Service oriented interactive media (SOIM) engines enabled by optimized resource sharing

In the same way as cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS) and Content Centric Networking (CCN) triggered a new class of software architectures fundamentally different from traditional desktop software, service oriented networking (SON) suggests a new class of media engine technologies, which we call Service Oriented Interactive Media (SOIM) engines. This includes a new approach for game engines and more generally interactive media engines for entertainment, training, educational and dashboard applications. Porting traditional game engines and interactive media engines to the cloud without fundamentally changing the architecture, as done frequently, can enable already various advantages of cloud computing for such kinds of applications, for example simple and transparent upgrading of content and unified user experience on all end-user devices. This paper discusses a new architecture for game engines and interactive media engines fundamentally designed for cloud and SON. Main advantages of SOIM engines are significantly higher resource efficiency, leading to a fraction of cloud hosting costs. SOIM engines achieve these benefits by multilayered data sharing, efficiently handling many input and output channels for video, audio, and 3D world synchronization, and smart user session and session slot management. Architecture and results of a prototype implementation of a SOIM engine are discussed

Adapting Binary Information Retrieval Evaluation Metrics for Segment-based Retrieval Tasks

This report describes metrics for the evaluation of the effectiveness of segment-based retrieval based on existing binary information retrieval metrics. This metrics are described in the context of a task for the hyperlinking of video segments. This evaluation approach re-uses existing evaluation measures from the standard Cranfield evaluation paradigm. Our adaptation approach can in principle be used with any kind of effectiveness measure that uses binary relevance, and for other segment-baed retrieval tasks. In our video hyperlinking setting, we use precision at a cut-off rank n and mean average precision.Comment: Explanation of evaluation measures for the linking task of the MediaEval Workshop 201

John G. Neihardt

In the literature celebrating the rugged spirit and tenacious optimism of the American West, John G. Neihardt, a Nebraska poet, raised one of the most vigorous voices. It sounds in his lyrics and rings through his epic masterwork, A Cycle of the West, in blended notes of wonder at the universe and deeper strains of human sorrow. His inspiration came from what he called the “glorious experience of living

Top Bar Effects in Prestressed Concrete Piles

The top bar effect in reinforced concrete is a widely recognized phenomenon. Currently, the ACI Building Code prescribes a 30% increase in the development length of top cast reinforcing bars. No such provision is required for strands in prestressed concrete members. In this paper, the top bar effect for prestressing strands is introduced. Parameters affecting top bar phenomena in prestressed concrete piles are identified, and strategies for reducing this effect are presented. Finally, for the first time, the application of a top bar effect factor for prestressed concrete development length calculations, similar to the one applied in reinforced concrete structural elements, is proposed

The uncertain representation ranking framework for concept-based video retrieval

Concept based video retrieval often relies on imperfect and uncertain concept detectors. We propose a general ranking framework to define effective and robust ranking functions, through explicitly addressing detector uncertainty. It can cope with multiple concept-based representations per video segment and it allows the re-use of effective text retrieval functions which are defined on similar representations. The final ranking status value is a weighted combination of two components: the expected score of the possible scores, which represents the risk-neutral choice, and the scores’ standard deviation, which represents the risk or opportunity that the score for the actual representation is higher. The framework consistently improves the search performance in the shot retrieval task and the segment retrieval task over several baselines in five TRECVid collections and two collections which use simulated detectors of varying performance

Superconducting Quantum Point contacts and Maxwell Potential

The quantization of the current in a superconducting quantum point contact is reviewed and the critical current is discussed at different temperatures depending on the carrier concentration as well by suggesting a constant potential in the semiconductor and then a Maxwell potential. When the Fermi wave length is comparable with the constriction width we showed that the critical current has a step-like variation as a function of the constriction width and the carrier concentration.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, some figures are clarified; scheduled to appear in an issue in MPLB Vo.21, (2007

Modelling the Kinetics, Thermodynamic and Physical Properties of Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) during Convective Drying

The drying kinetics, thermodynamic properties, and energy consumption of five potential coconut cultivars identified by Ghana's CSIR-Oil Palm Research Institute were studied. Drying was carried out in a convectional dryer using four temperatures (70, 80, 90 and 100oC) and 2.0 m/s air velocity. The asymptotic model was adjudged the best fit model in predicting moisture content based on the highest coefficient of determination (0.9589-0.9998) and lowest residual sum of squares (8.427-252.61), chi-square (0.52671-16.8409) and root mean square error (2.8744-3.4421). Temperature caused between 66.8-96.5% variations in moisture diffusivity. Thermodynamic study revealed endothermic and non-spontaneous reactions in the drying system resulting from enthalpy change and Gibbs free energy change. Meanwhile, a direct relation was established among higher spontaneity and higher temperature. Despite the high drying temperatures used for the experiment, internal cellular composition was not affected as a result of excellent rehydration capacity. In effect, the Vanuatu TThe drying kinetics, thermodynamic properties, and energy consumption of five potential coconut cultivars identified by Ghana's CSIR-Oil Palm Research Institute were studied. Drying was carried out in a convectional dryer using four temperatures (70, 80, 90 and 100oC) and 2.0 m/s air velocity. The asymptotic model was adjudged the best fit model in predicting moisture content based on the highest coefficient of determination (0.9589-0.9998) and lowest residual sum of squares (8.427-252.61), chi-square (0.52671-16.8409) and root mean square error (2.8744-3.4421). Temperature caused between 66.8-96.5% variations in moisture diffusivity. Thermodynamic study revealed endothermic and non-spontaneous reaction in the drying system resulting from enthalpy change and Gibbs free energy change. Meanwhile, a direct relation was established among higher spontaneity and higher temperature. Despite the high drying temperatures used for the experiment, internal cellular composition was not affected as a result of excellent rehydration capacity. In effect, the Vanuatu Tall was adjudged as the best coconut variety based on its lower energy consumption and activation energy, shorter drying time and higher moisture diffusivity. All was adjudged as the best coconut variety based on its lower energy consumption and activation energy, shorter drying time and higher moisture diffusivity