OR-Benchmark: An Open and Reconfigurable Digital Watermarking Benchmarking Framework

Benchmarking digital watermarking algorithms is not an easy task because different applications of digital watermarking often have very different sets of requirements and trade-offs between conflicting requirements. While there have been some general-purpose digital watermarking benchmarking systems available, they normally do not support complicated benchmarking tasks and cannot be easily reconfigured to work with different watermarking algorithms and testing conditions. In this paper, we propose OR-Benchmark, an open and highly reconfigurable general-purpose digital watermarking benchmarking framework, which has the following two key features: 1) all the interfaces are public and general enough to support all watermarking applications and benchmarking tasks we can think of; 2) end users can easily extend the functionalities and freely configure what watermarking algorithms are tested, what system components are used, how the benchmarking process runs, and what results should be produced. We implemented a prototype of this framework as a MATLAB software package and demonstrate how it can be used in three typical use cases. The first two use cases show how easily we can define benchmarking profiles for some robust image watermarking algorithms. The third use case shows how OR-Benchmark can be configured to benchmark some image watermarking algorithms for content authentication and self-restoration, which cannot be easily supported by other digital watermarking benchmarking systems

Internet of underground things in precision agriculture: Architecture and technology aspects

The projected increases in World population and need for food have recently motivated adoption of information technology solutions in crop fields within precision agriculture approaches. Internet Of Underground Things (IOUT), which consists of sensors and communication devices, partly or completely buried underground for real-time soil sensing and monitoring, emerge from this need. This new paradigm facilitates seamless integration of underground sensors, machinery, and irrigation systems with the complex social network of growers, agronomists, crop consultants, and advisors. In this paper, state-of-the-art communication architectures are reviewed, and underlying sensing technology and communication mechanisms for IOUT are presented. Moreover, recent advances in the theory and applications of wireless underground communication are also reported. Finally, major challenges in IOUT design and implementation are identified

Application and Theory of Multimedia Signal Processing Using Machine Learning or Advanced Methods

This Special Issue is a book composed by collecting documents published through peer review on the research of various advanced technologies related to applications and theories of signal processing for multimedia systems using ML or advanced methods. Multimedia signals include image, video, audio, character recognition and optimization of communication channels for networks. The specific contents included in this book are data hiding, encryption, object detection, image classification, and character recognition. Academics and colleagues who are interested in these topics will find it interesting to read

Student Support Program Outputs, Outcomes and Impacts Report

The Robert B. Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute (DWFI) inititated its Postdoctoral and Student Support Programs in 2014. The following details their achievements. Round One -- The institute first provided undergraduate, graduate student and postdoctoral support to faculty who were selected following a call for proposals in 2014. Support was awarded for two postdocs, five graduate students, and two projects with undergraduate students. By FY19 a small amount of support continues for Francisco Munoz-Arriola’s program. Outputs include presentations, grants and publications. The other faculty who have received support are: Vijendra Boken, UNK Geography & Earth Science; Carrick Detweiler, UNL Computer Science & Engineering; Trenton Franz, UNL School of Natural Resources; Patricio Grassini, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture; Alan Kolok, UNMC College of Public Health and UNO Biology; Robert Oglesby, UNL Earth & Atmospheric Sciences; Julie Shaffer, UNK Biology; and Harkamal Walia, UNL Agronomy & Horticulture. Outcomes include a significant leveraging of RBDF resources to implement the Platte Basin Timelapse project and achieve changes in knowledge, action and ultimately water and food security

Intelligent Circuits and Systems

ICICS-2020 is the third conference initiated by the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering at Lovely Professional University that explored recent innovations of researchers working for the development of smart and green technologies in the fields of Energy, Electronics, Communications, Computers, and Control. ICICS provides innovators to identify new opportunities for the social and economic benefits of society.　 This conference bridges the gap between academics and R&D institutions, social visionaries, and experts from all strata of society to present their ongoing research activities and foster research relations between them. It provides opportunities for the exchange of new ideas, applications, and experiences in the field of smart technologies and finding global partners for future collaboration. The ICICS-2020 was conducted in two broad categories, Intelligent Circuits & Intelligent Systems and Emerging Technologies in Electrical Engineering

Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2011, nr 4

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Third International Symposium on Space Mission Operations and Ground Data Systems, part 2

Under the theme of 'Opportunities in Ground Data Systems for High Efficiency Operations of Space Missions,' the SpaceOps '94 symposium included presentations of more than 150 technical papers spanning five topic areas: Mission Management, Operations, Data Management, System Development, and Systems Engineering. The symposium papers focus on improvements in the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of data acquisition, ground systems, and mission operations. New technology, methods, and human systems are discussed. Accomplishments are also reported in the application of information systems to improve data retrieval, reporting, and archiving; the management of human factors; the use of telescience and teleoperations; and the design and implementation of logistics support for mission operations. This volume covers expert systems, systems development tools and approaches, and systems engineering issues

Beyond Disability: Extraordinary Bodies in the Work of William Gibson

This dissertation conceptualizes figurations of disability in the work of contemporary U.S.-American writer William Gibson arguing that there is a distinct development in the representation of the manner and effect of corporeality from the Sprawl to the Bigend trilogy. In the Sprawl trilogy, prosthetic repair and rehabilitation are depicted as a common cultural practice, whereas in the Bigend trilogy the medical cure of the characters’ “deficiencies” for purposes of normative alignment is no longer a desired measure. By adopting a disability studies framework, I argue that this transition is not primarily related to a shift in genre, which does exist, but instead that it is motivated by a changing attitude toward the “broken” body that seeks restoration. A main concern of this book is, therefore, to understand the formal qualities of Gibson’s writing with regard to the forms and functions of the disabled figure, and to further demonstrate how this literary style and underlying ideology changes in parallel with the advancement of cultural conceptions of disability. This thesis distinguishes two major shifts over the course of the novels, one on the level of genre and the other on the conceptual level. I show how Gibson’s depiction of characters draws increasingly on a processual understanding of the human body, and decreasingly on traditional prosthetic technologies. This conceptual trajectory from prostheses to processes corresponds with the genre-specific shift in Gibson’s work that I classify as one from technoromanticism to new realism. The analysis is methodologically met with a theoretical triad that feeds on the socio-historical developments of the concept of disability, drawing specifically on the theory of intersectionality, new materialism, and actor-network theory

STRATEGIC RETREAT IN AN AGE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

According to FEMA and NOAA, flooding is the most frequent and costly natural disaster in the United States. The National Flood Insurance Program, designed to alleviate some of the costs of this hazard, is financially insolvent and fiscally unsustainable. Through its Hazard Mitigation Assistance program, FEMA buys out homes, but the process is voluntary and slow, and demand far exceeds funds available. Consequently, the number of Repetitive Loss and Severe Repetitive Loss properties increases each year. The thesis explores why and how FEMA should pursue strategic retreat from high-risk areas. Disaster costs continue to rise as extreme weather events increase in frequency and intensity. Sea-level rise endangers coastal regions, and more homes may be susceptible to systemic and regular flooding than official estimates show. To resist by building ever larger flood walls and barriers may be unrealistic, and retreat as an adaptation technique may be preferable. Expensive as strategic retreat may be, loss-avoidance studies indicate that besides reducing pain and suffering, these measures pay for themselves. Strategic retreat may also result in climate refugees who are not prepared to deal with rapidly changing conditions. An adaptation framework recommends deterrents and incentives available to policymakers and practitioners to pursue strategic retreat in a planned, comprehensive, and equitable manner.Civilian, Department of Homeland SecurityApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited