19672 research outputs found
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COMIC: Toward A Compact Image Captioning Model With Attention
No full textRecent works in image captioning have shown very promising raw performance. However, we realize that most of these encoder-decoder style networks with attention do not scale naturally to large vocabulary size, making them difficult to deploy on embedded systems with limited hardware resources. This is because the size of word and output embedding matrices grow proportionally with the size of vocabulary, adversely affecting the compactness of these networks. To address this limitation, this paper introduces a brand new idea in the domain of image captioning. That is, we tackle the problem of compactness of image captioning models which is hitherto unexplored. We showed that our proposed model, named COMIC for compact image captioning, achieves comparable results in five common evaluation metrics with state-of-the-art approaches on both MS-COCO and InstaPIC-1.1M datasets despite having an embedded vocabulary size that is 39×-99× smaller. © 1999-2012 IEEE
Identification of material properties of composite plates using Fourier-generated frequency response functions
No full textThe present research adopts the use of Fourier-based plate model to synthesize FRFs for its proven prominent accuracy and incorporates with a hybrid optimization algorithm. The effectiveness of FRF error function in material identification consists in the trade-off range between those of natural frequency error function and mode shape error function with about 7% reduction in absolute relative error of the evaluated elastic moduli and shear modulus with respect to those of mode shape error function as well as approximately 25% reduction in absolute relative error of the identified Poisson's ratio with respect to that of natural frequency error function. © 2017, © 2017 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
A new black fly species of Simulium (Gomphostilbia) (Diptera: Simuliidae) from Sulawesi, Indonesia
No full textSimulium (Gomphostilbia) marosense sp. nov. is described based on adults, pupae and mature larvae from Sulawesi, Indonesia. This new species is placed in the Simulium duolongum subgroup of the S. batoense species-group, representing the ninth member for the subgroup in Sulawesi. This new species is characterized by a narrow female frons and pupal gill with eight filaments, of which two filaments of the ventral pair are 1.9-3.0 times as long as the six other filaments. Taxonomic notes are provided to distinguish this new species from related species
Influence of Crosslinking Density on Antioxidant Nanocellulose in Bio-degradation and Mechanical Properties of Nitrile Rubber Composites
No full textNanocellulose antioxidant (Aox-NCC) was used as reinforcement and crosslinking agent in nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) composites. The crosslinking density and volume of rubber bonded in the matrix were increased up to 3 phr and no significant improvement between 4 phr and 5 phr was recorded. The interactions of gallic acid and NCC was found to occur between the -OH and -COOH groups, as revealed by Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) analysis. Crystallinity index of Aox-NCC was increased more than 11 %, recorded by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Meanwhile, the thermal stability of Aox-NCC was increased 30°C, analyzed by thermogravimetry (TG). With the addition of 3 phr Aox-NCC, tensile strength and modulus at 500 % for NBR composites were increased significantly up to 20 %. There was no significant improvement on modulus at 100 %, modulus at 300 %, elongation at break and tear strength. The degradability of NBR composites within 6 months period was improved significantly at 5 phr of Aox- NCC. Increase in carbonyl group after soil burial test with the existence of cracks, voids and degradable parts of NBR composites were revealed. This demonstrated that, Aox-NCC plays a secure function to reinforce NBR composites. © 2019, The Korean Fiber Society, The Korea Science and Technology Center
Analysis of Photovoltaic String Failure and Health Monitoring with Module Fault Identification
No full textIn this paper, photovoltaic (PV) string failure analysis and health monitoring of PV modules based on a low-cost self-powered wireless sensor network (WSN) are presented. Simple and effective fault detection and diagnosis method based on the real-time operating voltage of PV modules is proposed. The proposed method is verified using the developed health monitoring system which is installed in a grid-connected PV system. Each of the PV modules is monitored via WSN to detect any individual faulty module. The analysis of PV string failure includes several electrical fault scenarios and their impact on the PV string characteristics. The results show that a degraded or faulty module exhibits low operating voltage as compared to the normal module. The developed health monitoring system also includes a graphical user interface (GUI) program which graphically displays the real-time operating voltage of each module with colors and thus helping users to identify the faulty modules easily. The faulty modules identification approach is further validated using the PV module electroluminescence (EL) imaging system. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Automated plaque classification using computed tomography angiography and Gabor transformations
No full textCardiovascular diseases are the primary cause of death globally. These are often associated with atherosclerosis. This inflammation process triggers important variations in the coronary arteries (CA) and can lead to coronary artery disease (CAD). The presence of CA calcification (CAC) has recently been shown to be a strong predictor of CAD. In this clinical setting, computed tomography angiography (CTA) has begun to play a crucial role as a non-intrusive imaging method to characterize and study CA plaques. Herein, we describe an automated algorithm to classify plaque as either normal, calcified, or non-calcified using 2646 CTA images acquired from 73 patients. The automated technique is based on various features that are extracted from the Gabor transform of the acquired CTA images. Specifically, seven features are extracted from the Gabor coefficients: energy, and Kapur, Max, Rényi, Shannon, Vajda, and Yager entropies. The features were then ordered based on the F-value and input to numerous classification methods to achieve the best classification accuracy with the least number of features. Moreover, two well-known feature reduction techniques were employed, and the features acquired were also ranked according to F-value and input to several classifiers. The best classification results were obtained using all computed features without the employment of feature reduction, using a probabilistic neural network. An accuracy, positive predictive value, sensitivity, and specificity of 89.09%, 91.70%, 91.83% and 83.70% was obtained, respectively. Based on these results, it is evident that the technique can be helpful in the automated classification of plaques present in CTA images, and may become an important tool to reduce procedural costs and patient radiation dose. This could also aid clinicians in plaque diagnostics. © 2019 Elsevier B.V
Resistance towards metronidazole in Blastocystis sp.: A pathogenic consequence
No full textBlastocsytis sp. is a protozoan parasite that has been linked to common gastrointestinal illnesses. Metronidazole, the first line therapy, was reported to show frequent inefficacy. Previously, Blastocystis sp. isolated from different population showed varying metronidazole resistance. However, the effect of metronidazole treatment on pathogenic potentials of Blastocystis sp. isolated from different populations, which is known to have different gut environment, is unclear. This study investigates the in vitro effect of metronidazole on the pathogenic potentials of Blastocystis sp. isolated from urban and orang asli individuals. Blastocystis sp. ST 3 isolated from symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals were treated with a range of metronidazole concentration. The parasites’ growth characteristics, apoptotic rate, specific protease activity and the ability to proliferate cancer cells were analyzed upon treatment with 0.001 mg/l metronidazole. The study demonstrates that Blastocystis sp. isolates showed increase in the parasite numbers especially the amoebic forms (only in urban isolates) after treating with metronidazole at the concentration of 0.001 mg/ml. High number of cells in post-treated isolates coincided with increase of apoptosis. There was a significant increase in cysteine protease of Blastocystis sp. isolates upon treatment despite the initial predominance of serine protease in asymptomatic isolates. Metronidazole resistant Blastocystis sp. also showed significant increase in cancer cell proliferation. Resistance to metronidazole did not show significant different influence on the pathogenicity between Blastocystis sp. isolated from urban and orang asli individual. However, an increase in parasite numbers, higher amoebic forms, cysteine protease and ability to proliferate cancer cells implicates a pathogenic role. The study provides evidence for the first time, the effect of metronidazole towards enhancing pathogenic potentials in Blastocystis sp. when isolated from different gut environment. This necessitates the need for reassessment of metronidazole treatment modalities. © 2019 Rajamanikam et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
Antibacterial Activity of Hoya Diversifolia Ethanolic Leaves Extract
No full textThe rapid emergence of resistance bacteria toward various antibiotics may associate with higher medical cost and increase mortality rate. Hoya diversifolia was used to cure skin diseases and alleviate rheumatism pain. The aim of this study is to evaluate in vitro antibacterial properties of H. diversifolia ethanolicleaves extract against several Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. The antibacterial study was determined based on pattern of inhibition zones using disc diffusion assay and also minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). It is shown that the extract can inhibit the growth of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus,Escherichia coliandBacillus cereus.The lowest MIC values of extract were 25 mg/mL for MRSA and E. coli as well as 100 mg/mL for B. cereus at 24 and 48 hours of incubation period. The plant had potential to act as antibacterial agent that can be applied in pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields. © 2019 Oriental Scientific Publishing Company. All rights reserved
Modeling Work Practices under Socio-Technical Systems for Sustainable Manufacturing Performance
No full textIn light of the overwhelming consumption of resources by the manufacturing sector, this paper examined three key subsystems that are critical in greening the sector. Whereas the extant literature has focused on technological development to reduce environmental damage, it has not analyzed profoundly how manufacturing processes can be greened effectively. Hence, using carefully gathered data of 299 respondents and structural equation modeling, this paper sought to investigate the mediating effect of social, environmental, and technical subsystems on the relationship between management support and sustainable manufacturing performance. The results show that management support has a positive relationship with sustainable manufacturing performance (p < 0.005), while social, environmental, and technical subsystems partially mediate this relationship. Hence, efforts must be taken to encourage management of manufacturing firms to support sustainable management performance, while at the same time supporting them to introduce innovative social, environmental, and technical practices. © 2019 by the authors
Recent developments of strontium titanate for photocatalytic water splitting application
No full textThe high efficiency of SrTiO3 in the reaction of heterogeneous photocatalysis needs a suitable architecture that maximises photon absorption and minimises electron loss during excitation state. In order to further enhance the migration of charge carriers during excitation state, considerable effort has to be exerted to further develop the heterogeneous photocatalysis of this SrTiO3 under UV, visible, and solar illumination. Currently, unique and interesting features of binary photocatalyst system have gained more attention by researchers and it became a favourite research topic among various groups of scientists around the world. It was noticed that the binary photocatalyst system properties primarily depends on the nature of the surface properties, surface morphologies, as well as the role of optimum dopants amount incorporated into the SrTiO3. Thus, this article presents a critical review of recent achievements in the photocatalytic activity of the SrTiO3 for water splitting H2 generation technology. © 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LL