Text-to-picture tools, systems, and approaches: a survey

Text-to-picture systems attempt to facilitate high-level, user-friendly communication between humans and computers while promoting understanding of natural language. These systems interpret a natural language text and transform it into a visual format as pictures or images that are either static or dynamic. In this paper, we aim to identify current difficulties and the main problems faced by prior systems, and in particular, we seek to investigate the feasibility of automatic visualization of Arabic story text through multimedia. Hence, we analyzed a number of well-known text-to-picture systems, tools, and approaches. We showed their constituent steps, such as knowledge extraction, mapping, and image layout, as well as their performance and limitations. We also compared these systems based on a set of criteria, mainly natural language processing, natural language understanding, and input/output modalities. Our survey showed that currently emerging techniques in natural language processing tools and computer vision have made promising advances in analyzing general text and understanding images and videos. Furthermore, important remarks and findings have been deduced from these prior works, which would help in developing an effective text-to-picture system for learning and educational purposes. - 2019, The Author(s).This work was made possible by NPRP grant #10-0205-170346 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The statements made herein are solely the responsibility of the authors

REFLECTION HOLOGRAM FOR PARTICLE SIZE MEASUREMENT

Reflection hologram was used to record the transparent dynamic particle. By this method there is high protection to the optical devices. Another information about particle size and particle distribution has been obtained. The major limitation of in-line Fraunhofer hologram has been solved

Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Qatari People

The purpose of this descriptive study was to determine the oral health knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of Qatari people. The convenience sample consisted of 859 Qatari people between the ages of 18-72 from Hamad Medical Corporation Dental Department, Public Dental Health Care Centres, University of Qatar, Police and Army Departments, governmental schools, a private dental clinic, and citizens. Participants were asked to complete a self-designed questionnaire titled Oral Health Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behaviors of Qatari People. Prior to the study, 20 Arab college students responded to the questionnaire in a test-retest procedure to establish instrument reliability. The content validity of the questionnaire was established by a panel of dental hygiene experts at Old Dominion University. Questionnaire data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, the chi-square test of independence, and the analysis of residual test. Findings revealed that 74.4% of the respondents visit a dental clinic for dental cleanings, but of this number, 62.2% did not receive any toothbrushing instructions; and 63.2% did not receive flossing instructions. Forty-eight point eight percent visit the dental hygienist or dentist when they experience pain and the majority (61.8%) brush more than once a day. Most of the respondents arrive late for dental care because of other commitments. The majority of respondents willingly accepted oral hygiene instructions given at each dental visit, demonstrate their home care technique to the dentist or dental hygienist, cooperate in an oral hygiene evaluation of their mouths at each dental appointment, and return for professional teeth cleaning appointments if necessary. Almost half of the respondents (46.9%) feel embarrassed when told that their oral hygiene needs improvement, or when they (38.2%) need to learn oral hygiene techniques from a professional of the opposite gender. Chi-square analysis revealed a statistically significant association among the demographic variables of either age, gender, level of education, or distance between their home and a dental clinic and the following items: the frequency of visiting the dental hygienist/dentist, toothbrushing frequency, the time spent each day cleaning the teeth, the reason for arriving late to the dental clinic, the reaction to oral hygiene instructions given at each dental hygiene appointment, the reaction when asked to demonstrate home care techniques at the dental clinic, the reaction when their oral hygiene is checked at each visit, the reaction when asked to return for several professional teeth cleaning appointments, and the embarrassment when told that oral hygiene needs improvement or when taught oral hygiene instructions. Results suggest an association between the demographic variables of age and level of education and the following items: accepting new oral hygiene concepts from dental hygienist/dentist, and following the hygienist\u27s/dentist\u27s instructions. In all, results suggest that the Qatari people surveyed have positive attitudes toward accepting oral healthcare, little knowledge of contemporary oral health concepts, and positive oral health behaviors

Microstructure of Mealy and Vitreous Wheat Endosperms (Triticum durum L.) with Special Emphasis on Location and Polymorphic Behaviour of Lipids

Dark inclusions observed in osmiophilic zones, already described in mature wheat endosperm using transmission electron microscopy, were confirmed by freeze-fracture electron microscopy to be lipids. The polar lipids (glycolipids, phospholipids, free fatty acides, monoglycerides) were organized in a liquid crystalline phase. The reversed hexagonal or HII phase should be the main lattice which might arise from the transition of lipids present in membranous structures as a lamellar phase. This transition was caused by dehydration occurring during maturation. It is suggested that the water-dependent lamellar hexagonal phase transitions are of considerable importance in cereal food technology

An Efficient Inventory Model-Based GA For Food Deterioration Products In The Tourism Industry

Background: The inventory control practice of deteriorating food products that are subject to an expiration date is a challenging process. Inappropriate inventory control practice leads to substantial waste of products and significant holding and purchasing costs. Purpose: This paper aims to develop an inventory control model-based Genetic Algorithm (GA) to minimize the Total Annual Inventory Cost (TAIC) function developed explicitly for the proposed model. Methodology: GA is used and tailored to provide the best reorder level of deteriorating food products. A case study of one of the five-star hotels in Iraq is conducted, followed by a sensitivity analysis study to validate the proposed model for varying reorder levels. Results and Conclusion: A minimum inventory cost is obtained with an optimum reorder level achieved by running GA. It is concluded that the optimal reorder level provided by the proposed GA minimized the monthly inventory cost of products

Effect of Preheating on the Permeability of Neonatal Rat Stratum Corneum to Alkanols

We heated flat sheets of neonatal rat stratum corneum for various times at temperatures between 40 and 90°C before determining the permeability coefficient (Kp) of propanol and/or hexanol from water. Below 70°C, Kp remained constant; at 75°C, Kp increased linearly with exposure time; at 80°C and above, there was a large increase in under 2 h, with no further increase on longer heating. There was a 15-fold increase in 6-h Kp between 70°C and 80°C, values being constant above 80°C but at a figure less than for lipid-extracted stratum corneum. Thermal analysis showed that the increase in Kp corresponds to changes in the 80°C lipid endotherm, suggesting that the increased Kp is due to a disordering of the lipid structures. The effect of treating preheated stratum corneum with dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) vapor for 16h was also studied. Below 70°C, Kp was increased five-fold, but between 70 and 80°C this difference was eliminated, so that above 80°C the Kp was the same as with heat treatment alone. We concluded that both heat and DMSO affect the lipid structures of stratum corneum. DMSO produced a small, reversible structural change, while the effect of heat is irreversible and produces a greater degree of disorder in the lipid structures, but the lipid still contributed to the barrier effect of stratum corneum

THE ROLE OF SELF-DISCREPANCY IN GENERATING FUTURE ANXIETY AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Purpose of the study: The current study examines the level of self-perception (realism, idealism, and duty) among Yarmouk University students. It also identifies the level of their self-discrepancy and its relation to future anxiety and explores the differences regarding the level of these self-discrepancies and the future anxiety according to the variables of specialization, the level of the study, and GPA. The study argues that while there is a significant statistical negative relationship between the level of future anxiety and the actual self among university students there is no significant statistical correlation between the level of future anxiety and the ideal self and the ought self. Methodology: The study was conducted on a sample of (200) university students of the Faculty of Education at Yarmouk University. Higgins’ (1987) scale which consists of (30) paragraphs and the scale of future anxiety which consists of (27) paragraphs were applied to the study sample using the descriptive correlational approach. Main Findings: There were no significant statistical differences regarding the level of self-discrepancy (real/ideal) and (real/due) due to the variables of specialization, the level of study, and the GPA. Also, there were no significant differences regarding the level of future anxiety among Yarmouk University students according to the variables of specialization, the level of study, and the GPA. Yet, there was a statistically significant negative relationship between the level of future anxiety and the actual self. Applications of this study: Universities across the globe, such as Yarmouk University and the University of Jordan, may find it significant to know that university students have a moderate level of self-perception and do not have a correspondence between the characteristics of the self in its three dimensions. Thus, such universities may need to think of establishing certain training and counseling programs that aim at developing the students' perception of themselves and their understanding of the self. Novelty/Originality of this study: Considering that a few Arabic studies address future anxiety among university students who will graduate and impact their local communities, the paper points at the need for establishing certain counseling courses that help university students better understand themselves and decide their needs accordingly. &nbsp

Synchronization of a renewable energy inverter with the grid

The design, mathematical analysis, and testing results of the architecture of a new all-digital phase-locked loop system for synchronizing a voltage source DC-AC single-phase inverter with the low voltage utility grid are presented. The system which is based on the time-delay digital tanlock loop was simulated using MATLAB/ SIMULINK and was tested by subjecting the grid voltage to various perturbations similar to those which can occur in a real power system, such as voltage sags and nonlinear distortion of the grid voltage waveform. Results indicate that even in the presence of such perturbations the system achieved and/or re-gained synchronization within 100 ms. The proposed system is all-digital and can be readily implemented using a field programmable gate array and easily embedded into a power inverter

Time-resolved fluorescence line-narrowing of Eu3+ in biocompatible eutectic glass-ceramics

The spectroscopic properties of Eu3+ in biocompatible glass and glass-ceramic eutectic rods of composition 0.8CaSiO3-0.2Ca3(PO4)2 doped with 0.5 wt% of Eu2O3 are investigated to explore their potential applications as optical probes. The samples were obtained by the laser floating zone technique. Depending on the growth rate, they exhibit three (two crystalline and one amorphous) or two (one crystalline and one amorphous) phases. The crystalline phases correspond to Ca2SiO4 and apatite-like structures. At high growth rates the system presents an amorphous arrangement which gives a glass phase. The results of time-resolved fluorescence line narrowing spectroscopy obtained under excitation within the inhomogeneous broadened 7F0¿5D0 absorption band allow to isolate the emission from Eu3+ ions in the crystalline and amorphous environments and to accurately correlate the spectroscopic properties with the microstructure of these eutectics