Connected Component Algorithm for Gestures Recognition

This paper presents head and hand gestures recognition system for Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Head and Hand gestures are an important modality for human computer interaction. Vision based recognition system can give computers the capability of understanding and responding to the hand and head gestures. The aim of this paper is the proposal of real time vision system for its application within a multimedia interaction environment. This recognition system consists of four modules, i.e. capturing the image, image extraction, pattern matching and command determination. If hand and head gestures are shown in front of the camera, hardware will perform respective action. Gestures are matched with the stored database of gestures using pattern matching. Corresponding to matched gesture, the hardware is moved in left, right, forward and backward directions. An algorithm for optimizing connected component in gesture recognition is proposed, which makes use of segmentation in two images. Connected component algorithm scans an image and group its pixels into component based on pixel connectivity i.e. all pixels in connected component share similar pixel intensity values and are in some way connected with each other. Once all groups have been determined, each pixel is labeled with a color according to component it was assigned to

Overcoming Email Addiction: Understanding the \u27Leave Me Alone!\u27 Approach

Almost a necessity for communication, email consumes significant portions of knowledge workers’ time in today’s organizations. Though issues such as spam, filtering, and archiving have received much attention from industry and academia, the critical problem of the timing of email processing has not been studied much. It is common for many knowledge workers to check and respond to their emails almost continuously. Though some emails may require very quick responses, continuous email checking may lead to workplace interruptions and overload. This study presents a framework for studying email response timing approaches to minimize the communication times and yet reduce the interruptive effects. A rigorous analysis of the effective and efficient email processing policies, in a series of two-phase simulated virtual experiments, is performed by comparing various ways to reduce interruptions for various work settings. Findings suggest that managing email processing can make a significant difference in workplace productivity

Who Renews? Who Leaves? Identifying Customer Churn in a Telecom Company Using Big Data Techniques

Within the context of the telecom industry, this teaching case is an active learning analytics exercise to help students build hands-on expertise on how to utilize Big Data to solve a business problem. Particularly, the case utilizes an analytics method to help develop a customer retention strategy to mitigate against an increasing customer churn problem in a telecom company. Traditionally, the forecast of customer churn uses various demographic and cell phone usage data. Big Data techniques permit a much finer granularity in the prediction of churn by analyzing specific activities a customer undertakes before churning. The authors help students to understand how data from customer interactions with the company through multiple channels can be combined to create a “session.” Subsequently, the authors demonstrate the use of effective visualization to identify the most relevant paths to customer churn. The Teradata Aster Big Data platform is used in developing this case study

Development and evaluation of an automated spray patternator using digital liquid level sensors

Citation: Luck, J. D., Schaardt, W. A., Forney, S. H., & Sharda, A. (2016). Development and evaluation of an automated spray patternator using digital liquid level sensors. Applied Engineering in Agriculture, 32(1), 47-52. doi:10.13031/aea.32.11381The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate an automated spray pattern measurement system which utilized digital liquid level sensors to quantify the coefficient of variation (CV) for different nozzle configurations. The overall system was designed to measure nozzle effluent in 25 mm divisions from 38.1 to 76.2 cm in width for multiple nozzle configurations with a total patternator surface width of 3.05 m. The patternator surface and data collection system were designed and developed to achieve three primary goals: patternator surface division accuracy, data collection system accuracy, and data collection system repeatability. Patternator surface measurements indicated an average standard deviation of approximately 0.1 mm (0.4%) which would not contribute significantly to spray pattern CV estimates. To quantify the measurement accuracy, the automated system was compared to manual data collection using weights collected from graduated cylinders. Statistical analysis revealed no difference (p > 0.05) between CV estimates from the manual and automated data collection methods. The average difference in CV between the two methods was 0.15% which considered 12 tests per method. Repeatability was also a primary concern, the standard deviation among CV values for tests conducted with the automated system was only 0.35%. The evaluation of the system provided confidence that suitable results would be acquired for different nozzle configurations consisting of acceptable or relatively poor spray patterns. © 2016 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers

A study of comparison of efficacy and side effects of intravenous paracetamol and intravenous diclofenac as a postoperative analgesic

BBackground: A postoperative patient suffers from pain the best relief of which is a clinician’s duty. Till date very few studies have been conducted for comparison of paracetamol and diclofenac as analgesics. As a result a comparative study between Paracetamol and Diclofenac was carried out. The aim of the study was to compare the efficacy and side effects of intravenous Paracetamol and intravenous Diclofenac in patients undergoing major abdominal open surgeries in obstetrics and gynaecology. The study was conducted to assess the postoperative visual analogue pain scores (VAS) and total analgesic requirement in the first 24 hours and also to study the total requirement of additional analgesics despite administration of either Paracetamol or Diclofenac in postoperative period.Methods: 100 patients satisfying the inclusion/exclusion criteria were recruited for the study. They were divided into two groups of 50 each. Group A was given IV Paracetamol 6 hourly for 48 hours starting 2 hours after surgery. Group B was given IV Diclofenac 8 hourly for 48 hours starting 2 hours after surgery. Patients were assessed for pain relief by visual analogue scale (VAS) of zero to ten after 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours and 48 hours of surgery by asking the patient to point the position on the 100 mm scale.Results: The results revealed that when we compared the VAS scores between the 2 Groups at different time intervals, it showed that at 24 hours and 48 hours VAS score in the Diclofenac Group was significantly less than the Paracetamol Group. The main side effects were nausea and vomiting in both the groups. There was more nausea and vomiting in Diclofenac group compared to Paracetamol group.Conclusions: It was concluded that at 24 hour and 48 hour pain reduction was more in the Diclofenac group as compared to Paracetamol group, but the side effects were more in the Diclofenac group compared to Paracetamol group

A Case Study Concerning The Effects Of Controller Response And Turning Movements On Application Rate Uniformity With A Self-Propelled Sprayer

The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce off-target application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation may lead to off-rate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes or velocity variation across the spray boom during turning movements. This project focused on characterizing application rate variation for three fields located in central Kentucky. GPS coordinates, boom control status, and nozzle pressure data (at 15 nozzle locations) were recorded as the sprayer traversed the study fields. Control section coverage areas and nozzle flow rates (calculated from the nozzle pressure with manufacturer calibration data) were used to estimate application rates. Results indicated the majority of each field received application rates at or below the target rate, as only 25% to 36% of the area in the study fields received application rates within the target rate ±10%. Spray rate controller lag time appeared to contribute to lower application rates as the sprayer accelerated and higher application rates as the sprayer decelerated as the controller attempted to compensate for changes in sprayer velocity. In addition, as boom control sections were turned off, pressure increases in the remaining sections resulted in higher application rates. Conversely, as boom sections were turned on, spray rate controller lag time may have contributed to lower application rates. Estimated application rate maps were also generated from the data to allow for a visual summary of the potential errors

The Internet of Things (IoT): Platforms, Analytics, Security, Business Model, and Human Interaction

According to Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2017 and a number of recent research reports in 2016 and 2017 from Gartner, Deloitte, McKinsey, and Info-Tech Research Group, the Internet of Things (IoT) is projected to be a multi-trillion dollar opportunity. However, there are numerous issues and requirements in IoT, such as platforms, analytics, gateways and devices (including sensors) management; communication services (i.e., M2M and networking protocols); security and privacy; and user interactions. In addition, various perspectives for monetizing IoT, as a business model, will be considered. The IoT panel proposal will cover IoT platform, gateway and devices; communications services; IoT analytics; security and privacy; business model and business value of IoT; and human interaction with IoT. Each panelist will present the assigned IoT topics

Generating ‘As-Applied’ Pesticide Distribution Maps from a Self-Propelled Agricultural Sprayer Based on Nozzle Pressure Data

The application of pre-emergence, post-emergence, and burn-down herbicides (i.e., glyphosate) continues to increase as producers attempt to reduce both negative environmental impacts from tillage and input costs from labor, machinery and materials. The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce offtarget application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation can lead to offrate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes and velocity variation across the spray boom during turning movements. This project focuses on quantifying accumulated pesticide application for three fields located in Central Kentucky. GPS coordinates were collected along with nozzle pressure data (at 13 nozzle locations) at one second intervals as the sprayer traversed the study fields. The method previously developed by Luck et al. (2009) was used to calculate coverage areas for the control sections along the spray boom in MS Excel. Nozzle discharge flow rates were estimated from the nozzle pressure data (based on manufacturer calibration information) which was then incorporated into MS Excel to determine the rate of pesticide applied to the fields. Results indicate the majority of each field received application rates at or below the target rate. Only 34.2%, 33.9%, and 22.9% of Fields 1, 2, and 4, respectively, received application rates at the target rate +/- 10% during these postemergence treatments. The goal of this project was develop distribution maps to better understand the effects of boom section control and turning movements on herbicide accumulation

Generating ‘As-Applied’ Pesticide Distribution Maps from a Self-Propelled Agricultural Sprayer Based on Nozzle Pressure Data

The application of pre-emergence, post-emergence, and burn-down herbicides (i.e., glyphosate) continues to increase as producers attempt to reduce both negative environmental impacts from tillage and input costs from labor, machinery and materials. The use of precision agriculture technologies such as automatic boom section control allows producers to reduce off-target application when applying herbicides. While automatic boom section control provides benefits, pressure differences across the spray boom resulting from boom section actuation can lead to off-rate application errors. Off-rate errors may also result from spray rate controller compensation for ground speed changes and velocity variation across the spray boom during turning movements. This project focuses on quantifying accumulated pesticide application for three fields located in Central Kentucky. GPS coordinates were collected along with nozzle pressure data (at 13 nozzle locations) at one second intervals as the sprayer traversed the study fields. The method previously developed by Luck et al. (2009) was used to calculate coverage areas for the control sections along the spray boom in MS Excel. Nozzle discharge flow rates were estimated from the nozzle pressure data (based on manufacturer calibration information) which was then incorporated into MS Excel to determine the rate of pesticide applied to the fields. Results indicate the majority of each field received application rates at or below the target rate. Only 34.2%, 33.9%, and 22.9% of Fields 1, 2, and 4, respectively, received application rates at the target rate +/- 10% during these postemergence treatments. The goal of this project was develop distribution maps to better understand the effects of boom section control and turning movements on herbicide accumulation