Real-Time Body Pose Recognition Using 2D or 3D Haarlets

This article presents a novel approach to markerless real-time pose recognition in a multicamera setup. Body pose is retrieved using example-based classification based on Haar wavelet-like features to allow for real-time pose recognition. Average Neighborhood Margin Maximization (ANMM) is introduced as a powerful new technique to train Haar-like features. The rotation invariant approach is implemented for both 2D classification based on silhouettes, and 3D classification based on visual hulls.     

Efficient Perturbations for Handling Geometric Degeneracies

This article defines input perturbations so that an algorithm designed under certain restrictions on the input can execute on arbitrary instances. A syntactic definition of perturbations is proposed and certain properties are specified under which an algorithm executed on perturbed input produces an output from which the exact answer can be recovered. A general framework is adopted for linear perturbations, which are efficient from the point of view of worst-case complexity. The deterministic scheme of Emiris and Canny [1] was the first efficient scheme and is extended in a consistent manner, most notably to the InSphere primitive. We introduce a variant scheme, applicable to a restricted class of algorithms, which is almost optimal in terms of algebraic as well as bit complexity. Neither scheme requires any symbolic computation and both are simple to use as illustrated by our implementation of a convex hull algorithm in arbitrary dimension. Empirical results and a concrete application in robotics are presented. Received June 9, 1994; revised March 22, 1995, March 5, 1996, and March 21, 1996.     

Chemical composition and in-vitro digestibility of biologically degraded peanut hulls

Changes in the chemical composition of peanut hulls inoculated with the white-rot fungus, Coriolus versicolor, the brown-rot fungus, Poria placenta, the imperfect mould, Trichoderma reesei, the bacterium Arthrobacter sp. KB-1, a mixture of the four organisms, and the natural microflora associated with freshly shelled hulls were monitored over a 90 day period. At the conclusion of the incubation period, the in-vitro digestibility of the hulls was determined. Although there was a substantial increase in protein content of all samples, there was drastic reduction in the in-vitro digestibility. Of the four components monitored, lignin content was found to be significantly negatively correlated with digestibility. These results suggest that pretreatment of peanut hulls with microorganisms alone will not increase the ruminant digestibility of the hulls.     

A Library for Self-Adjusting Computation

We present a Standard ML library for writing programs that automatically adjust to changes to their data. The library combines modifiable references and memoization to achieve efficient updates. We describe an implementation of the library and apply it to the problem of maintaining the convex hull of a dynamically changing set of points. Our experiments show that the overhead of the library is small, and that self-adjusting programs can adjust to small changes three-orders of magnitude faster than recomputing from scratch. The implementation relies on invariants that could be enforced by a modal type system. We show, using an existing language, abstract interfaces for modifiable references and for memoization that ensure the same safety properties without the use of modal types. The interface for memoization, however, does not scale well, suggesting a language-based approach to be preferable after all.     

Reliability assessment for ultimate longitudinal strength of ship hulls in composite materials

A method for reliability assessment of the ultimate longitudinal strength of ship hulls in composite materials is described. The ultimate longitudinal strength of a ship hull is predicted by a progressive collapse analysis based on load–average strain curves of stiffened composite panels that are developed by a progressive failure nonlinear finite element analysis. Sagging, hogging and slamming conditions are regarded as three extreme loading conditions and the corresponding limit state functions are established with an appropriate stochastic modeling of the basic design variables, such as the modeling uncertainties, the materials properties, the lamina thickness, the lamination angle, the still-water moment, the wave-induced moment, and the slamming-induced moment. The reliability estimation is achieved by an improved first-order reliability algorithm. The sensitivities of the reliability estimates with respect to model parameters are determined and those parameters with small sensitivity factors are replaced by deterministic values to improve the computational efficiency in the prediction of the ultimate longitudinal strength of ship hull. An all-composite ship is analyzed for demonstration.     

Chromate ion adsorption by agricultural by-products modified with dimethyloldihydroxyethylene urea and choline chloride

The use of cellulose-containing agricultural by-products modified with the cross-linking reagent dimethyloldihydroxyethylene urea (DMDHEU) and the quaternary amine, choline chloride, as anion exchange resins, has not been reported. The objective of the present study was to convert the readily available by-products, soybean hulls, sugarcane bagasse and corn stover to functional anion exchange resins using DMDHEU and choline chloride. Optimization of the modification method was achieved using soybean hulls as a substrate. The optimized method was additionally used to modify sugarcane bagasse and corn stover. Adsorption efficiency results with chromate ion showed that modification with both DMDHEU and choline chloride was required for the highest efficiencies. Adsorption capacities of the modified by-products were determined using chromate ion and found to be 1.97, 1.61 and 1.12 mmol/g for sugarcane bagasse, corn stover and soybean hulls, respectively. Competitive adsorption studies were conducted at 10 and 50 times US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) limits for arsenic, chromium and selenium in a simulated wastewater at pH 7. The results showed preferential adsorption of chromate ion over arsenate or selenate ion. Estimated product costs for the three resins ranged from $0.88/kg to $0.99/kg, which was considerably lower than the market costs for the two commercial anion exchange resins QA-52 and IRA-400 also used in this study. DMDHEU/choline chloride modification of the three by-products produced an anion exchange resin with a high capacity to adsorb chromate ion singly or competitively in the presence of other anions from aqueous solutions.     

Specific heats of cottonseed and its co-products

Most of the annual crop of cotton is harvested and stored for the entire crushing season until the new crop year begins. It is desirable to have specific heat data of agricultural materials so the engineer can manage the heat transfer problem associated with each crop during storage. Thermal properties of agricultural products, such as cottonseed and its oil mill co-products, are not commonly available. Partially because these materials are bulky and lack uniformity, their thermal properties are difficult to assess precisely. The highly sensitive and large-sample volume differential scanning calorimeter has made the precise determination of specific heat of agricultural material possible. This report describes a procedure used to obtain the specific heat of white cottonseed and its co-products as a function of temperature. The materials tested included cotton fiber, whole cottonseed, linters, hulls, meats, and meal. Specific heat values of these materials ranged from 0.32 to 0.6 cal/g/°C at 30°C and 0.42 to 0.72 cal/g/°C at 90°C. When these materials were dried, the values converged to 0.24 to 0.33 cal/g°C at 30°C.     

Predicting the coating condition on ships using ICCP system data

The condition of coatings on the metallic surface of the hull of a vessel changes over its lifetime due to the action of the sea, deterioration of the paint itself, damage caused by impacts, etc. Although increased current demand from an impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system can indicate the presence of damage, the location and extent is unknown. The position, size and the seriousness of the damage are important issues from mainly two points of view.

• Corrosion: If the hull of the structure is corroded, the ship works inefficiently and can become dangerous from the crack initiation viewpoint.
• Noisiness of the vessel: As the damage proliferates along the hull structure, the current flux from the anode to the cathode also increases. This increases the noise of the vessel and makes it more detectable to an enemy from the defence point of view.

The goal of this work is to find a reliable method to discover the state of the coating of a vessel by using the commonly available data of its system of cathodic protection, ICCP. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lactation performance and feeding behavior of dairy cows supplemented via automatic feeders with soy hulls or barley based pellets

The potential of soy hulls to replace barley grain in pellets supplemented to lactating cows was measured in automatic concentrate feeders (ACF). Thirty-six cows were divided into 2 equal groups and fed 1 of the 2 experimental pellet supplements individually for 7 wk. All cows were group-fed a basic mixture along the feeding lane (~64% of dietary DM) plus a pelleted additive containing 50% barley or soy hulls as barley replacer, fed individually to each cow via the ACF in 6 feeding windows. Extent and rate of in vitro DM digestibility were similar for both types of pellets; however, NDF content and digestibility were higher in the soy hulls pellets. Average number of rewarded cow visits at the ACF, pellets intake per meal, and accumulated intake of pellets (8.64 kg/d DM) were similar in the 2 experimental groups. Most pellets were consumed during day and night in the first 2 h after feeding windows were opened. Total visits per day in the ACF and the maximal interval between visits were similar for the 2 pellets, indicating similar attractiveness to the cow. Predicted intake of the basic mixture was similar in both groups (14.8 to 15.1 kg of DM/d). Higher milk fat content was observed in the soy hulls-fed cows, whereas higher milk protein content was found in the barley-fed cows. Milk yield was similar in both groups. Data suggest that replacement of barley pellets with soy hulls pellets may slightly enhance milk fat while reducing milk protein production for dairy herds using automatic milking systems.