1,762 research outputs found

    The Visual Secret Sharing Scheme Based on the Rgb Color System

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    The visual secret sharing (VSS) scheme is a method to maintain the confidentiality of a se-cret image by sharing it to some number participants. A (k, n) VSS divides the secret images into n parts, that are called shadows ; to recover the secret back, k shadows should be stacked. Some methods have been developed to implement VSS for color images. However, the methods are only suitable for images with limited number of colors. When more colors are used, the resulted stacked shadow image becomes unclear. Besides that, the size of the shadows becomes bigger as more colors are used. We develop a new method implementing the VSS using the RGB color system. Using our method, the problem related to the unclear stacked shadow image can be overcome

    Selecting instruments for assessing psychological wellbeing in Afghan and Kurdish refugee groups

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    Background. Afghan and Iraqi refugees comprise nearly half of all those currently under United Nations protection. As many of them will eventually be resettled in countries outside the region of origin, their long term health and settlement concerns are of relevance to host societies, and will be a likely focus for future research. Since Australia and New Zealand have both accepted refugees for many years and have dedicated, but different settlement and immigration policies, a study comparing the resettlement of two different refugee groups in these countries was undertaken. The purpose of this article is to describe the instrument selection for this study assessing mental health and psychological well being with Afghan and Kurdish former refugees, in particular to address linguistic considerations and translated instrument availability. A summary of instruments previously used with refugee and migrant groups from the Middle East region is presented to assist other researchers, before describing the three instruments ultimately selected for the quantitative component of our study.Findings. The Kessler-10 Psychological Distress Scale (K10), General Perceived Self-Efficacy Scale (GPSE), and Personal Well-Being Index (PWI) all showed good reliability (Cronbach's alphas of 0.86, 0.89 and 0.83 respectively for combined language versions) and ease of use even for pre-literate participants, with the sample of 193 refugees, although some concepts in the GPSE proved problematic for a small number of respondents. Farsi was the language of choice for the majority of Afghan participants, while most of the Kurds chose to complete English versions in addition to Farsi. No one used Arabic or Turkish translations. Participants settled less than ten years were more likely to complete questionnaires in Farsi. Descriptive summary statistics are presented for each instrument with results split by gender, refugee group and language version completed. Conclusion. This paper discusses instrument selection for Farsi and Arabic speaking refugee participants from the Middle East and Afghanistan, concluding that the Kessler-10, GPSE scale and PWI were suitable for use with these groups. Suitable language translations are freely available. Our experience with these instruments may help inform other studies with these vulnerable groups

    Taxonomic notes on two endemic species of Oberonia Lindl. from Western Ghats, India

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    The genus Oberonia is known for its micro floral arrangement. Due to its minute structure, excess of new species are reported. The present paper reveals the synonymization of two recently described species of the genus Oberonia viz. O. saintberchmansii and O. wynadensis under O. anamalayana and O. josephi respectively. The original illustration and live dissected images of the species are provided for easy identification

    A Pattern Recognition Approach to the Structure Identification of Soil Hydraulic Propertiest

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    A simple pattern recognition approach to the identification of model structures is described and used to identify structures for the soil water characteristic and soil water dijfusivity, D( e), versus water content relationships of disturbed samples for Bungor series. An asymptotic model and an exponential function were found to be suitable structures for the soil water characteristic and D( e) - e relationship respectively. A comparison with the Least Squares Technique suggests the pattern recognition approach to be a useful alternative in identification of model structure

    Internet of Things (IoT) enabled water monitoring system

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    Water is always a crucial part of everyday life. Due to global environmental situation, water management and conservation is vital for human survival. In recent times, there were huge needs of consumer based humanitarian projects that could be rapidly developed using Internet of Things (IoT) technology. In this paper, we propose an IoT based water monitoring system that measures water level in real-time. Our prototype is based on idea that the level of the water can be very important parameter when it comes to the flood occurrences especially in disaster prone areas. A water level sensor is used to detect the desired parameter, and if the water level reaches the parameter, the signal will be feed in realtime to social network like Twitter. A cloud server was configured as data repository. The measurement of the water levels are displayed in remote dashboard

    Regionalization and harmonization in TVET

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    A transversal skill is one of the skills needed in every type of workplace setting. There is limited information about the perceptions of which transferable skills are needed in the workplace. The objective of this study is to explore the transferable skills among students and lecturers in TVET higher learning institutions in Indonesia and Malaysia. In the present study, transferable skills consist of communication skills, collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, entrepreneurship, and learning to learn skills. A qualitative research was conducted using survey. The five Likert scale questionnaire was distributed to lecturers and students from selected Malaysian and Indonesian universities who have bachelor program in engineering. Based on the analysis outcomes, it is clearly shown that Malaysian university engineering students yielded significantly higher scores on the perceptions of transferable skill acquisition in all measured components compared to their counterparts in Indonesia. Similar patterns of data distribution have been observed in Malaysian and Indonesian engineering students. Based on the lecturers’ perception, Malaysian and Indonesian Engineering Lecturers have comparable perceptions in the aspects of problem solving skills and entrepreneurship skills. In contrast, Malaysian university engineering lecturers gained significantly higher scores on the perception of communication skill, collaboration skill, and learning to learn skill compared to the Indonesian lecturers. The results indicate the need to increase transferable skills of both lecturers and students

    Reverse Phase Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Quadra pole- Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry for the Charecterisation of Phenolics from Acacia Catechu (L.f.) Willd.

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    A rapid method was developed for the identification of phenolics from Acacia Catechu .The analysis ofphenolic compounds was carried out by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RPHPLC)coupled to electrospray ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-Q-TOF-MS). Theaccurate mass data for the molecular ions were processed using the software Mass Hunter workstation (Agilent Technologies), which provided a list of possible elemental formulas by using theMolecular featured extraction editor. The subsequent structure characterization was carried out by atandem mass spectrometric method. Fragmentation behavior of phenolic compounds was investigatedusing ion trap mass spectrometry in negative mode. The total fragmentation of the compound ionleading to other fragments was corroborated by MS–MS. Five phenolic compounds have beenidentified from the methanolic extract of Acacia Catechu

    Flood vulnerability and resilience: Exploring the factors that influence flooding in Sarawak

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    Flooding is the most common natural disaster in Malaysia, resulting in chaos and disruptions to social and economic activities, damage to roads and railway tracks, vehicles, affecting the level of properties, loss of life, and rise in vulnerability. In addition to natural causes, floods are mainly attributed to continuous heavy rainfall, rapid development, unplanned urbanization, poor drainage system, and environmental degradation. This annual occurrence of floods has given a big impact on the lives of humans and other living beings. Due to the negative impact of floods, we need to pay serious attention and take alternative ways to reduce this disaster. This study aimed to investigate the vulnerability factors and understand the concept of vulnerability and resilience to manage floods in Sarawak. The researcher primarily focused on reviewing the printed and documented material of disasters in order to find the vulnerability factors. Based on the findings, it can be concluded that nature, human, and governance factors, contributed mostly to floods. The present study shows that vulnerability reduction along with emergency preparedness can reduce flood damages and fatalities. The innovative technologies must have to be considered to reduce vulnerability and build resilience for sustainable disaster risk reduction
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