Personal rights management (PRM) : enabling privacy rights in digital online media content

With ubiquitous use of digital camera devices, especially in mobile phones, privacy is no longer threatened by governments and companies only. The new technology creates a new threat by ordinary people, who now have the means to take and distribute pictures of one’s face at no risk and little cost in any situation in public and private spaces. Fast distribution via web based photo albums, online communities and web pages expose an individual’s private life to the public in unpreceeded ways. Social and legal measures are increasingly taken to deal with this problem. In practice however, they lack efficiency, as they are hard to enforce in practice. In this paper, we discuss a supportive infrastructure aiming for the distribution channel; as soon as the picture is publicly available, the exposed individual has a chance to find it and take proper action.Wir stellen ein System zur Wahrnehmung des Rechts am eigenen Bild bei der Veröffentlichung digitaler Fotos, zum Beispiel von Handykameras, im Internet vor. Zur Entdeckung der Veröffentlichung schlagen wir ein Watermarking-Verfahren vor, welches das Auffinden der Bilder durch die potentiell abgebildeten Personen ermöglicht, ohne die Rechte des Fotografen einzuschränken

Spectrum-modulating fiber-optic sensors for aircraft control systems

A family of fiber-optic sensors for aircraft engine control systems is described. Each of these sensors uses a spectrum-modulation method to obtain an output which is largely independent of the fiber link transmissivity. A position encoder is described which uses a code plate to digitally modulate the sensor output spectrum. Also described are pressure and temperature sensors, each of which uses a Fabry-Perot cavity to modulate the sensor output spectrum as a continuous function of the measurand. A technique is described whereby a collection of these sensors may be effectively combined to perform a number of the measurements which are required by an aircraft-engine control system

Optical Sensors for Use in Propulsion Control Systems

This final technical report describes the results of a cooperative effort which was originally established between John Carroll University and the Instrumentation and Control Technology Division at NASA Lewis Research Center on November, 1982, and then continued with the Engine Sensor Technology Branch at NASA Lewis until March, 1995. All work at John Carroll University was directed by the principal investigator of this grant, Klaus Fritsch, Ph.D. For the first two years of this grant this effort was supervised at NASA by Mr. Robert J. Baumbick and for the remainder of the grant by Dr. Glenn M. Beheim. All research was carried out in close cooperation with Dr. Beheim. Electrically passive optical sensors for measurands such as pressure, temperature, position, and rotational speed are required for aircraft engine control in fly-by-light digital aircraft control systems. Fiberoptic data links and optical multiplexing techniques should be used for combining and processing the outputs from several sensors, sharing as many optical end electronic parts as possible. The overall objective of this grant was to explore techniques for designing and constructing such electrically passive optical sensors for measuring physical parameters in jet aircraft engines and for use in aircraft control systems. We have concentrated our efforts on pressure, temperature, and position sensors employing techniques which are relatively immune to transmissivity variations of the fiber links and to variations in intensity of the light source. Infrared light-emitting diodes are employed because of their longevity and immunity to vibration. We have also studied a number of multiplexing techniques. On the following pages I will give thumbnail sketches of the projects carried out under this grant and provide references to publications and John Carroll M.S. theses which resulted directly from this work and which describe these projects in greater detail

The Energy Landscape of Myoglobin: An Optical Study

In this paper we demonstrate how the potential energy surface of a protein, which determines its conformational degrees of freedom, can be constructed from a series of advanced nonlinear optical experiments. The energy landscape of myoglobin was probed by studying its low-temperature structural dynamics, using several spectral hole burning and photon echo techniques. The spectral diffusion of the heme group of the protein was studied on a time scale ranging from nanoseconds to several days while covering a temperature range from 100 mK to 23 K. The spectral line broadening, as measured in three-pulse stimulated photon echo experiments, occurs in a stepwise fashion, while the exact time dependence of the line width is critically dependent on temperature. From these results we obtained the energy barriers between the conformational states of the protein. Aging time dependent hole-burning experiments show that, at 100 mK, it takes several days for the protein to reach thermal equilibrium. When, after this period a spectral hole is burned, the line broadening induced by well-defined temperature cycles is partly reversed over a period of several hours. From this we conclude that a rough structure is superimposed on the overall shape of the potential energy surface of the protein. By combining the hole burning and photon echo results, we construct a detailed image of this energy landscape, supporting the general concept of a structural hierarchy. More specifically, we show that the number of conformational substates in the lower hierarchical tiers is much lower than was previously anticipated and, in fact, is comparable to the number of taxonomic substates.

Silicon-etalon fiber-optic temperature sensor

A temperature sensor is described which consists of a silicon etalon that is sputtered directly onto the end of an optical fiber. A two-layer protective cap structure is used to improve the sensor's long-term stability. The sensor's output is wavelength encoded to provide a high degree of immunity from cable and connector effects. This sensor is extremely compact and potentially inexpensive

Modulated-splitting-ratio fiber-optic temperature sensor

A fiber-optic temperature sensor is described, which uses a small silicon beamsplitter whose splitting ratio varies as a function of temperature. A four-beam technique is used to measure the sensor's temperature-indicating splitting ratio. This referencing method provides a measurement that is largely independent of the transmission properties of the sensor's optical fiber link. A significant advantage of this sensor, relative to other fiber-optic sensors, is its high stability, which permits the fiber-optic components to be readily substituted, thereby simplifying the sensor's installation and maintenance

Crystal growth and thermodynamic investigation of Bi2M2+O4 (M = Pd, Cu)

Phase equilibria that are relevant for the growth of Bi2MO4 have been studied experimentally, and the ternary phase diagrams of Bi2O3–PdO2–Pd and Bi2O3–Cu2O–CuO and its isopleth section Bi2O3–CuO were redetermined. It is shown that every melting and crystallization process is always accompanied by a redox process at the phase boundary and that for both title compounds, the valence of the transition metal is lowered during melting. Vice versa, during crystal growth, O2 must be transported through the melt to the phase boundary. Based on these new insights provided by our thermodynamic studies, Bi2CuO4 single crystals with a length of up to 7 cm and a diameter of 6 mm were grown by the OFZ technique to be used for investigations of magnetic, electronic and thermal transport properties. The grown crystals were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, Laue, magnetization and specific heat measurements

Examination of construct validity and criterion-related validity of the german motor test in egyptian schoolchildren

Physical fitness is an indicator for children’s public health status. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the construct validity and the criterion-related validity of the German motor test (GMT) in Egyptian schoolchildren. A cross-sectional study was conducted with a total of 931 children aged 6 to 11 years (age: 9.1 ± 1.7 years) with 484 (52%) males and 447 (48%) females in grades one to five in Assiut city. The children’s physical fitness data were collected using GMT. GMT is designed to measure five health-related physical fitness components including speed, strength, coordination, endurance, and flexibility of children aged 6 to 18 years. The anthropometric data were collected based on three indicators: body height, body weight, and BMI. A confirmatory factor analysis was conducted with IBM SPSS AMOS 26.0 using full-information maximum likelihood. The results indicated an adequate fit (χ2 = 112.3, df = 20; p < 0.01; CFI = 0.956; RMSEA = 0.07). The χ2-statistic showed significant results, and the values for CFI and RMSEA showed a good fit. All loadings of the manifest variables on the first-order latent factors as well as loadings of the first-order latent factors on the second-order superordinate factor were significant. The results also showed strong construct validity in the components of conditioning abilities and moderate construct validity in the components of coordinative abilities. GMT proved to be a valid method and could be widely used on large-scale studies for health-related fitness monitoring in the Egyptian population