Query: Plant identification system using its leaf features

Relevant passages:
Image Texture Feature Extraction Using GLCM Approach <=SEP=> Feature Extraction is a method of capturing visual content of images for indexing & retrieval. Primitive or low level image features can be either general features, such as extraction of color, texture and shape or domain specific features. This paper presents an application of gray level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM) to extract second order statistical texture features for motion estimation of images. The Four features namely, Angular Second Moment, Correlation, Inverse Difference Moment, and Entropy are computed using Xilinx FPGA. The results show that these texture features have high discrimination accuracy, requires less computation time and hence efficiently used for real time Pattern recognition applications.

Plant Leaf Recognition using Shape Based Features and Neural Network Classifiers <=SEP=> This paper proposes an automated system for recognizing plant species based on leaf images. Plant leaf images corresponding to three plant types, are analyzed using two different shape modeling techniques, the first based on the Moments-Invariant (M-I) model and the second on the CentroidRadii (C-R) model. For the M-I model the first four normalized central moments have been considered and studied in various combinations viz. individually, in joint 2-D and 3-D feature spaces for producing optimum results. For the C-R model an edge detector has been used to identify the boundary of the leaf shape and 36 radii at 10 degree angular separation have been used to build the feature vector. To further improve the accuracy, a hybrid set of features involving both the M-I and C-R models has been generated and explored to find whether the combination feature vector can lead to better performance. Neural networks are used as classifiers for discrimination. The data set consists of 180 images divided into three classes with 60 images each. Accuracies ranging from 90%-100% are obtained which are comparable to the best figures reported in extant literature. Keywords-plant recognition; moment invariants; centroid-radii model; neural network; computer vision.

Images Features Extraction of Tobacco Leaves <=SEP=> Images features extraction is very important for the grading process of flue-cured tobacco leaves. In this paper, a machine vision techniques base system is proposed for the automatic inspection of flue-cured tobacco leaves. Machine vision techniques are used in this system to solve problems of features extraction and analysis of tobacco leaves, which include features of color, size, shape andsurface texture. The experimental results show that this system is a viable way for the features extraction of tobacco leaves, and can be used for the automatic classification of tobacco leaves.

PLANT LEAF RECOGNITION <=SEP=> This paper proposes an automated system for recognizing plant species based on leaf images. Plant leaf images corresponding to three plant types, are analyzed using three different shape modelling techniques, the first two based on the Moments-Invariant (M-I) model and the Centroid-Radii (C-R) model and the third based on a proposed technique of Binary-Superposition (B-S). For the M-I model the first four central normalized moments have been considered. For the C-R model an edge detector has been used to identify the boundary of the leaf shape and 36 radii at 10 degree angular separation have been used to build the shape vector. The proposed approach consists of comparing binary versions of the leaf images through superposition and using the sum of non-zero pixel values of the resultant as the feature vector. The data set for experimentations consists of 180 images divided into training and testing sets and comparison between them is done using Manhattan, Euclidean and intersection norms. Accuracies obtained using the proposed technique is seen to be an improvement over the M-I and C-R based techniques, and comparable to the best figures reported in extant literature.

COLOUR AND SHAPE ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES FOR WEED DETECTION IN CEREAL FIELDS <=SEP=> Information on weed distribution within the field is necessary to implement spatially variable herbicide application. This paper deals with the development of near-ground image capture and processing techniques in order to detect broad leaf weeds in cereal crops, under actual field conditions. The proposed methods use both colour and shape analysis techniques for discriminating crop, weeds and soil. The performance of algorithms was assessed by comparing the results with a human classification, providing a good success rate. The study shows the potential of using image processing techniques to generate weed maps.

Distributional Reinforcement Learning With Quantile Regression <=SEP=> In reinforcement learning an agent interacts with the environment by taking actions and observing the next state and reward. When sampled probabilistically, these state transitions, rewards, and actions can all induce randomness in the observed long-term return. Traditionally, reinforcement learning algorithms average over this randomness to estimate the value function. In this paper, we build on recent work advocating a distributional approach to reinforcement learning in which the distribution over returns is modeled explicitly instead of only estimating the mean. That is, we examine methods of learning the value distribution instead of the value function. We give results that close a number of gaps between the theoretical and algorithmic results given by Bellemare, Dabney, and Munos (2017). First, we extend existing results to the approximate distribution setting. Second, we present a novel distributional reinforcement learning algorithm consistent with our theoretical formulation. Finally, we evaluate this new algorithm on the Atari 2600 games, observing that it significantly outperforms many of the recent improvements on DQN, including the related distributional algorithm C51.

A 28-GHz 32-Element TRX Phased-Array IC With Concurrent Dual-Polarized Operation and Orthogonal Phase and Gain Control for 5G Communications <=SEP=> This paper presents the first reported 28-GHz phased-array IC for 5G communications. Implemented in 130-nm SiGe BiCMOS, the IC includes 32 TRX elements and features concurrent independent beams in two polarizations in either TX or RX operation. Circuit techniques to enable precise beam steering, orthogonal phase and amplitude control at each front end, and independent tapering and beam steering at the array level are presented. A TX/RX switch design is introduced which minimizes TX path loss resulting in 13.5 dBm/16 dBm Op1dB/Psat per front end with >20% peak power added efficiency of the power amplifier (including switch and off-mode LNA) while maintaining a 6 dB noise figure in the low noise amplifier (including switch and off-mode PA). Comprehensive on-wafer measurement results for the IC across multiple samples and temperature variation are presented. A package with four ICs and 64 dual-polarized antennas provides eight 16-element or two 64-element concurrent beams with 1.4°/step beam steering (<0.6° rms error) across a ±50° steering range without requiring calibration. A maximum saturated effective isotropic radiated power of 54 dBm is measured in the broadside direction for each polarization. Tapering control without requiring calibration achieves up to 20-dB sidelobe rejection without affecting the main lobe direction.

A study on brushless PM slotless motor with toroidal winding <=SEP=> This paper presents a study on brushless permanent magnet (PM) slotless motor with toroidal winding (TWSL). Herein, slotted motor with conventional winding (i.e., CWS motor), which has already been applied to the industry, is compared to the TWSL motor. A finite-element analysis is used to comprehend the operation basis of the TWSL motor, including the linkage flux, back electromotive force, and torque. The proposed TWSL motor can generate the torque level as much as the CWS motor does. The proposed TWSL motor is manufactured and experimented upon to validate the finite-element analysis result.

Efficient Adaptive-Support Association Rule Mining for Recommender Systems <=SEP=> Collaborative recommender systems allow personalization for e-commerce by exploiting similarities and dissimilarities among customers' preferences. We investigate the use of association rule mining as an underlying technology for collaborative recommender systems. Association rules have been used with success in other domains. However, most currently existing association rule mining algorithms were designed with market basket analysis in mind. Such algorithms are inefficient for collaborative recommendation because they mine many rules that are not relevant to a given user. Also, it is necessary to specify the minimum support of the mined rules in advance, often leading to either too many or too few rules; this negatively impacts the performance of the overall system. We describe a collaborative recommendation technique based on a new algorithm specifically designed to mine association rules for this purpose. Our algorithm does not require the minimum support to be specified in advance. Rather, a target range is given for the number of rules, and the algorithm adjusts the minimum support for each user in order to obtain a ruleset whose size is in the desired range. Rules are mined for a specific target user, reducing the time required for the mining process. We employ associations between users as well as associations between items in making recommendations. Experimental evaluation of a system based on our algorithm reveals performance that is significantly better than that of traditional correlation-based approaches.

Denial of Service in Sensor Networks <=SEP=> S ensor networks hold the promise of facilitating large-scale, real-time data processing in complex environments. Their foreseeable applications will help protect and monitor critical military, environmental, safety-critical , or domestic infrastructures and resources. In these and other vital or security-sensitive deployments, keeping the network available for its intended use is essential. The stakes are high: Denial of service attacks against such networks may permit real-world damage to the health and safety of people. Without proper security mechanisms, networks will be confined to limited, controlled environments , negating much of the promise they hold. The limited ability of individual sensor nodes to thwart failure or attack makes ensuring network availability more difficult. To identify denial of service vulnerabilities, we analyze two effective sensor network protocols that did not initially consider security. These examples demonstrate that consideration of security at design time is the best way to ensure successful network deployment. Advances in miniaturization combined with an insatiable appetite for previously unrealizable information gathering have lead to the development of new kinds of networks. In many areas, static infrastruc-tures are giving way to dynamic ad-hoc networks. One manifestation of these trends is the development of highly application-dependent sensor networks. Developers build sensor networks to collect and analyze low-level data from an environment of interest. Accomplishing the network's goal often depends on local cooperation, aggregation, or data processing because individual nodes have limited capabilities. Physically small, nodes have tiny or irreplaceable power reserves, communicate wirelessly, and may not possess unique identifiers. Further, they must form ad hoc relationships in a dense network with little or no preexisting infrastructure. Protocols and algorithms operating in the network must support large-scale distribution, often with only localized interactions among nodes. The network must continue operating even after significant node failure, and it must meet real-time requirements. In addition to the limitations imposed by application-dependent deadlines, because it reflects a changing environment, the data the network gathers may intrinsically be valid for only a short time. Sensor networks may be deployed in a host of different environments, and they often figure into military scenarios. These networks may gather intelligence in battlefield conditions, track enemy troop movements, monitor a secured zone for activity , or measure damage and casualties. An airplane or artillery 1 could deploy these networks to otherwise unreachable regions. Although military applications may be the easiest to imagine, much broader opportunities await. Sensor networks could form …

Modeling consumer loan default prediction using ensemble neural networks <=SEP=> In this paper, a loan default prediction model is constricted using three different training algorithms, to train a supervised two-layer feed-forward network to produce the prediction model. But first, two attribute filtering functions were used, resulting in two data sets with reduced attributes and the original data-set. Back propagation based learning algorithms was used for training the network. The neural networks are trained using real world credit application cases from a German bank datasets which has 1000 cases; each case with 24 numerical attributes; upon, which the decision is based. The aim of this paper was to compare between the resulting models produced from using different training algorithms, scaled conjugate gradient backpropagation, Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm, One-step secant backpropagation (SCG, LM and OSS) and an ensemble of SCG, LM and OSS. Empirical results indicate that training algorithms improve the design of a loan default prediction model and ensemble model works better than the individual models.

IAP Guidelines on Rickettsial Diseases in Children. <=SEP=> OBJECTIVE
To formulate practice guidelines on rickettsial diseases in children for pediatricians across India.


JUSTIFICATION
Rickettsial diseases are increasingly being reported from various parts of India. Due to low index of suspicion, nonspecific clinical features in early course of disease, and absence of easily available, sensitive and specific diagnostic tests, these infections are difficult to diagnose. With timely diagnosis, therapy is easy, affordable and often successful. On the other hand, in endemic areas, where healthcare workers have high index of suspicion for these infections, there is rampant and irrational use of doxycycline as a therapeutic trial in patients of undifferentiated fevers. Thus, there is a need to formulate practice guidelines regarding rickettsial diseases in children in Indian context.


PROCESS
A committee was formed for preparing guidelines on rickettsial diseases in children in June 2016. A meeting of consultative committee was held in IAP office, Mumbai and scientific content was discussed. Methodology and results were scrutinized by all members and consensus was reached. Textbook references and published guidelines were also used in few instances to make recommendations. Various Indian and international publications pertinent to present study were collated and guidelines were approved by all committee members. Future updates in these guidelines will be dictated by new scientific data in the field of rickettsial diseases in children.


RECOMMENDATIONS
Indian tick typhus and scrub typhus are commonly seen rickettsial diseases in India. It is recommended that practicing pediatricians should be well conversant with compatible clinical scenario, suggestive epidemiological features, differential diagnoses and suggestive laboratory features to make diagnosis and avoid over diagnosis of these infections, as suggested in these guidelines. Doxycycline is the drug of choice and treatment should begin promptly without waiting for confirmatory laboratory results.

Traffic prediction in a bike-sharing system <=SEP=> Bike-sharing systems are widely deployed in many major cities, providing a convenient transportation mode for citizens' commutes. As the rents/returns of bikes at different stations in different periods are unbalanced, the bikes in a system need to be rebalanced frequently. Real-time monitoring cannot tackle this problem well as it takes too much time to reallocate the bikes after an imbalance has occurred. In this paper, we propose a hierarchical prediction model to predict the number of bikes that will be rent from/returned to each station cluster in a future period so that reallocation can be executed in advance. We first propose a bipartite clustering algorithm to cluster bike stations into groups, formulating a two-level hierarchy of stations. The total number of bikes that will be rent in a city is predicted by a Gradient Boosting Regression Tree (GBRT). Then a multi-similarity-based inference model is proposed to predict the rent proportion across clusters and the inter-cluster transition, based on which the number of bikes rent from/ returned to each cluster can be easily inferred. We evaluate our model on two bike-sharing systems in New York City (NYC) and Washington D.C. (D.C.) respectively, confirming our model's advantage beyond baseline approaches (0.03 reduction of error rate), especially for anomalous periods (0.18/0.23 reduction of error rate).

A Review of Methodological Approaches for the Design and Optimization of Wind Farms <=SEP=> This article presents a review of the state of the art of the Wind Farm Design and Optimization (WFDO) problem. The WFDO problem refers to a set of advanced planning actions needed to extremize the performance of wind farms, which may be composed of a few individual Wind Turbines (WTs) up to thousands of WTs. The WFDO problem has been investigated in different scenarios, with substantial differences in main objectives, modelling assumptions, constraints, and numerical solution methods. The aim of this paper is: (1) to present an exhaustive survey of the literature covering the full span of the subject, an analysis of the state-of-the-art models describing the performance of wind farms as well as its extensions, and the numerical approaches used to solve the problem; (2) to provide an overview of the available knowledge and recent progress in the application of such strategies to real onshore and offshore wind farms; and (3) to propose a comprehensive agenda for future research. OPEN ACCESS Energies 2014, 7 6931

MORTALITY FROM CORONARY HEART DISEASE IN SUBJECTS WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES AND IN NONDIABETIC SUBJECTS WITH AND WITHOUT PRIOR MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION <=SEP=> s of articles published since 1993. Single articles and past issues of the Journal can also be ordered for a fee through the Internet (http://www.nejm.org/customer/).

Blockchain as a Service for IoT <=SEP=> A blockchain is a distributed and decentralized ledger that contains connected blocks of transactions. Unlike other ledger approaches, blockchain guarantees tamper proof storage of approved transactions. Due to its distributed and decentralized organization, blockchain is beeing used within IoT e.g. to manage device configuration, store sensor data and enable micro-payments. This paper presents the idea of using blockchain as a service for IoT and evaluates the performance of a cloud and edge hosted blockchain implementation.

AI-Assisted Game Debugging with Cicero <=SEP=> We present Cicero, a mixed-initiative application for prototyping two-dimensional sprite-based games across different genres such as shooters, puzzles, and action games. Cicero provides a host of features which can offer assistance in different stages of the game development process. Noteworthy features include AI agents for gameplay simulation, a game mechanics recommender system, a playtrace aggregator, heatmap-based game analysis, a sequential replay mechanism, and a query system that allows searching for particular interaction patterns. In order to evaluate the efficacy and usefulness of the different features of Cicero, we conducted a user study in which we compared how users perform in game debugging tasks with different kinds of assistance.

On the use of windows for harmonic analysis with the discrete Fourier transform <=SEP=> This paper makes available a concise review of data windows and their affect on the detection of harmonic signals in the presence of broad-band noise, and in the presence of nearby strong harmonic interference. We also call attention to a number of common errors in the application of windows when used with the fast Fourier transform. This paper includes a comprehensive catalog of data windows along with their significant performance parameters from which the different windows can be compared. Finally, an example demonstrates the use and value of windows to resolve closely spaced harmonic signals characterized by large differences in amplitude.

Film Critics : Influencers or Predictors ? <=SEP=> Critics and their reviews pervade many industries and are particularly important in the entertainment industry. Few marketing scholars, however, have considered the relationship between the market performance of entertainment services and the role of critics. The authors do so here. They show empirically that critical reviews correlate with late and cumulative box office receipts but do not have a significant correlation with early box office receipts. Although still far from any definitive conclusion, this finding suggests that critics, at least from an aggregate-level perspective, appear to act more as leading indicators than as opinion leaders.

Knowledge distillation across ensembles of multilingual models for low-resource languages <=SEP=> This paper investigates the effectiveness of knowledge distillation in the context of multilingual models. We show that with knowledge distillation, Long Short-Term Memory(LSTM) models can be used to train standard feed-forward Deep Neural Network (DNN) models for a variety of low-resource languages. We then examine how the agreement between the teacher's best labels and the original labels affects the student model's performance. Next, we show that knowledge distillation can be easily applied to semi-supervised learning to improve model performance. We also propose a promising data selection method to filter un-transcribed data. Then we focus on knowledge transfer among DNN models with multilingual features derived from CNN+DNN, LSTM, VGG, CTC and attention models. We show that a student model equipped with better input features not only learns better from the teacher's labels, but also outperforms the teacher. Further experiments suggest that by learning from each other, the original ensemble of various models is able to evolve into a new ensemble with even better combined performance.

3D Object Representations for Fine-Grained Categorization <=SEP=> While 3D object representations are being revived in the context of multi-view object class detection and scene understanding, they have not yet attained wide-spread use in fine-grained categorization. State-of-the-art approaches achieve remarkable performance when training data is plentiful, but they are typically tied to flat, 2D representations that model objects as a collection of unconnected views, limiting their ability to generalize across viewpoints. In this paper, we therefore lift two state-of-the-art 2D object representations to 3D, on the level of both local feature appearance and location. In extensive experiments on existing and newly proposed datasets, we show our 3D object representations outperform their state-of-the-art 2D counterparts for fine-grained categorization and demonstrate their efficacy for estimating 3D geometry from images via ultra-wide baseline matching and 3D reconstruction.

Multiagent-Based Distributed-Energy-Resource Management for Intelligent Microgrids <=SEP=> Microgrid is a combination of distributed generators, storage systems, and controllable loads connected to low-voltage network that can operate either in grid-connected or in island mode. High penetration of power at distribution level creates such multiple microgrids. This paper proposes a two-level architecture for distributed-energy-resource management for multiple microgrids using multiagent systems. In order to match the buyers and sellers in the energy market, symmetrical assignment problem based on naíve auction algorithm is used. The developed mechanism allows the pool members such as generation agents, load agents, auction agents, grid agents, and storage agents to participate in market. Three different scenarios are identified based on the supply-demand mismatch among the participating microgrids. At the end of this paper, two case studies are presented with two and four interconnected microgrids participating in the market. Simulation results clearly indicate that the agent-based management is effective in resource management among multiple microgrids economically and profitably.

Prediction of human emergency behavior and their mobility following large-scale disaster <=SEP=> The frequency and intensity of natural disasters has significantly increased over the past decades and this trend is predicted to continue. Facing these possible and unexpected disasters, accurately predicting human emergency behavior and their mobility will become the critical issue for planning effective humanitarian relief, disaster management, and long-term societal reconstruction. In this paper, we build up a large human mobility database (GPS records of 1.6 million users over one year) and several different datasets to capture and analyze human emergency behavior and their mobility following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima nuclear accident. Based on our empirical analysis through these data, we find that human behavior and their mobility following large-scale disaster sometimes correlate with their mobility patterns during normal times, and are also highly impacted by their social relationship, intensity of disaster, damage level, government appointed shelters, news reporting, large population flow and etc. On the basis of these findings, we develop a model of human behavior that takes into account these factors for accurately predicting human emergency behavior and their mobility following large-scale disaster. The experimental results and validations demonstrate the efficiency of our behavior model, and suggest that human behavior and their movements during disasters may be significantly more predictable than previously thought.

The beauty of capturing faces: Rating the quality of digital portraits <=SEP=> Digital portrait photographs are everywhere, and while the number of face pictures keeps growing, not much work has been done to on automatic portrait beauty assessment. In this paper, we design a specific framework to automatically evaluate the beauty of digital portraits. To this end, we procure a large dataset of face images annotated not only with aesthetic scores but also with information about the traits of the subject portrayed. We design a set of visual features based on portrait photography literature, and extensively analyze their relation with portrait beauty, exposing interesting findings about what makes a portrait beautiful. We find that the beauty of a portrait is linked to its artistic value, and independent from age, race and gender of the subject. We also show that a classifier trained with our features to separate beautiful portraits from non-beautiful portraits outperforms generic aesthetic classifiers.

Universal construction based on 3D printing electric motors: Steps towards self-replicating robots to transform space exploration <=SEP=> Through a recent confluence of technological capacities, self-replicating robots have become a potentially nearterm rather than speculative technology. In a practical sense, self-replicating robots can never become obsolete — the first self- replicating robots will spawn all future generations of robots, subject to deliberate upgrading and/or evolutionary change. Furthermore, this technology promises to revolutionise space exploration by bypassing the apparently-insurmountable problem of high launch costs. We present recent efforts in 3D printing the key robotic components required for any such self- replicating machine.

Millimeter-Wave MultiBeam Aperture-Coupled Magnetoelectric Dipole Array With Planar Substrate Integrated Beamforming Network for 5G Applications <=SEP=> A modified topology of the 2-D multibeam antenna array fed by a passive beamforming network (BFN) is proposed by introducing two sets of vertical interconnections into the conventional array configuration. Different from the traditional design, the new array structure can be integrated into multilayered planar substrates conveniently, which has advantages of low loss characteristics, ease of realization, and low fabrication cost for millimeter-wave (mmWave) applications. A  $4\times4$  multibeam antenna array that can generate 16 beams is then designed, fabricated, and measured in order to demonstrate the correctness of the proposed topology. As the crucial components of the design, two kinds of aperture-coupled magnetoelectric dipole antenna elements with multilayered feed structures and three types of vertical interconnections consisting of the vertical substrate integrated waveguides are investigated, respectively. Wide bandwidth of 16.4%, stable radiation beams, and gain up to 14.7 dBi are achieved by the fabricated prototype. The proposed array configuration provides a new mean to implement the relatively large size 2-D multibeam antenna arrays with planar passive BFNs, which would be attractive for future mmWave wireless systems used for 5G communications and other applications.

A framework for improved video text detection and recognition <=SEP=> Text displayed in a video is an essential part for the high-level semantic information of the video content. Therefore, video text can be used as a valuable source for automated video indexing in digital video libraries. In this paper, we propose a workflow for video text detection and recognition. In the text detection stage, we have developed a fast localization-verification scheme, in which an edge-based multi-scale text detector first identifies potential text candidates with high recall rate. Then, detected candidate text lines are refined by using an image entropy-based filter. Finally, Stroke Width Transform (SWT)- and Support Vector Machine (SVM)-based verification procedures are applied to eliminate the false alarms. For text recognition, we have developed a novel skeleton-based binarization method in order to separate text from complex backgrounds to make it processible for standard OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software. Operability and accuracy of proposed text detection and binarization methods have been evaluated by using publicly available test data sets.

Road-marking Analysis for Autonomous Vehicle Guidance <=SEP=> Driving an automobile autonomously on rural roads requires knowledge about the geometry of the road. Furthermore, knowledge about the meaning of each lane of the road is needed in order to decide which lane should be taken and if the vehicle can do a lane change. This paper addresses the problem of extracting additional information about lanes. The information is extracted from the types of road-markings. The type of lane border markings is estimated in order to find out if a lane change is allowed. Arrows, which are painted on the road, are extracted and classified in order to determine the meaning of a lane such as a turn off lane.

Clustering with Lower Bound on Similarity <=SEP=> We propose a new method, called SimClus, for clustering with lower bound on similarity. Instead of accepting k the number of clusters to find, the alternative similarity-based approach imposes a lower bound on the similarity between an object and its corresponding cluster representative (with one representative per cluster). SimClus achieves a O(log n) approximation bound on the number of clusters, whereas for the best previous algorithm the bound can be as poor as O(n). Experiments on real and synthetic datasets show that our algorithm produces more than 40% fewer representative objects, yet offers the same or better clustering quality. We also propose a dynamic variant of the algorithm, which can be effectively used in an on-line setting.

The long history of gaming in military training <=SEP=> There is a long history of the dual-use of games in both the military and the entertainment applications. This has taken the form of sand tables, miniatures, board games, and computer games. The current tension between entertainment and military applications of games is just the return of similar concerns that surrounded the gaming tools and technologies of previous generations. Dynamic representations of the physical world are interesting and useful tools in a number of fields, to include the military, city planning, architecture, education, and entertainment. Computer games are tools that allow all of these audiences to accomplish similar goals.