In ultrasound imaging and video visual perception is hindered by speckle multiplicative noise that degrades the quality. Noise reduction is therefore essential for improving the visual observation quality or as a pre-processing step for further automated analysis, such as image/video segmentation, texture analysis and encoding in ultrasound imaging and video. The goal of the first book (book 1 of 2 books) was to introduce the problem of speckle in ultrasound image and video as well as the theoretical background, algorithmic steps, and the MatlabTM for the following group of despeckle filters: linear despeckle filtering, non-linear despeckle filtering, diffusion despeckle filtering, and wavelet despeckle filtering. The goal of this book (book 2 of 2 books) is to demonstrate the use of a comparative evaluation framework based on these despeckle filters (introduced on book 1) on cardiovascular ultrasound image and video processing and analysis. More specifically, the despeckle filtering evaluation framework is based on texture analysis, image quality evaluation metrics, and visual evaluation by experts. This framework is applied in cardiovascular ultrasound image/video processing on the tasks of segmentation and structural measurements, texture analysis for differentiating between two classes (i.e. normal vs disease) and for efficient encoding for mobile applications. It is shown that despeckle noise reduction improved segmentation and measurement (of tissue structure investigated), increased the texture feature distance between normal and abnormal tissue, improved image/video quality evaluation and perception and produced significantly lower bitrates in video encoding. Furthermore, in order to facilitate further applications we have developed in MATLABTM two different toolboxes that integrate image (IDF) and video (VDF) despeckle filtering, texture analysis, and image and video quality evaluation metrics. The code for these toolsets is open source and these are available to download complementary to the two monographs.

This book documents the recent vivid developments in the research field of ultrashort intense light pulses for probing and controlling ultrafast dynamics. The recent fascinating results in studying and controlling ultrafast dynamics in ever more complicated systems such as (bio-)molecules and structures of meso- to macroscopic sizes on ever shorter time-scales are presented. The book is written by some of the most eminent experimental and theoretical experts in the field. It covers the new groundbreaking research directions that were opened by the availability of new light sources such as fully controlled intense laser fields with durations down to a single oscillation cycle, short-wavelength laser-driven attosecond pulses and intense X-ray pulses from the upcoming free electron lasers. These light sources allowed the investigation of dynamics in atoms, molecules, clusters, on surfaces and very recently also in nanostructures and solids in new regimes of parameters which, in turn, led to the identification of completely new dynamics and methods for controlling it. Example topics covered by this book include the study of ultrafast processes in large molecules using attosecond pulses, control of ultrafast electron dynamics in solids with shaped femtosecond laser pulses, light-driven ultrafast plasmonic processes on surfaces and in nanostructures as well as research on atomic and molecular systems under intense X-ray radiation. This book is equally helpful for people who would like to step into this field (e.g. young researchers), for whom it provides a broad introduction, as well as for already experienced researchers who may enjoy the exhaustive discussion that covers the research on essentially all currently studied objects and with all available ultrafast pulse sources.

This book is a collection of papers presented by renowned researchers, keynote speakers, and academicians in the International Conference on VLSI, Communication, Analog Designs, Signals & Systems and Networking (VCASAN-2013), organized by B.N.M. Institute of Technology, Bangalore, India during July 17-19, 2013. The book provides global trends in cutting-edge technologies in electronics and communication engineering. The content of the book is useful to engineers, researchers, and academicians as well as industry professionals.

This book provides a comprehensive view of the contemporary methods for quantum-light engineering. In particular, it addresses different technological branches and therefore allows the reader to quickly identify the best technology - application match. Non-classical light is a versatile tool, proven to be an intrinsic part of various quantum technologies. Its historical significance has made it the subject of many text books written both from theoretical and experimental point of view. This book takes another perspective by giving an insight to modern technologies used to generate and manipulate quantum light.

The book provides readers with a snapshot of recent research and technological trends in the field of condition monitoring of machinery working under a broad range of operating conditions. Each chapter, accepted after a rigorous peer-review process, reports on an original piece of work presented and discussed at the 4th International Conference on Condition Monitoring of Machinery in Non-stationary Operations, CMMNO 2014, held on December 15-16, 2014, in Lyon, France. The contributions have been grouped into three different sections according to the main subfield (signal processing, data mining or condition monitoring techniques) they are related to. The book includes both theoretical developments as well as a number of industrial case studies, in different areas including, but not limited to: noise and vibration; vibro-acoustic diagnosis; signal processing techniques; diagnostic data analysis; instantaneous speed identification; monitoring and diagnostic systems; and dynamic and fault modeling. This book not only provides a valuable resource for both academics and professionals in the field of condition monitoring, it also aims at facilitating communication and collaboration between the two groups.

This thesis focuses on the fundamental problem of characterising partially coherent beams. The book describes several non-interferometric methods based on phase-space tomography for recovering the spatial coherence information of optical beams. In the context of optical beams, partially coherent light provides numerous advantages over coherent light. From microscopy to optical communications, there are many disciplines that benefit from using partially coherent beams. However, their range of applications currently remains limited due to the complexity of extracting information. In addition to providing a feasible experimental solution for the general case, the book explores several situations in which beam symmetries are exploited to simplify the information extraction process. Each characterisation method is accompanied by a corresponding theoretical explanation and a thorough description of experimental examples.

This book highlights the most recent advances in nano science from leading researchers in Ukraine, Europe and beyond. It features contributions from participants of the 3rd International Summer School "Nanotechnology: From Fundamental Research to Innovations," held in Yaremche, Ukraine on August 23-26, 2014 and of the 2nd International NANO-2014 Conference, held in Lviv, Ukraine on August 27-30, 2014. These events took place within the framework of the European Commission FP7 project Nano twinning and were organized jointly by the Institute of Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, University of Tartu (Estonia), University of Turin (Italy) and Pierre and Marie Curie University (France). Internationally recognized experts from a wide range of universities and research institutions share their knowledge and key results in the areas of nanocomposites and nanomaterials, nanostructured surfaces, microscopy of nano-objects, nano-optics and nano photonics, nano plasmonics, nano chemistry, nano biotechnology and surface enhanced spectroscopy. Covers nanocomposites, nano structured surfaces and nano biotechnology Presents state-of-the-art advances in nano plasmonics, nanomaterials characterization and surface enhanced spectroscopy Represents essential reading for advanced undergraduate and graduate students through practicing university and industry researchers

Since publication of the initial papers in 2006, compressed sensing has captured the imagination of the international signal processing community, and the mathematical foundations are nowadays quite well understood. Parallel to the progress in mathematics, the potential applications of compressed sensing have been explored by many international groups of, in particular, engineers and applied mathematicians, achieving very promising advances in various areas such as communication theory, imaging sciences, optics, radar technology, sensor networks, or tomography. Since many applications have reached a mature state, the research center MATHEON in Berlin focusing on "Mathematics for Key Technologies", invited leading researchers on applications of compressed sensing from mathematics, computer science, and engineering to the "MATHEON Workshop 2013: Compressed Sensing and its Applications" in December 2013. It was the first workshop specifically focusing on the applications of compressed sensing. This book features contributions by the plenary and invited speakers of this workshop. To make this book accessible for those unfamiliar with compressed sensing, the book will not only contain chapters on various applications of compressed sensing written by plenary and invited speakers, but will also provide a general introduction into compressed sensing. The book is aimed at both graduate students and researchers in the areas of applied mathematics, computer science, and engineering as well as other applied scientists interested in the potential and applications of the novel methodology of compressed sensing. For those readers who are not already familiar with compressed sensing, an introduction to the basics of this theory will be included.

"Adaptive Digital Filters" presents an important discipline applied to the domain of speech processing. The book first makes the reader acquainted with the basic terms of filtering and adaptive filtering, before introducing the field of advanced modern algorithms, some of which are contributed by the authors themselves. Working in the field of adaptive signal processing requires the use of complex mathematical tools. The book offers a detailed presentation of the mathematical models that is clear and consistent, an approach that allows everyone with a college level of mathematics knowledge to successfully follow the mathematical derivations and descriptions of algorithms. The algorithms are presented in flow charts, which facilitates their practical implementation. The book presents many experimental results and treats the aspects of practical application of adaptive filtering in real systems, making it a valuable resource for both undergraduate and graduate students, and for all others interested in mastering this important field.

This volume publishes the proceedings of the WACBE World Congress on Bioengineering 2015 (WACBE 2015), which was be held in Singapore, from 6 to 8 July 2015. The World Association for Chinese Biomedical Engineers (WACBE) organizes this World Congress biannually. Our past congresses have brought together many biomedical engineers from over the world to share their experiences and views on the future development of biomedical engineering. The 7th WACBE World Congress on Bioengineering 2015 in Singapore continued to offer such a networking platform for all biomedical engineers. Hosted by the Biomedical Engineering Society (Singapore) and the Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, the congress covered all related areas in bioengineering.

This book presents how multimedia data analysis, information retrieval and indexing are central for comprehensive, personalized, adaptive quality care and the prolongation of independent living at home. With sophisticated technologies in monitoring, diagnosis, and treatment, multimodal data plays an increasingly central role in healthcare. Experts in computer vision, image processing, medical imaging, biomedical engineering, medical informatics, physical education and motor control, visual learning, nursing and human sciences, information retrieval, content based image retrieval, eHealth, information fusion, multimedia communications and human computer interaction come together to provide a thorough overview of multimedia analysis in medicine and daily life.

This book examines the signal processing perspective in haptic teleoperation systems. This text covers the topics of prediction, estimation, architecture, data compression and error correction that can be applied to haptic teleoperation systems. The authors begin with an overview of haptic teleoperation systems, then look at a Bayesian approach to haptic teleoperation systems. They move onto a discussion of haptic data compression, haptic data digitization and forward error correction.

This volume presents various aspects of non-integer order systems, also known as fractional systems, which have recently attracted an increasing attention in the scientific community of systems science, applied mathematics, control theory. Non-integer systems have become relevant for many fields of science and technology exemplified by the modeling of signal transmission, electric noise, dielectric polarization, heat transfer, electrochemical reactions, thermal processes, acoustics, etc. The content is divided into six parts, every of which considers one of the currently relevant problems. In the first part the Realization problem is discussed, with a special focus on positive systems. The second part considers stability of certain classes of non-integer order systems with and without delays. The third part is focused on such important aspects as controllability, observability and optimization especially in discrete time. The fourth part is focused on distributed systems where non-integer calculus leads to new and interesting results. The next part considers problems of solutions and approximations of non-integer order equations and systems. The final and most extensive part is devoted to applications. Problems from mechatronics, biomedical engineering, robotics and others are all analyzed and solved with tools from fractional systems. This volume came to fruition thanks to high level of talks and interesting discussions at RRNR 2013 - 5th Conference on Non-integer Order Calculus and its Applications that took place at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, Poland, which was organized by the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics, Computer Science and Biomedical Engineering.

This book reports on the application of advanced models of the human binaural hearing system in modern technology, among others, in the following areas: binaural analysis of aural scenes, binaural de-reverberation, binaural quality assessment of audio channels, loudspeakers and performance spaces, binaural perceptual coding, binaural processing in hearing aids and cochlea implants, binaural systems in robots, binaural/tactile human-machine interfaces, speech-intelligibility prediction in rooms and/or multi-speaker scenarios. An introduction to binaural modeling and an outlook to the future are provided. Further, the book features a MATLAB toolbox to enable readers to construct their own dedicated binaural models on demand.

This authored monograph presents key aspects of signal processing analysis in the biomedical arena. Unlike wireless communication systems, biological entities produce signals with underlying nonlinear, chaotic nature that elude classification using the standard signal processing techniques, which have been developed over the past several decades for dealing primarily with standard communication systems. This book separates what is random from that which appears to be random and yet is truly deterministic with random appearance. At its core, this work gives the reader a perspective on biomedical signals and the means to classify and process such signals. In particular, a review of random processes along with means to assess the behavior of random signals is also provided. The book also includes a general discussion of biological signals in order to demonstrate the inefficacy of the well-known techniques to correctly extract meaningful information from such signals. Finally, a thorough discussion of recently proposed signal processing tools and methods for addressing biological signals is included. The target audience primarily comprises researchers and expert practitioners but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

This book introduces a new cyberphysical system that combines clinical and basic neuroscience research with advanced data analysis and medical management tools for developing novel applications for the management of epilepsy. The authors describe the algorithms and architectures needed to provide ambulatory, diagnostic and long-term monitoring services, through multi parametric data collection. Readers will see how to achieve in-hospital quality standards, addressing conventional "routine" clinic-based service purposes, at reduced cost, enhanced capability and increased geographical availability. The cyberphysical system described in this book is flexible, can be optimized for each patient and is demonstrated in several case studies.

Macromolecular self-assembly - driven by weak, non-covalent, intermolecular forces - is a common principle of structure formation in natural and synthetic organic materials. The variability in material arrangement on the nanometre length scale makes this an ideal way of matching the structure-function demands of photonic and optoelectronic devices. However, suitable soft matter systems typically lack the appropriate photoactivity, conductivity or chemically stability. This thesis explores the implementation of soft matter design principles for inorganic thin film nanoarchitectures. Sacrificial block copolymers and colloids are employed as structure-directing agents for the co-assembly of solution-based inorganic materials, such as TiO_2 and SiO_2. Novel fabrication and characterization methods allow unprecedented control of material formation on the 10 - 500 nm length scale, allowing the design of material architectures with interesting photonic and optoelectronic properties.

The present volume is a compilation of research work in computation, communication, vision sciences, device design, fabrication, upcoming materials and related process design, etc. It is derived out of selected manuscripts submitted to the 2014 National Workshop on Advances in Communication and Computing (WACC 2014), Assam Engineering College, Guwahati, Assam, India which is emerging out to be a premier platform for discussion and dissemination of knowhow in this part of the world. The papers included in the volume are indicative of the recent thrust in computation, communications and emerging technologies. Certain recent advances in ZnO nanostructures for alternate energy generation provide emerging insights into an area that has promises for the energy sector including conservation and green technology. Similarly, scholarly contributions have focused on malware detection and related issues. Several contributions have focused on biomedical aspects including contributions related to cancer detection using active learning, application of clinical information in MECG using sample and channel convolution matrices for better diagnostic decision, etc. Some other works have focused on the DCT-domain linear regression of ECG signals, SVD Analysis on reduced 3-lead ECG data, the quantification of diagnostic information on ECG signal, a compressed sensing approach with application in MRI, learning aided image de-noising for medical applications, etc. Some works have dealt with application of audio fingerprinting for multi-lingual Indian song retrieval, semi-automatic approach to segmentation and the marking of pitch contours for prosodic analysis, semiautomatic syllable labeling for Assamese language, stressed speech recognition, handwriting recognition in Assamese script, speaker verification considering the effect of session variability and the block matching for motion estimation, etc. The primary objective of the present volume is to prepare a document for dissemination of and discussion on emerging areas of research in computation and communication as aimed by WACC 2014. We hope that the volume will serve as a reference book for researchers in these areas.

The proceedings includes cutting-edge research articles from the Fourth International Conference on Signal and Image Processing (ICSIP), which is organised by Dr. N.G.P. Institute of Technology, Kalapatti, Coimbatore. The Conference provides academia and industry to discuss and present the latest technological advances and research results in the fields of theoretical, experimental, and application of signal, image and video processing. The book provides latest and most informative content from engineers and scientists in signal, image and video processing from around the world, which will benefit the future research community to work in a more cohesive and collaborative way.

Nonlinear Stochastic Processes addresses the frequently-encountered problem of incomplete information. The causes of this problem considered here include: missing measurements; sensor delays and saturation; quantization effects; and signal sampling. Divided into three parts, the text begins with a focus on H filtering and control problems associated with general classes of nonlinear stochastic discrete-time systems. Filtering problems are considered in the second part, and in the third the theory and techniques previously developed are applied to the solution of issues arising in complex networks with the design of sampled-data-based controllers and filters. Among its highlights, the text provides: * a unified framework for filtering and control problems in complex communication networks with limited bandwidth; * new concepts such as random sensor and signal saturations for more realistic modeling; and * demonstration of the use of techniques such as the Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs, difference linear matrix, and parameter-dependent matrix inequalities and sums of squares to handle the computational challenges inherent in these systems. The collection of recent research results presented in Nonlinear Stochastic Processes will be of interest to academic researchers in control and signal processing. Graduate students working with communication networks with lossy information and control of stochastic systems will also benefit from reading the book.

Traditional Pattern Recognition (PR) and Computer Vision (CV) technologies have mainly focused on full automation, even though full automation often proves elusive or unnatural in many applications, where the technology is expected to assist rather than replace the human agents. However, not all the problems can be automatically solved being the human interaction the only way to tackle those applications. Recently, multimodal human interaction has become an important field of increasing interest in the research community. Advanced man-machine interfaces with high cognitive capabilities are a hot research topic that aims at solving challenging problems in image and video applications. Actually, the idea of computer interactive systems was already proposed on the early stages of computer science. Nowadays, the ubiquity of image sensors together with the ever-increasing computing performance has open new and challenging opportunities for research in multimodal human interaction. This book aims to show how existing PR and CV technologies can naturally evolve using this new paradigm. The chapters of this book show different successful case studies of multimodal interactive technologies for both image and video applications. They cover a wide spectrum of applications, ranging from interactive handwriting transcriptions to human-robot interactions in real environments.

The book written by Dr. Radu B. Rusu presents a detailed description of 3D Semantic Mapping in the context of mobile robot manipulation. As autonomous robotic platforms get more sophisticated manipulation capabilities, they also need more expressive and comprehensive environment models that include the objects present in the world, together with their position, form, and other semantic aspects, as well as interpretations of these objects with respect to the robot tasks. The book proposes novel 3D feature representations called Point Feature Histograms (PFH), as well as a frameworks for the acquisition and processing of Semantic 3D Object Maps with contributions to robust registration, fast segmentation into regions, and reliable object detection, categorization, and reconstruction. These contributions have been fully implemented and empirically evaluated on different robotic systems, and have been the original kernel to the widely successful open-source project the Point Cloud Library (PCL) -- see http://pointclouds.org.

The proceedings includes cutting-edge research articles from the Fourth International Conference on Signal and Image Processing (ICSIP), which is organised by Dr. N.G.P. Institute of Technology, Kalapatti, Coimbatore. The Conference provides academia and industry to discuss and present the latest technological advances and research results in the fields of theoretical, experimental, and application of signal, image and video processing. The book provides latest and most informative content from engineers and scientists in signal, image and video processing from around the world, which will benefit the future research community to work in a more cohesive and collaborative way.

The Proceedings of First International Conference on Opto-Electronics and Applied Optics 2014, IEM OPTRONIX 2014 presents the research contributions presented in the conference by researchers from both India and abroad. Contributions from established scientists as well as students are included. The book is organized to enable easy access to various topics of interest. The first part includes the Keynote addresses by Phillip Russell, Max Planck Institute of the Light Sciences, Erlangen, Germany and Lorenzo Pavesi, University of Trento, Italy. The second part focuses on the Plenary Talks given by eminent scientists, namely, Azizur Rahman, City University London, London; Bishnu Pal, President, The Optical Society of India; Kamakhya Ghatak, National Institute of Technology, Agartala; Kehar Singh, Former Professor, India Institute of Technology Delhi; Mourad Zghal, SUPCOM, University of Carthage, Tunisia; Partha Roy Chaudhuri, IIT Kharagpur; S K. Bhadra, CSIR-Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute, Kolkata; Sanjib Chatterjee, Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology, Indore; Takeo Sasaki, Tokyo University, Japan; Lakshminarayan Hazra, Emeritus Professor, University of Calcutta, Kolkata; Shyam Akashe, ITM University, Gwalior and Vasudevan Lakshminarayanan, University of Waterloo, Canada. The subsequent parts focus on topic-wise contributory papers in Application of Solar Energy; Diffraction Tomography; E.M. Radiation Theory and Antenna; Fibre Optics and Devices; Photonics for Space Applications; Micro-Electronics and VLSI; Nano-Photonics, Bio-Photonics and Bio-Medical Optics; Non-linear Phenomena and Chaos; Optical and Digital Data and Image Processing; Optical Communications and Networks; Optical Design; Opto-Electronic Devices; Opto-Electronic Materials and Quantum Optics and Information Processing.

Image processing algorithms based on the mammalian visual cortex are powerful tools for extraction information and manipulating images. This book reviews the neural theory and translates them into digital models. Applications are given in areas of image recognition, foveation, image fusion and information extraction. The third edition reflects renewed international interest in pulse image processing with updated sections presenting several newly developed applications. This edition also introduces a suite of Python scripts that assist readers in replicating results presented in the text and to further develop their own applications.