach to music, and will examine the ways in which this is being currently deployed. The chapter will examine what is happening in research labs and at the cutting-edge of 6DOF art and technology, and will offer some suggestions as to the future landscape and economic outlook for these technologies
35 social contact mode and 15-year episodic memory trajectories in older adults with and without hearing loss: the Elsa study
Get PDFIntroduction
Frequent social contact benefits cognition in later life although evidence is lacking on the potential importance of the modes chosen by older adults for interacting with others in their social network.
Method
11,513 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) provided baseline information on hearing status and social contact mode and frequency of use. Multilevel growth curve models compared episodic memory (immediate and delayed recall) at baseline and long-term in participants who interacted frequently (offline only or offline and online combined), compared to infrequently, with others in their social network.
Results
Frequent offline (β = 0.29; p < 0.05) and combined offline and online (β = 0.76; p < 0.001) social interactions predicted better episodic memory after adjustment for multiple confounding factors. We observed positive long-term influences of combined offline and online interactions on memory in participants without hearing loss (β = 0.48, p = 0.001) but not of strictly offline interactions (β = 0.00, p = 0.970). In those with impaired hearing, long-term memory was positively influenced by both modes of engagement (offline only: β = 0.93, p < 0.001; combined online and offline: β = 1.47, p < 0.001). Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.
Conclusion
Supplementing conventional social interactions with online communication modes may help older adults, especially those living with hearing loss, sustain, and benefit cognitively from, personal relationships
Automated left ventricular dimension assessment using artificial intelligence developed and validated by a UK-wide collaborative
Get PDFBackground:
requires training and validation to standards expected of humans. We developed an online platform and established the Unity Collaborative to build a dataset of expertise from 17 hospitals for training, validation, and standardization of such techniques.
Methods:
The training dataset consisted of 2056 individual frames drawn at random from 1265 parasternal long-axis video-loops of patients undergoing clinical echocardiography in 2015 to 2016. Nine experts labeled these images using our online platform. From this, we trained a convolutional neural network to identify keypoints. Subsequently, 13 experts labeled a validation dataset of the end-systolic and end-diastolic frame from 100 new video-loops, twice each. The 26-opinion consensus was used as the reference standard. The primary outcome was precision SD, the SD of the differences between AI measurement and expert consensus.
Results:
In the validation dataset, the AI’s precision SD for left ventricular internal dimension was 3.5 mm. For context, precision SD of individual expert measurements against the expert consensus was 4.4 mm. Intraclass correlation coefficient between AI and expert consensus was 0.926 (95% CI, 0.904–0.944), compared with 0.817 (0.778–0.954) between individual experts and expert consensus. For interventricular septum thickness, precision SD was 1.8 mm for AI (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.809; 0.729–0.967), versus 2.0 mm for individuals (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.641; 0.568–0.716). For posterior wall thickness, precision SD was 1.4 mm for AI (intraclass correlation coefficient, 0.535 [95% CI, 0.379–0.661]), versus 2.2 mm for individuals (0.366 [0.288–0.462]). We present all images and annotations. This highlights challenging cases, including poor image quality and tapered ventricles.
Conclusions:
Experts at multiple institutions successfully cooperated to build a collaborative AI. This performed as well as individual experts. Future echocardiographic AI research should use a consensus of experts as a reference. Our collaborative welcomes new partners who share our commitment to publish all methods, code, annotations, and results openly
