Facial recognition has been an active field of imaging science. With the recent progresses in computer vision development, it is extensively applied in various areas, especially in law enforcement and security. Human face is a viable biometric that could be effectively used in both identification and verification. Thus far, regardless of a facial model and relevant metrics employed, its main shortcoming is that it requires a facial image, against which comparison is made. Therefore, closed circuit televisions and a facial database are always needed in an operational system. For the last few decades, unfortunately, we have experienced an emergence of asymmetric warfare, where acts of terrorism are often committed in secluded area with no camera installed and possibly by persons whose photos have never been kept in any official database prior to the event. During subsequent investigations, the authorities thus had to rely on traumatized and frustrated witnesses, whose testimonial accounts regarding suspect’s appearance are dubious and often misleading. To address this issue, this paper presents an application of a statistical appearance model of human face in assisting suspect identification based on witness’s visual recollection. An online prototype system was implemented to demonstrate its core functionalities. Both visual and numerical assessments reported herein evidentially indicated potential benefits of the system for the intended purpose.
A composite section is made up of a concrete slab attached to a steel beam by means of shear connectors. Under positive and negative bending moment, part of the slab will act as a flange of the beam, resisting the longitudinal compression or tension force. When the spacing between girders becomes large, it is evident that the simple beam theory does not strictly apply because the longitudinal stress in the flange will vary with distance from the girder web, the flange being more highly stressed over the web than in the extremities. This phenomenon is termed "shear lag". In this paper, a nonlinear three-dimensional finite element analysis is employed to evaluate and determine the actual effective slab width of the composite steel-concrete
... Show MoreTrickle bed reactor was used to study the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene over Ni/SiO2 catalyst. The catalyst was prepared using the Highly Dispersed Catalyst (HDC) technique. Porous silica particles (capped cylinders, 6x5.5 mm) were used as catalyst support. The catalyst was characterized by TPR, BET surface area and pore volume, X-ray diffraction, and Raman Spectra. The trickle bed reactor was packed with catalyst and diluted with fine glass beads in order to decrease the external effects such as mass transfer, heat transfer and wall effect. The catalyst bed dilution was found to double the liquid holdup, which increased the catalyst wetting and hence, the gas-liquid mass transfer rate. The main product of the hydrogenation reaction of n
... Show MoreHeritage is considered as the civilization and cultural wealth accumulated over the . centuries, whereas architectural heritage is the physical witness of that civilization. Despite the fact that architectural heritage is the most important effort for economic development of any communit,، it suffers from deterioration and neglection especially in the Arab communities. Recently awareness has increased about the importance of investing on architectural heritage generally and sustainable investment particularly. The goal of investment process in heritage areas is to revive economic activity in addition to attempt to revive the heritage and community values. Research aims to examine the relationship between sustainable investment and
... Show MoreWireless Multimedia Sensor Networks (WMSNs) are networks of wirelessly interconnected sensor nodes equipped with multimedia devices, such as cameras and microphones. Thus a WMSN will have the capability to transmit multimedia data, such as video and audio streams, still images, and scalar data from the environment. Most applications of WMSNs require the delivery of multimedia information with a certain level of Quality of Service (QoS). This is a challenging task because multimedia applications typically produce huge volumes of data requiring high transmission rates and extensive processing; the high data transmission rate of WMSNs usually leads to congestion, which in turn reduces the Quality of Service (QoS) of multimedia appli
... Show MoreSoftware-defined networking (SDN) presents novel security and privacy risks, including distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. In response to these threats, machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have emerged as effective approaches for quickly identifying and mitigating anomalies. To this end, this research employs various classification methods, including support vector machines (SVMs), K-nearest neighbors (KNNs), decision trees (DTs), multiple layer perceptron (MLP), and convolutional neural networks (CNNs), and compares their performance. CNN exhibits the highest train accuracy at 97.808%, yet the lowest prediction accuracy at 90.08%. In contrast, SVM demonstrates the highest prediction accuracy of 95.5%. As such, an
... Show MoreThis review focuses on conservation agriculture (CA) and its effects on increasing the soil’s resistance to erosion. CA involves minimum soil disturbance (minimum tillage/ no-till), diversified crop rotation, and maintenance of the soil cover to increase soil fertility and reduce erosion. CA reduces soil loss by up to 90% and water erosion by approximately 50 to 70% from runoff as it increases the health of the soil, yield of crops, and water-retention capacity of the soil by incorporating soil organic matter and promoting biodiversity. Crop rotation prevents the replenishment and depletion of soil nutrients by atmospheric fixation of nitrogen/biological nitrogen fixation. Controlled traffic farming (CTF) is a new strategy in which travel
... Show MoreThe protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica is a causative agent of amoebiasis, where it causes millions of cases of dysentery and liver abscess each year. Metronidazole is a drug of choice against amoebiasis. The drug is a choice because of its efficacy and low cost, but at the same time it causes several adverse side effects; therefore, it is important to find effective medications to treat amoebiasis without any complications or any side effects. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of different concentrations (50, 75 and 100 µg/ml) of silver nanoparticle (AgNPs) against trophozoites stages of E. histolytica in vitro. The results showed a significant decrease (p ? 0.05) in numbers of trophozoites stages after treated
... Show MoreBackground: The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor historically recognized for its role in the regulation of toxicity mediated by environmental chemicals. Recent research points to AhR's critical participation in male reproductive physiology, particularly in spermatogenesis, hormone signaling, and the maintenance of sperm quality. Both endogenous ligands (e.g., dietary and gut microbiota-derived metabolites) and exogenous pollutants (e.g., dioxins and benzo-α-pyrene) influence AhR-mediated pathways, making it a key link between environmental exposures and male fertility. Results: This review highlights AhR's influence on the male reproductive system, emphasizing the role of endogenous AhR ligands an
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