This volume presents the contributions of the fifth International Conference on Advancements of Medicine and Health Care through Technology (Meditech 2016), held in in Cluj-Napoka, Romania. The papers of this Proceedings volume present new developments in - Health Care Technology, - Medical Devices, Measurement and Instrumentation, - Medical Imaging, Image and Signal Processing, - Modeling and Simulation, - Molecular Bioengineering, - Biomechanics.

This book presents a technology to help speech-, hearing- and sight-impaired people. It explains how they will benefit from an enhancement in their ability to recognize and produce speech or to detect sounds in their surroundings. Additionally, it is considered how sound-based assistive technology might be applied to the areas of speech recognition, speech synthesis, environmental recognition, virtual reality and robots. The primary focus of this book is to provide an understanding of both the methodology and basic concepts of assistive technology rather than listing the variety of assistive devices developed. This book presents a number of different topics which are sufficiently independent from one another that the reader may begin at any chapter without lacking background information. Much of the research quoted in this book was conducted in the author's laboratories at Hokkaido University and University of Tokyo. This book offers the reader a better understanding of a number of unsolved problems that still persist in the field of sound-based assistive technology.

This book gives a broad look at both fundamental networking technology and new areas that support it and use it. It is a concise introduction to the most prominent, recent technological topics in computer networking. Topics include network technology such as wired and wireless networks, enabling technologies such as data centers, software defined networking, cloud and grid computing and applications such as networks on chips, space networking and network security. The accessible writing style and non-mathematical treatment makes this a useful book for the student, network and communications engineer, computer scientist and IT professional.

This volume contains selected and expanded contributions presented at the 3rd Symposium on Space Optical Instruments and Applications in Beijing, China June 28 - 29, 2016. This conference series is organised by the Sino-Holland Space Optical Instruments Laboratory, a cooperation platform between China and the Netherlands. The symposium focused on key technological problems of optical instruments and their applications in a space context. It covered the latest developments, experiments and results regarding theory, instrumentation and applications in space optics. The book is split across five topical sections. The first section covers space optical remote sensing system design, the second advanced optical system design, the third remote sensor calibration and measurement. Remote sensing data processing and information extraction is then presented, followed by a final section on remote sensing data applications.

This book presents the latest advances in remote-sensing and geographic information systems and applications. It is divided into four parts, focusing on Airborne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and Optical Measurements of Forests; Individual Tree Modelling; Landscape Scene Modelling; and Forest Eco-system Modelling. Given the scope of its coverage, the book offers a valuable resource for students, researchers, practitioners, and educators interested in remote sensing and geographic information systems and applications.

This book generalizes and extends the available theory in robust and decentralized hypothesis testing. In particular, it presents a robust test for modeling errors which is independent from the assumptions that a sufficiently large number of samples is available, and that the distance is the KL-divergence. Here, the distance can be chosen from a much general model, which includes the KL-divergence as a very special case. This is then extended by various means. A minimax robust test that is robust against both outliers as well as modeling errors is presented. Minimax robustness properties of the given tests are also explicitly proven for fixed sample size and sequential probability ratio tests. The theory of robust detection is extended to robust estimation and the theory of robust distributed detection is extended to classes of distributions, which are not necessarily stochastically bounded. It is shown that the quantization functions for the decision rules can also be chosen as non-monotone. Finally, the book describes the derivation of theoretical bounds in minimax decentralized hypothesis testing, which have not yet been known. As a timely report on the state-of-the-art in robust hypothesis testing, this book is mainly intended for postgraduates and researchers in the field of electrical and electronic engineering, statistics and applied probability. Moreover, it may be of interest for students and researchers working in the field of classification, pattern recognition and cognitive radio.

This book discusses efficient prediction techniques for the current state-of-the-art High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard, focusing on the compression of a wide range of video signals, such as 3D video, Light Fields and natural images. The authors begin with a review of the state-of-the-art predictive coding methods and compression technologies for both 2D and 3D multimedia contents, which provides a good starting point for new researchers in the field of image and video compression. New prediction techniques that go beyond the standardized compression technologies are then presented and discussed. In the context of 3D video, the authors describe a new predictive algorithm for the compression of depth maps, which combines intra-directional prediction, with flexible block partitioning and linear residue fitting. New approaches are described for the compression of Light Field and still images, which enforce sparsity constraints on linear models. The Locally Linear Embedding-based prediction method is investigated for compression of Light Field images based on the HEVC technology. A new linear prediction method using sparse constraints is also described, enabling improved coding performance of the HEVC standard, particularly for images with complex textures based on repeated structures. Finally, the authors present a new, generalized intra-prediction framework for the HEVC standard, which unifies the directional prediction methods used in the current video compression standards, with linear prediction methods using sparse constraints. Experimental results for the compression of natural images are provided, demonstrating the advantage of the unified prediction framework over the traditional directional prediction modes used in HEVC standard.

This two-volume book gathers the proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Soft Computing for Problem Solving (SocProS 2016), offering a collection of research papers presented during the conference at Thapar University, Patiala, India. Providing a veritable treasure trove for scientists and researchers working in the field of soft computing, it highlights the latest developments in the broad area of "Computational Intelligence" and explores both theoretical and practical aspects using fuzzy logic, artificial neural networks, evolutionary algorithms, swarm intelligence, soft computing, computational intelligence, etc.

This book gathers contributions presented at the 9th Workshop on Cyclostationary Systems and Their Applications, held in Grodek nad Dunajcem, Poland in February 2016. It includes both theory-oriented and practice-oriented chapters. The former focus on heavy-tailed time series and processes, PAR models, rational spectra for PARMA processes, covariance invariant analysis, change point problems, and subsampling for time series, as well as the fraction-of-time approach, GARMA models and weak dependence. In turn, the latter report on case studies of various mechanical systems, and on stochastic and statistical methods, especially in the context of damage detection. The book provides students, researchers and professionals with a timely guide to cyclostationary systems, nonstationary processes and relevant engineering applications.

This book introduces key modulation and predistortion techniques for approaching power and spectrum-efficient transmission for wireless communication systems. The book presents a combination of theoretical principles, practical implementations, and actual tests. It focuses on power and spectrally efficient modulation and transmission techniques in the portable wireless communication systems, and introduces currently developed and designed RF transceivers in the latest wireless markets. Most materials, design examples, and design strategies used are based on the author's two decades of work in the digital communication fields, especially in the areas of the digital modulations, demodulations, digital signal processing, and linearization of power amplifiers. The applications of these practical products and equipment cover the satellite communications on earth station systems, microwave communication systems, 2G GSM and 3G WCDMA mobile communication systems, and 802.11 WLAN systems.>

This book describes a new type of passive electronic components, called fractal elements, from a theoretical and practical point of view. The authors discuss in detail the physical implementation and design of fractal devices for application in fractional-order signal processing and systems. The concepts of fractals and fractal signals are explained, as well as the fundamentals of fractional calculus. Several implementations of fractional impedances are discussed, along with comparison of their performance characteristics. Details of design, schematics, fundamental techniques and implementation of RC-based fractal elements are provided.

This volume provides expert coverage of the state-of-the-art in sol-gel materials for functional applications in energy, environment and electronics. The use of sol-gel technology has become a hotbed for cutting edge developments in many fields due to the accessibility of advanced materials through low energy processes. The book offers a broad view of this growing research area from basic science through high-level applications with the potential for commercialization and industrial use. Taking an integrated approach, expert chapters present a wide range of topics, from photocatalysts, solar cells and optics, to thin films and materials for energy storage and conversion, demonstrating the combined use of chemistry, physics, materials science and engineering in the search for solutions to some of the most challenging problems of our time.

This book presents the recent progress in the field of nanophotonics. It contains review-like chapters focusing on various but mutually related topics in nanophotonics written by the world's leading scientists. Following the elaboration of the idea of nanophotonics, much theoretical and experimental work has been carried out, and several novel photonic devices, high-resolution fabrication, highly efficient energy conversion, and novel information processing have been developed in these years. Novel theoretical models describing the nanometric light-matter interaction, nonequilibrium statistical mechanical models for photon breeding processes and near-field-assisted chemical reactions as well as light-matter interaction are also explained in this book. It describes dressed photon technology and its applications, including implementation of nanophotonic devices and systems, fabrication methods and performance characteristics of ultrathin, ultraflexible organic light-emitting diodes, organic solar cells and organic transistors.

This book covers the theoretical background, experimental methods and implementation details to engineer for communication and imaging application, terahertz devices using metamaterials, in mainstream semiconductor foundry processes. This book will provide engineers and physicists an authoritative reference to construct such devices with minimal background. The authors describe the design and construction of electromagnetic (EM) devices for terahertz frequencies (108-1010 cycles/sec) using artificial materials that are a fraction of the wavelength of the incident EM wave, resulting in an effective electric and magnetic properties (permittivity and permeability) that are unavailable in natural materials.

This book presents a systematic study of multivariate wavelet frames with matrix dilation, in particular, orthogonal and bi-orthogonal bases, which are a special case of frames. Further, it provides algorithmic methods for the construction of dual and tight wavelet frames with a desirable approximation order, namely compactly supported wavelet frames, which are commonly required by engineers. It particularly focuses on methods of constructing them. Wavelet bases and frames are actively used in numerous applications such as audio and graphic signal processing, compression and transmission of information. They are especially useful in image recovery from incomplete observed data due to the redundancy of frame systems. The construction of multivariate wavelet frames, especially bases, with desirable properties remains a challenging problem as although a general scheme of construction is well known, its practical implementation in the multidimensional setting is difficult. Another important feature of wavelet is symmetry. Different kinds of wavelet symmetry are required in various applications, since they preserve linear phase properties and also allow symmetric boundary conditions in wavelet algorithms, which normally deliver better performance. The authors discuss how to provide H-symmetry, where H is an arbitrary symmetry group, for wavelet bases and frames. The book also studies so-called frame-like wavelet systems, which preserve many important properties of frames and can often be used in their place, as well as their approximation properties. The matrix method of computing the regularity of refinable function from the univariate case is extended to multivariate refinement equations with arbitrary dilation matrices. This makes it possible to find the exact values of the Hoelder exponent of refinable functions and to make a very refine analysis of their moduli of continuity.

This thesis presents the fundamental research and latest findings on novel flexible/wearable photovoltaic technology, and comprehensively summarizes the rapid developments in flexible photovoltaics, from traditional planar solar cells to fiber solar cells. It discusses the rational design of fiber solar cell materials, electrodes and devices, as well as critical factors including cost, efficiency, flexibility and stability . Furthermore, it addresses fundamental theoretical principles and novel fabrication technologies and their potential applications. The book provides practical information for university researchers and graduate students interested in flexible fiber photovoltaics, and inspires them to design other novel flexible/wearable electronics and textiles.

This book presents essential perspectives on digital convolutions in wireless communications systems and illustrates their corresponding efficient real-time field-programmable gate array (FPGA) implementations. FPGAs or generic all programmable devices will soon become widespread, serving as the "brains" of all types of real-time smart signal processing systems, like smart networks, smart homes and smart cities. The book examines digital convolution by bringing together the following main elements: the fundamental theory behind the mathematical formulae together with corresponding physical phenomena; virtualized algorithm simulation together with benchmark real-time FPGA implementations; and detailed, state-of-the-art case studies on wireless applications, including popular linear convolution in digital front ends (DFEs); nonlinear convolution in digital pre-distortion (DPD) enabled high-efficiency wireless RF transceivers; and fast linear convolution in massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. After reading this book, students and professionals will be able to: * Understand digital convolution with inside-out information: discover what convolution is, why it is important and how it works. * Enhance their FPGA design skills, i.e., enhance their FPGA-related prototyping capability with model-based hands-on examples. * Rapidly expand their digital signal processing (DSP) blocks: to examine how to rapidly and efficiently create (DSP) functional blocks on a programmable FPGA chip as a reusable intellectual property (IP) core. * Upgrade their expertise as both "thinkers" and "doers": minimize/close the gap between mathematical equations and FPGA implementations for existing and emerging wireless applications.

This book discusses the contribution of articulatory and excitation source information in discriminating sound units. The authors focus on excitation source component of speech -- and the dynamics of various articulators during speech production -- for enhancement of speech recognition (SR) performance. Speech recognition is analyzed for read, extempore, and conversation modes of speech. Five groups of articulatory features (AFs) are explored for speech recognition, in addition to conventional spectral features. Each chapter provides the motivation for exploring the specific feature for SR task, discusses the methods to extract those features, and finally suggests appropriate models to capture the sound unit specific knowledge from the proposed features. The authors close by discussing various combinations of spectral, articulatory and source features, and the desired models to enhance the performance of SR systems.

Based on a detailed analysis of the signal model of the moving target, this thesis focuses on the theories and applications of ground moving target indicator (GMTI) and ground moving target imaging (GMTIm) algorithms in synthetic aperture radar/ ground moving target indicator (SAR/GMTI mode), wide-area surveillance ground moving target indication (WAS-GMTI) mode and frequency modulated continuous wave synthetic aperture radar (FMCW SAR) systems. The proposed algorithms can not only indicate and image fast-moving targets, but are also effective in the context of slow-moving target processing. The system design scheme combines the mechanical scanning mode and the airborne SAR system, while the azimuth moving target indication algorithm employs the additional range walk migration induced by FMCW SAR systems. In addition, the non-ideal errors that deteriorate the performance of GMTIm algorithms in real SAR data processing are discussed, and suitable compensation methods are provided.>

This book describes the development of a new low-cost medium wavelength IR (MWIR) monolithic imager technology for high-speed uncooled industrial applications. It takes the baton on the latest technological advances in the field of vapor phase deposition (VPD) PbSe-based MWIR detection accomplished by the industrial partner NIT S.L., adding fundamental knowledge on the investigation of novel VLSI analog and mixed-signal design techniques at circuit and system levels for the development of the readout integrated device attached to the detector. In order to fulfill the operational requirements of VPD PbSe, this work proposes null inter-pixel crosstalk vision sensor architectures based on a digital-only focal plane array (FPA) of configurable pixel sensors. Each digital pixel sensor (DPS) cell is equipped with fast communication modules, self-biasing, offset cancellation, analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and fixed pattern noise (FPN) correction. In-pixel power consumption is minimized by the use of comprehensive MOSFET subthreshold operation.

This book highlights the various topics in which luminescence and electrochemistry are intimately coupled. The topic of this book is clearly at the frontier between several scientific domains involving physics, chemistry and biology. Applications in these various fields naturally also need to be mentioned, especially concerning displays and advanced investigation techniques in analytical chemistry or for biomedical issues.

Revised and updated, this concise new edition of the pioneering book on multidimensional signal processing is ideal for a new generation of students. Multidimensional systems or m-D systems are the necessary mathematical background for modern digital image processing with applications in biomedicine, X-ray technology and satellite communications. Serving as a firm basis for graduate engineering students and researchers seeking applications in mathematical theories, this edition eschews detailed mathematical theory not useful to students. Presentation of the theory has been revised to make it more readable for students, and introduce some new topics that are emerging as multidimensional DSP topics in the interdisciplinary fields of image processing. New topics include Groebner bases, wavelets, and filter banks.

This edited volume contains technical contributions in the field of computer vision and image processing presented at the First International Conference on Computer Vision and Image Processing (CVIP 2016). The contributions are thematically divided based on their relation to operations at the lower, middle and higher levels of vision systems, and their applications. The technical contributions in the areas of sensors, acquisition, visualization and enhancement are classified as related to low-level operations. They discuss various modern topics - reconfigurable image system architecture, Scheimpflug camera calibration, real-time autofocusing, climate visualization, tone mapping, super-resolution and image resizing. The technical contributions in the areas of segmentation and retrieval are classified as related to mid-level operations. They discuss some state-of-the-art techniques - non-rigid image registration, iterative image partitioning, egocentric object detection and video shot boundary detection. The technical contributions in the areas of classification and retrieval are categorized as related to high-level operations. They discuss some state-of-the-art approaches - extreme learning machines, and target, gesture and action recognition. A non-regularized state preserving extreme learning machine is presented for natural scene classification. An algorithm for human action recognition through dynamic frame warping based on depth cues is given. Target recognition in night vision through convolutional neural network is also presented. Use of convolutional neural network in detecting static hand gesture is also discussed. Finally, the technical contributions in the areas of surveillance, coding and data security, and biometrics and document processing are considered as applications of computer vision and image processing. They discuss some contemporary applications. A few of them are a system for tackling blind curves, a quick reaction target acquisition and tracking system, an algorithm to detect for copy-move forgery based on circle block, a novel visual secret sharing scheme using affine cipher and image interleaving, a finger knuckle print recognition system based on wavelet and Gabor filtering, and a palmprint recognition based on minutiae quadruplets.

This is the second volume in a trilogy on modern Signal Processing. The three books provide a concise exposition of signal processing topics, and a guide to support individual practical exploration based on MATLAB programs. This second book focuses on recent developments in response to the demands of new digital technologies. It is divided into two parts: the first part includes four chapters on the decomposition and recovery of signals, with special emphasis on images. In turn, the second part includes three chapters and addresses important data-based actions, such as adaptive filtering, experimental modeling, and classification.

This book presents practical optimization techniques used in image processing and computer vision problems. Ill-posed problems are introduced and used as examples to show how each type of problem is related to typical image processing and computer vision problems. Unconstrained optimization gives the best solution based on numerical minimization of a single, scalar-valued objective function or cost function. Unconstrained optimization problems have been intensively studied, and many algorithms and tools have been developed to solve them. Most practical optimization problems, however, arise with a set of constraints. Typical examples of constraints include: (i) pre-specified pixel intensity range, (ii) smoothness or correlation with neighboring information, (iii) existence on a certain contour of lines or curves, and (iv) given statistical or spectral characteristics of the solution. Regularized optimization is a special method used to solve a class of constrained optimization problems. The term regularization refers to the transformation of an objective function with constraints into a different objective function, automatically reflecting constraints in the unconstrained minimization process. Because of its simplicity and efficiency, regularized optimization has many application areas, such as image restoration, image reconstruction, optical flow estimation, etc. Optimization plays a major role in a wide variety of theories for image processing and computer vision. Various optimization techniques are used at different levels for these problems, and this volume summarizes and explains these techniques as applied to image processing and computer vision.