Free Viewpoint Video Based on Stitching Technique

Image stitching is a technique used for creating one panoramic scene from multiple images. It is used in panoramic photography and video where the viewer can only scroll horizontally and vertically across the scene. However, stitching has not been used for creating free-viewpoint videos (FVV) where viewers can change their viewing points freely and smoothly while playing the video. current research, implemented FVV playing system using image stitching, this system allows users to enjoy the capability of moving their viewpoint freely and smoothly. To develop this system, user should capture MVV from different viewpoints and with appropriate region area for each pair of cameras then the system stitch the overlapped video to create stitched video/videos to display it in FVV playing system with applying freely and smoothly switching and interpolation of viewpoints over video playback. Current research evaluated the performance of video playing system based on system idea, system accuracy, smoothness, and user satisfaction. The results of evaluation have been very positive in most aspects

Critical powder loading and the rheology of nanosized cemented carbide with titanium carbide as grain growth inhibitor for injection molding

The purpose of this paper is to determine the critical powder loading of WC-Co and to study the effect of TiC powder on the rheological behavior of MIM feedstock. WC-TiC-6Co metal powder was taken as raw material. 60% (mass fraction) palm stearin and 40% low density polyethylene were employed as binders to prepare injection feedstock. Three feedstocks were prepared at different TiC % loadings of 0.5, 0.75, and 1.0 (by weight). A homogeneous metal powders is formed by using ball mill mixer and mixed together with binder system by using Brabender mixer. Based on the result obtained, it was concluded that feedstock with 0.75 wt. % TiC powder show a good pseudo-plastic behavior within acceptable ranges in MIM

Log-normal based mutation evolutionary programming technique for solving economic dispatch problem considering loss minimization

Electricity delivery to the consumer should be implemented in such a way that, cost is minimal, loss is minimal and voltage is within the acceptable limit. In general, the voltage level should be within 95% to 105% of the nominal limit in accordance to most international standard within the power engineering community. This phenomenon is addressed as secure voltage level. The dispatch of electricity is controlled by a dispatch body of the utility in a country. Economic dispatch requires a reliable optimization technique so loss is minimal. This paper presents Log-Normal Evolutionary Programming (LNEP) technique for solving Economic Dispatch (ED) problem considering loss minimization. Validations on the IEEE 6-bus and IEEE 26-bus test systems demonstrated that LNEP is feasible and convincing is addressing the issues. It was revealed that the proposed LNEP gives better solution to solve ED problem than the Classical EP and traditional load flow.Keywords: economic dispatch; evolutionary programming, optimizatio

Effect of beating process to soda anthraquinone pulp of oil palm male flower spikes fibre

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of beating process to the characteristics of pulp and paper produced from oil palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS). OPMFS pulp was prepared according to chemical Soda-AQ pulping process. 60 gsm handsheet of oil palm male flower spikes paper were prepared from OPMFS pulp with four different beating times which are O revolution, 1000 revolutions, 2000 revolutions and 3000 revolutions. All physical and mechanical characteristics were investigated according to T APPi and MS ISO standards. The results show that overall physical and mechanical characteristics of POMPS paper were influenced and enhanced by beating process between O until 3000 revolutions. This research demonstrate some potential characteristics of palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS) paper to be investigated as a newly explored non-wood based raw material for papermaking raw material for papermaking

Soda anthraquinone pulping of oil palm male flower spikes

This study was carried out to investigate the effect of beating process to the characteristics of pulp and paper produced from oil palm oil male flower spikes (OPMFS). OPMFS pulp was prepared according to chemical Soda-AQ pulping process. 60 gsm papersheet of oil palm male flower spiked were prepared from unbeaten and unbleached OPMFS Soda-AQ pulp. All optical, physical and mechanical characteristics were investigated according to TAPPI and MS ISO standards. OPMFS pulp recorded value of 6.42 s, 353 ml, 76.5 %, 36.7 % and 9.35 for drainage time, freeness, moisture content, screened yield percentage and Kappa number respectively..

Compact structure representation in discovering frequent patterns for association rules

Frequent pattern mining is a key problem in important data mining applications, such as the discovery of association rules, strong rules and episodes. Structure used in typical algorithms for solving this problem operate in several database scans and a large number of candidate generation. This paper presents a compact structure representation called Flex-tree in discovering frequent patterns for association rules. Flex-tree structure is a lexicographic tree which finds frequent patterns by using depth first search strategy. Efficiency of mining is achieved with one scan of database instead of repeated database passes done in other methods and avoid the costly generation of large numbers of candidate sets, which dramatically reduces the search space

Optimization of injection molding parameters for WC-TaC-6Co

The main purpose of this paper is to optimize the injection moulding parameters of WC-Co with TaC as Grain Growth Inhibitor (GGI), through Design of Experiment – Taguchi Method. The selected responses that need to be controlled are shrinkage and warpage. The parameters that were taken into considerations were GGI percentage, injection temperature, injection pressure and injection speed. In this study, L9 (34) orthogonal array from Taguchi Method was chosen as experimental setup and the responses were analyzed using Minitab version 16. Best parameters combinations chosen are, GGI (0.8 wt. % and 1.2 wt. %), injection temperature (145°C), injection pressure (45% and 55%) and injection speed (40%) for minimal shrinkage and warpage. Based on these findings, it is concluded that by controlling the optimum parameter setting, best quality of desired product can be easily achieved and maintained throughout the process

Splitting tensile and pullout behavior of synthetic wastes as fiber-reinforced concrete

Plastic bottles and waste wires are the most commonly discarded synthetic wastes that contribute to environmental pollution. Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles act as one of the contributors to environmental pollution. One solution to environmental pollution includes recycling plastic bottle wastes as synthetic fibers and incorporating them into concrete. Therefore, pullout strengths of synthetic fibers in a concrete matrix should be investigated by conducting splitting tensile and pullout tests. Experiments of the present study used fibers from ring-shaped PET bottles with widths of 5 and 10 mm. Irregularly shaped PET bottles with 10–15 mm size, waste wires measuring 55 mm in length, and manufactured synthetic macro-fibers were also used in comparative analysis. Results indicate that an increase in fiber volume improves tensile strength of concrete. Incorporation of high-volume fiber with concrete results in a substantial amount of fibers bridging and crossing fractured sections, thereby activating failure resistance mechanisms. In comparison with irregularly shaped PET and waste wire fibers, ring-shaped fibers performed better as they are mainly designed to activate fiber yielding instead of fiber pullout. The load energy required to debond fibers and the concrete matrix was high when the surface contact area was large in comparison with that when a small surface contact area was considered. Fibers with small surface contact area easily slip under tensile stress. Thus, the surface contact area of fibers with concrete matrix allows good frictional resistance against pullout or tensile loa

Combined versus single locoregional therapy in the treatment of unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma

AbstractIntroductionSurgical and locoregional therapies are different options in HCC treatment, several locoregional techniques are used.PurposeThis study aimed to assess the effectiveness of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), radiofrequency ablation (RFA) and combined therapy, in HCC management.Materials and methodsThe study was conducted at our University Hospital, from August 2011 to February 2013. It included 60 patients with HCC (40 males and 20 females, age ranged between 45 and 70years). Patients were classified into 3 groups, group 1 treated with TACE, group 2 with RFA, and group 3 with both techniques. Response was assessed by triphasic CT and alpha fetoprotein. Patients were classified into good and poor responders after one and six months and one year. Patients’ survival and incidence of recurrence were recorded.ResultsThe percentage of good responders was greater with combined therapy than with TACE and RFA (90%, 70%, and 60% respectively). The overall survival was 75% and the recurrence free survival was 60% in TACE, 90%, and 45% in RFA and 95% and 90% in combined therapy respectively.ConclusionCombined therapy is superior regarding good response, overall survival, and free recurrence survival than either TACE or RFA alone

Development of a Quadruped Crawling Robot Prototype

Although wheeled robots are commonly used, it has limited ability to move to any terrains at ease. They suffer from difficulties when travelling over uneven and rough terrains. Legged robots have an advantage over the wheeled robots in that they are suited for such situations. The implementation of legged robots normally requires many motors to move every joint in a robot leg. Additional motor will increase the construction cost, robot weight, and the demand for power supply. Moreover, robot simulation becomes more complex. This research is related to the design and development of a cost effective quadruped autonomous robot. The robot can moves according to a unique pattern using three servo motors as its actuator in each of its leg. The design of the robot is firstly made with CAD program and then the structure of the body and the leg is analyzed in order to find a correct balance and to make sure the servo motors are capable to move the robot. A prototype of the quadruped robot is fabricated and tested thoroughly. Experimental studies are carried out to test its stability issues when the robot moves. The robot is capable of moving forward, backward, turn left and turn right by crawling its way. A microcontroller is used as the brain of the robot assisted by two analog distance sensor for better obstacle sensing. It uses a rechargeable battery as the power supply for the microcontroller. The servo motors on the other hand are powered by another rechargeable battery. At the end of this research, a working prototype has been developed