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The presented paper introduces a novel path planning algorithm designed for generating low-cost trajectories that fulfill mission requirements expressed in Linear Temporal Logic (LTL). The proposed algorithm is particularly effective in environments where cost functions encompass the entire configuration space. A core contribution of this paper is the presentation of a refined approach to sampling-based path planning algorithms that aligns with the specified mission objectives. This enhancement is achieved through a multi-layered framework approach, enabling a simplified discrete abstraction without relying on mesh decomposition. This abstraction is especially beneficial in complex or high-dimensional environments where mesh decomposition is challenging. The discrete abstraction effectively guides the sampling process, influencing the selection of vertices for extension and target points for steering in each iteration. To further improve efficiency, the algorithm incorporates a deep learning-based extension, utilizing training data to accurately model the optimal trajectory distribution between two points. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated through simulated tests, which highlight its ability to identify low-cost trajectories that meet specific mission criteria. Comparative analyses also confirm the superiority of the proposed method compared to existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes an automatic air-to-ground (A2G) channel model selection method based on machine learning (ML) using digital surface model (DSM) terrain data. In order to verify whether a communication network for a new non-terrestrial user service such as Urban Air Mobility (UAM) satisfies the required performance, it is necessary to perform a simulation reflecting the characteristics of the corresponding terrain environments as accurately as possible. For this simulation, A2G channel models corresponding to various terrain environments and a method of automatically classifying the terrain type of the simulation area must be provided. Many A2G channel models based on actual measurement results exist, but the practical automatic topography classification method still needs to be developed. This paper proposes the first practical automatic topography classification method using a two-step neural network-based classifier utilizing various geographic feature data as input. Since there is no open topography dataset to evaluate the accuracy of the proposed method, we built a new dataset for five topography classes that reflect the characteristics of Korea's topography, which is also a contribution of our study. The simulation results using the new data set show that the proposed ML-based method could increase the selection accuracy compared to the technique for direct classification by humans or the existing cross-correlation-based classification method. Since the proposed method utilizes the DSM data, open to the public, it can easily reflect the different terrain characteristics of each country. Therefore, the proposed method can be effectively used in the realistic performance evaluation of new non-terrestrial communication networks utilizing vast airspace such as UAM or 6G mobile communications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces BiLSTM-MLAM, a novel multi-scale time series prediction model. Initially, the approach utilizes bidirectional long short-term memory to capture information from both forward and backward directions in time series data. Subsequently, a multi-scale patch segmentation module generates various long sequences composed of equal-length segments, enabling the model to capture data patterns across multiple time scales by adjusting segment lengths. Finally, the local attention mechanism enhances feature extraction by accurately identifying and weighting important time segments, thereby strengthening the model's understanding of the local features of the time series, followed by feature fusion. The model demonstrates outstanding performance in time series prediction tasks by effectively capturing sequence information across various time scales. Experimental validation illustrates the superior performance of BiLSTM-MLAM compared to six baseline methods across multiple datasets. When predicting the remaining life of aircraft engines, BiLSTM-MLAM outperforms the best baseline model by 6.66% in RMSE and 11.50% in MAE. In the LTE dataset, it achieves RMSE improvements of 12.77% and MAE enhancements of 3.06%, while in the load dataset, it demonstrates RMSE enhancements of 17.96% and MAE improvements of 30.39%. Additionally, ablation experiments confirm the positive impact of each module on prediction accuracy. Through segment length parameter tuning experiments, combining different segment lengths has resulted in lower prediction errors, affirming the effectiveness of the multi-scale fusion strategy in enhancing prediction accuracy by integrating information from multiple time scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, there are plenty of data sources generating massive amounts of information that, combined with novel data analytics frameworks, are meant to support optimisation in many application domains. Nonetheless, there are still shortcomings in terms of data discoverability, accessibility and interoperability. Open Data portals have emerged as a shift towards openness and discoverability. However, they do not impose any condition to the data itself, just stipulate how datasets have to be described. Alternatively, the NGSI-LD standard pursues harmonisation in terms of data modelling and accessibility. This paper presents a solution that bridges these two domains (i.e., Open Data portals and NGSI-LD-based data) in order to keep benefiting from the structured description of datasets offered by Open Data portals, while ensuring the interoperability provided by the NGSI-LD standard. Our solution aggregates the data into coherent datasets and generate high-quality descriptions, ensuring comprehensiveness, interoperability and accessibility. The proposed solution has been validated through a real-world implementation that exposes IoT data in NGSI-LD format through the European Data Portal (EDP). Moreover, the results from the Metadata Quality Assessment that the EDP implements, show that the datasets' descriptions generated achieve excellent ranking in terms of the Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability (FAIR) data principles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a noise augmentation technique designed to enhance the robustness of state-of-the-art (SOTA) deep learning models against degraded image quality, a common challenge in long-term recording systems. Our method, demonstrated through the classification of digital holographic images, utilizes a novel approach to synthesize and apply random colored noise, addressing the typically encountered correlated noise patterns in such images. Empirical results show that our technique not only maintains classification accuracy in high-quality images but also significantly improves it when given noisy inputs without increasing the training time. This advancement demonstrates the potential of our approach for augmenting data for deep learning models to perform effectively in production under varied and suboptimal conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of data sources and models in the mobility and transport domain strongly proliferated in the last decade. Most formats have been created to enable specific and innovative applications. On the other hand, the available data models present a certain degree of complexity in terms of their integration and management due to partial overlaps, and in most cases, they could be exploited alternatively to implement the same smart and latest innovative solutions. This paper offers an overview of data models, standards and their relationships. A second contribution highlights any possible exploitation of data models for implementing operational processes for city transportation management and for the feeding of simulation and optimization processes that produce other data results in other data models. The final goal in most cases is the monitoring and control of city transport conditions, as well as the tactic and strategic planning of city infrastructure. This work was developed in the context of the CN MOST, a national center of sustainable mobility in Italy, and it is based on exploiting the Snap4City platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides an overview of the digitisation project conducted by the Parco Archeologico dell'Appia Antica (PAAA) in Rome, focusing on an 11.7 km section of the Appian Way. This effort is part of the "Appia Regina Viarum" project, supporting the UNESCO heritage site candidacy of the Appian Way. Advanced sensor technologies, including the Mobile Mapping System (MMS), 360° Cameras, Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS), digital cameras, and drones, are employed to collect extensive data sets. The primary goal is to create highly accurate three-dimensional (3D) models for knowledge enhancement, conservation, and communication purposes. Innovative tools are introduced to manage High Resolution 3D textured models, improving maintenance, management, and design processes over traditional CAD methods. The project aims to develop multi-temporal Digital Twins integrated with historical documentation, such as Piranesi's imaginary views and architect Canina's monument reconstructions. These informative models function as nodes within the DT, serving the PAAA's geographic hub by means of an eXtended Reality (XR) platform: the paper proposes bridging the physical object and virtual models, contributing to supporting the operators in the maintenance planning as well as information dissemination and public awareness, offering an immersive experience beyond conventional reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated logistics support (ILS) is of great significance for maintaining equipment operational capability in the whole lifecycle. Numerous segments and complex product objects exist in the process of equipment ILS, which gives ILS data multi-source, heterogeneous, and multidimensional characteristics. The present ILS data cannot satisfy the demand for efficient utilization. Therefore, the unified modeling of ILS data is extremely urgent and significant. In this paper, a unified data modeling method is proposed to solve the consistent and comprehensive expression problem of ILS data. Firstly, a four-tier unified data modeling framework is constructed based on the analysis of ILS data characteristics. Secondly, the Core unified data model, Domain unified data model, and Instantiated unified data model are built successively. Then, the expressions of ILS data in the three dimensions of time, product, and activity are analyzed. Thirdly, the Lifecycle ILS unified data model is constructed, and the multidimensional information retrieval methods are discussed. Based on these, different systems in the equipment ILS process can share a set of data models and provide ILS designers with relevant data through different views. Finally, the practical ILS data models are constructed based on the developed unified data modeling software prototype, which verifies the feasibility of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of a complex three-dimensional reconstruction of the church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción (Ávila, Spain) as an example of a successful process of verticalization from point clouds to a comprehensive computer-aided design (CAD) model. The reconstruction was carried out using the novel and advanced wearable mobile mapping system ZEB-REVO in combination with a lifting pole, in order to cover the whole geometry of the temple and, also, to model the different constructive elements. To this end, a set of good practices was followed, which allowed for passing from reality to the CAD model, such as the use of closed loops or even the use of different parametric and non-parametric strategies to capture the real geometry of the elements. As a result, this paper outlines the main guidelines for passing from point clouds to comprehensive CAD models, the former being useful for the application of smart preventive conservation processes, heritage building information models or even advanced numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A key challenge in further improving infrared (IR) sensor capabilities is the development of efficient data pre-processing algorithms. This paper addresses this challenge by providing a mathematical model and synthetic data generation framework for an uncooled IR sensor. The developed model is capable of generating synthetic data for the design of data pre-processing algorithms of uncooled IR sensors. The mathematical model accounts for the physical characteristics of the focal plane array, bolometer readout, optics and the environment. The framework permits the sensor simulation with a range of sensor configurations, pixel defectiveness, non-uniformity and noise parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid advancement of the Internet of Vehicles (IoV) has led to a massive growth in data received from IoV networks. The cloud storage has been a timely service that provides a vast range of data storage for IoV networks. However, existing data storage and access models used to manage and protect data in IoV networks have proven to be insufficient. They are centralized and usually accompanied by a lack of trust, transparency, security, immutability, and provenance. In this paper, we propose VBlock, a blockchain-based system that addresses the issues of illegal modification of outsourced vehicular data for smart city management and improvement. We introduce a novel collusion-resistant model for outsourcing data to cloud storage that ensures the network remains tamper-proof, has good data provenance and auditing, and solves the centralized problems prone to the single point of failure. We introduced a key revocation mechanism to secure the network from malicious nodes. We formally define the system model of VBlock in the setting of a consortium blockchain. Our simulation results and security analysis show that the proposed model provides a strong security guarantee with high efficiency and is practicable in the IoV environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The integration of infectious disease modeling with the data collection process is crucial to reach its maximum potential, and remains a significant research challenge. Ensuring a solid empirical foundation for models used to fill gaps in data and knowledge is of paramount importance. Personal wireless devices, such as smartphones, smartwatches and wireless bracelets, can serve as a means of bridging the gap between empirical data and the mathematical modeling of human contacts and networking. In this paper, we develop, implement, and evaluate concepts and architectures for advanced user-centric proximity estimation based on smartphone radio environment monitoring. We investigate innovative methods for the estimation of proximity, based on a person-radio-environment trace recorded by the smartphone, and define the proximity parameter. For this purpose, we developed a smartphone application and back-end services. The results show that, with the proposed procedure, we can estimate the proximity of two devices in terms of near, medium, and far distance with reasonable accuracy in real-world case scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud computing is a rapidly expanding field. It allows users to access computer system resources as needed, particularly data storage and computational power, without managing them directly. This paper aims to create a data security model based on cryptography and steganography for data in cloud computing that seeks to reduce existing security and privacy concerns, such as data loss, data manipulation, and data theft. To identify the problem and determine its core cause, we studied various literature on existing cloud computing security models. This study utilizes design science research methodology. The design science research approach includes problem identification, requirements elicitation, artifact design and development, demonstration, and assessment. Design thinking and the Python programming language are used to build the artifact, and discussion about its working is represented using histograms, tables, and algorithms. This paper's output is a four-step data security model based on Rivest–Shamir–Adleman, Advanced Encryption Standard, and identity-based encryption algorithms alongside Least Significant Bit steganography. The four steps are data protection and security through encryption algorithms, steganography, data backup and recovery, and data sharing. This proposed approach ensures more cloud data redundancy, flexibility, efficiency, and security by protecting data confidentiality, privacy, and integrity from attackers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of Ubiquitous Power Internet of Things (UPIoTs) accelerates the development of intelligent monitoring and diagnostic technologies. In this paper, a diagnostic method suitable for power equipment in an interference environment was proposed based on the deep Convolutional Neural Network (CNN): MobileNet-V2 and Digital Image Processing (DIP) methods to conduct fault identification process: including fault type classification and fault localization. A data visualization theory was put forward in this paper, which was applied in frequency response (FR) curves of transformer to obtain dataset. After the image augmentation process, the dataset was input into the deep CNN: MobileNet-V2 for training procedures. Then a spatial-probabilistic mapping relationship was established based on traditional Frequency Response Analysis (FRA) fault diagnostic method. Each image in the dataset was compared with the fingerprint values to get traditional diagnosing results. Next, the anti-interference abilities of the proposed CNN-DIP method were compared with that of the traditional one while the magnitude of the interference gradually increased. Finally, the fault tolerance of the proposed method was verified by further analyzing the deviations between the wrong diagnosing results with the corresponding actual labels. Experimental results showed that the proposed deep visual identification (CNN-DIP) method has a higher diagnosing accuracy, a stronger anti-interference ability and a better fault tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies have shown that vehicle trajectory data are effective for calibrating microsimulation models. Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology offers high-resolution 3D data, allowing for detailed mapping of the surrounding environment, including road geometry, roadside infrastructures, and moving objects such as vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. Unlike other traditional methods of trajectory data collection, LiDAR's high-speed data processing, fine angular resolution, high measurement accuracy, and high performance in adverse weather and low-light conditions make it well suited for applications requiring real-time response, such as autonomous vehicles. This research presents a comprehensive framework for integrating LiDAR sensor data into simulation models and their accurate calibration strategies for proactive safety analysis. Vehicle trajectory data were extracted from LiDAR point clouds collected at six urban signalized intersections in Lubbock, Texas, in the USA. Each study intersection was modeled with PTV VISSIM and calibrated to replicate the observed field scenarios. The Directed Brute Force method was used to calibrate two car-following and two lane-change parameters of the Wiedemann 1999 model in VISSIM, resulting in an average accuracy of 92.7%. Rear-end conflicts extracted from the calibrated models combined with a ten-year historical crash dataset were fitted into a Negative Binomial (NB) model to estimate the model's parameters. In all the six intersections, rear-end conflict count is a statistically significant predictor (p-value < 0.05) of observed rear-end crash frequency. The outcome of this study provides a framework for the combined use of LiDAR-based vehicle trajectory data, microsimulation, and surrogate safety assessment tools to transportation professionals. This integration allows for more accurate and proactive safety evaluations, which are essential for designing safer transportation systems, effective traffic control strategies, and predicting future congestion problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various approaches have been proposed for bridge structural health monitoring. One of the earliest approaches proposed was tracking a bridge's natural frequency over time to look for abnormal shifts in frequency that might indicate a change in stiffness. However, bridge frequencies change naturally as the structure's temperature changes. Data models can be used to overcome this problem by predicting normal changes to a structure's natural frequency and comparing it to the historical normal behaviour of the bridge and, therefore, identifying abnormal behaviour. Most of the proposed data modelling work has been from long-span bridges where you generally have large datasets to work with. A more limited body of research has been conducted where there is a sparse amount of data, but even this has only been demonstrated on single bridges. Therefore, the novelty of this work is that it expands on previous work using sparse instrumentation across a network of bridges. The data collected from four in-operation bridges were used to validate data models and test the capabilities of the data models across a range of bridge types/sizes. The MID approach was found to be able to detect an average frequency shift of 0.021 Hz across all of the data models. The significance of this demonstration across different bridge types is the practical utility of these data models to be used across entire bridge networks, enabling accurate and informed decision making in bridge maintenance and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the AquaCrop crop model as the research object, considering the complexity and uncertainty of the crop growth process, the crop model can only achieve more accurate simulation on a single point scale. In order to improve the application scale of the crop model, this study inverted the canopy coverage of a tea garden based on UAV multispectral technology, adopted the particle swarm optimization algorithm to assimilate the canopy coverage and crop model, constructed the AquaCrop-PSO assimilation model, and compared the canopy coverage and yield simulation results with the localized model simulation results. It is found that there is a significant regression relationship between all vegetation indices and canopy coverage. Among the single vegetation index regression models, the logarithmic model constructed by OSAVI has the highest inversion accuracy, with an R2 of 0.855 and RMSE of 5.75. The tea yield was simulated by the AquaCrop-PSO model and the measured values of R2 and RMSE were 0.927 and 0.12, respectively. The canopy coverage R2 of each simulated growth period basically exceeded 0.9, and the accuracy of the simulation results was improved by about 19.8% compared with that of the localized model. The results show that the accuracy of crop model simulation can be improved effectively by retrieving crop parameters and assimilating crop models through UAV remote sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study focuses on advancing the field of remote sensing image target detection, addressing challenges such as small target detection, complex background handling, and dense target distribution. We propose solutions based on enhancing the YOLOv7 algorithm. Firstly, we improve the multi-scale feature enhancement (MFE) method of YOLOv7, enhancing its adaptability and precision in detecting small targets and complex backgrounds. Secondly, we design a modified YOLOv7 global information DP-MLP module to effectively capture and integrate global information, thereby improving target detection accuracy and robustness, especially in handling large-scale variations and complex scenes. Lastly, we explore a semi-supervised learning model (SSLM) target detection algorithm incorporating unlabeled data, leveraging information from unlabeled data to enhance the model's generalization ability and performance. Experimental results demonstrate that despite the outstanding performance of YOLOv7, the mean average precision (MAP) can still be improved by 1.9%. Specifically, under testing on the TGRS-HRRSD-Dataset, the MFE and DP-MLP models achieve MAP values of 93.4% and 93.1%, respectively. Across the NWPU VHR-10 dataset, the three models achieve MAP values of 93.1%, 92.1%, and 92.2%, respectively. Significant improvements are observed across various metrics compared to the original model. This study enhances the adaptability, accuracy, and generalization of remote sensing image object detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an integrated model aimed at obtaining robust and reliable results in decision level multisensor data fusion applications. The proposed model is based on the connection of Dempster-Shafer evidence theory and an extreme learning machine. It includes three main improvement aspects: a mass constructing algorithm to build reasonable basic belief assignments (BBAs); an evidence synthesis method to get a comprehensive BBA for an information source from several mass functions or experts; and a new way to make high-precision decisions based on an extreme learning machine (ELM). Compared to some universal classification methods, the proposed one can be directly applied in multisensor data fusion applications, but not only for conventional classifications. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed model is able to yield robust and reliable results in multisensor data fusion problems. In addition, this paper also draws some meaningful conclusions, which have significant implications for future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To address the complexities, inflexibility, and security concerns in traditional data sharing models of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), we propose a blockchain-based data sharing and privacy protection (BBDSPP) scheme for IIoT. Initially, we characterize and assign values to attributes, and employ a weighted threshold secret sharing scheme to refine the data sharing approach. This enables flexible combinations of permissions, ensuring the adaptability of data sharing. Subsequently, based on non-interactive zero-knowledge proof technology, we design a lightweight identity proof protocol using attribute values. This protocol pre-verifies the identity of data accessors, ensuring that only legitimate terminal members can access data within the system, while also protecting the privacy of the members. Finally, we utilize the InterPlanetary File System (IPFS) to store encrypted shared resources, effectively addressing the issue of low storage efficiency in traditional blockchain systems. Theoretical analysis and testing of the computational overhead of our scheme demonstrate that, while ensuring performance, our scheme has the smallest total computational load compared to the other five schemes. Experimental results indicate that our scheme effectively addresses the shortcomings of existing solutions in areas such as identity authentication, privacy protection, and flexible combination of permissions, demonstrating a good performance and strong feasibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spectrum situation awareness problem in space–air–ground integrated networks (SAGINs) is studied from a tensor-computing perspective. Tensor and tensor computing, including tensor decomposition, tensor completion and tensor eigenvalues, can satisfy the application requirements of SAGINs. Tensors can effectively handle multidimensional heterogeneous big data generated by SAGINs. Tensor computing is used to process the big data, with tensor decomposition being used for dimensionality reduction to reduce storage space, and tensor completion utilized for numeric supplementation to overcome the missing data problem. Notably, tensor eigenvalues are used to indicate the intrinsic correlations within the big data. A tensor data model is designed for space–air–ground integrated networks from multiple dimensions. Based on the multidimensional tensor data model, a novel tensor-computing-based spectrum situation awareness scheme is proposed. Two tensor eigenvalue calculation algorithms are studied to generate tensor eigenvalues. The distribution characteristics of tensor eigenvalues are used to design spectrum sensing schemes with hypothesis tests. The main advantage of this algorithm based on tensor eigenvalue distributions is that the statistics of spectrum situation awareness can be completely characterized by tensor eigenvalues. The feasibility of spectrum situation awareness based on tensor eigenvalues is evaluated by simulation results. The new application paradigm of tensor eigenvalue provides a novel direction for practical applications of tensor theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic toll collection (ETC) data mining has become one of the hotspots in the research of intelligent expressway extension applications. Ensuring the integrity of ETC data stands as a critical measure in upholding data quality. ETC data are typical structured data, and although deep learning holds great potential in the ETC data restoration field, its applications in structured data are still in the early stages. To address these issues, we propose an expressway ETC missing transaction data restoration model considering multi-attribute features (MAF). Initially, we employ an entity embedding neural network (EENN) to automatically learn the representation of categorical features in multi-dimensional space, subsequently obtaining embedding vectors from networks that have been adequately trained. Then, we use long short-term memory (LSTM) neural networks to extract the changing patterns of vehicle speeds across several continuous sections. Ultimately, we merge the processed features with other features as input, using a three-layer multilayer perceptron (MLP) to complete the ETC data restoration. To validate the effectiveness of the proposed method, we conducted extensive tests using real ETC datasets and compared it with methods commonly used for structured data restoration. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method significantly outperforms others in restoration accuracy on two different datasets. Specifically, our sample data size reached around 400,000 entries. Compared to the currently best method, our method improved the restoration accuracy by 19.06% on non-holiday ETC datasets. The MAE and RMSE values reached optimal levels of 12.394 and 23.815, respectively. The fitting degree of the model to the dataset also reached its peak ( R 2 = 0.993). Meanwhile, the restoration stability of our method on holiday datasets increased by 5.82%. An ablation experiment showed that the EENN and LSTM modules contributed 7.60% and 9% to the restoration accuracy, as well as 4.68% and 7.29% to the restoration stability. This study indicates that the proposed method not only significantly improves the quality of ETC data but also meets the timeliness requirements of big data mining analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-precision image-aided inertial navigation system (INS) is proposed as an alternative to the carrier-phase-based differential Global Navigation Satellite Systems (CDGNSSs) when satellite-based navigation systems are unavailable. In this paper, the image/INS integrated algorithm is modeled by a tightly-coupled iterative extended Kalman filter (IEKF). Tightly-coupled integration ensures that the integrated system is reliable, even if few known feature points (i.e., less than three) are observed in the images. A new global observability analysis of this tightly-coupled integration is presented to guarantee that the system is observable under the necessary conditions. The analysis conclusions were verified by simulations and field tests. The field tests also indicate that high-precision position (centimeter-level) and attitude (half-degree-level)-integrated solutions can be achieved in a global reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When blind and deaf people are passengers in fully autonomous vehicles, an intuitive and accurate visualization screen should be provided for the deaf, and an audification system with speech-to-text (STT) and text-to-speech (TTS) functions should be provided for the blind. However, these systems cannot know the fault self-diagnosis information and the instrument cluster information that indicates the current state of the vehicle when driving. This paper proposes an audification and visualization system (AVS) of an autonomous vehicle for blind and deaf people based on deep learning to solve this problem. The AVS consists of three modules. The data collection and management module (DCMM) stores and manages the data collected from the vehicle. The audification conversion module (ACM) has a speech-to-text submodule (STS) that recognizes a user's speech and converts it to text data, and a text-to-wave submodule (TWS) that converts text data to voice. The data visualization module (DVM) visualizes the collected sensor data, fault self-diagnosis data, etc., and places the visualized data according to the size of the vehicle's display. The experiment shows that the time taken to adjust visualization graphic components in on-board diagnostics (OBD) was approximately 2.5 times faster than the time taken in a cloud server. In addition, the overall computational time of the AVS system was approximately 2 ms faster than the existing instrument cluster. Therefore, because the AVS proposed in this paper can enable blind and deaf people to select only what they want to hear and see, it reduces the overload of transmission and greatly increases the safety of the vehicle. If the AVS is introduced in a real vehicle, it can prevent accidents for disabled and other passengers in advance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys using airborne mobile platforms enable rapid and efficient exploration of areas where groundwork is difficult. They have been widely used in fields such as shallow resource exploration and environmental engineering. Three-dimensional AEM inversion is the main technique used in fine structural interpretation. However, most current methods focus on separate component data inversions, which limit the kinds of structures that can be recovered in the inversion results. To address this issue, a method for the robust 3D joint inversion of multicomponent frequency-domain AEM data was developed in this study. First, a finite element method based on unstructured tetrahedral grids was used to solve the forward problem of frequency-domain AEM data for both isotropic and anisotropic media. During inversion, a limited-memory quasi-Newton (L-BFGS) method was used to reduce the memory requirements and enable the joint inversion of large-scale multicomponent AEM data. The effectiveness of our algorithm was demonstrated using synthetic models for both isotropic and anisotropic cases, with 5% Gaussian noise added to the modeling data to simulate the measured data for separate and joint inversions. The results of the synthetic models show that joint inversion has advantages over separate inversion in that it enables the recovery of finer underground structures and provides a novel approach for the fine interpretation of frequency-domain AEM data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic congestion experience in urban areas has negative impact on our daily lives by consuming our time and resources. Intelligent Transportation Systems can provide the necessary infrastructure to mitigate such challenges. In this paper, we propose a novel and scalable solution to model, store and control traffic data based on range query data structures (K-ary Interval Tree and K-ary Entry Point Tree) which allows data representation and handling in a way that better predicts and avoids traffic congestion in urban areas. Our experiments, validation scenarios, performance measurements and solution assessment were done on Brooklyn, New York traffic congestion simulation scenario and shown the validity, reliability, performance and scalability of the proposed solution in terms of time spent in traffic, run-time and memory usage. The experiments on the proposed data structures simulated up to 10,000 vehicles having microseconds time to access traffic information and below 1.5 s for congestion free route generation in complex scenarios. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first scalable approach that can be used to predict urban traffic and avoid congestion through range query data structure traffic modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a method of mid-level data fusion with the fingerprint region was proposed, which was combined with the characteristic wavelengths that contain fingerprint information in NIR and FT-MIR spectra to detect the DON level in FHB wheat during wheat processing. NIR and FT-MIR raw spectroscopy data on normal wheat and FHB wheat were obtained in the experiment. MSC was used for pretreatment, and characteristic wavelengths were extracted by CARS, MGS and XLW. The variables that can effectively reflect fingerprint information were retained to build the mid-level data fusion matrix. LS-SVM and PLS-DA were applied to investigate the performance of the single spectroscopic model, mid-level data fusion model and mid-level data fusion with fingerprint information model, respectively. The experimental results show that mid-level data fusion with a fingerprint information strategy based on fused NIR and FT-MIR spectra represents an effective method for the classification of DON levels in FHB wheat samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) is a technique that involves gathering information to ensure that a structure is safe and behaving as expected. Within SHM, vibration-based monitoring is generally seen as one of the more cost-effective types of monitoring. However, vibration-based monitoring has mostly been undertaken on long-span bridges using data collected with a dense network of sensors. Historically, the logistical difficulty of collecting data on short- and medium-span bridges has meant that the usefulness of vibration-based methods on these bridges is largely unknown. Therefore, this study proposes Minimal Information Data-modelling (MID). MID is an approach that utilises low-cost, easily implementable sensors that are potentially feasible for operators to purchase and operate across a network. This approach will be investigated to determine whether MID is a feasible approach for monitoring short- and medium- span bridges. The results from MID were assessed to determine whether they could detect a suitably small shift in frequency, which is indicative of damage. It was determined that the data models could reliably detect frequency shifts as low as 0.01 Hz. This magnitude of frequency shift is similar to the level of frequency shift reported for a range of bridge damage cases found by others and validated with FE models. The accuracy achieved by the data models indicates that MID could potentially be used as a damage detection method. The cost of the equipment used to collect the data was approximately £370, demonstrating that it is feasible to use MID to monitor bridges across an entire network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a remaining useful life (RUL) prediction method using limited degradation data with an unknown degradation model for hydraulic pumps with long service lives and no failure data in turbine control systems. The volumetric efficiency is calculated based on real-time monitoring signal data, and it is used as the degradation indicator. The optimal degradation curve is established using the degradation trajectory model, and the optimal probability distribution model is selected via the K-S test. The above process was repeated to optimize the degradation model and update parameters in different performance degradation stages of the hydraulic pump, providing quantification of the prediction uncertainty and enabling accurate online prediction of the hydraulic pump's RUL. Finally, an RUL test bench for hydraulic pumps is built for verification. The results show that the proposed method is convenient, efficient, and has low model complexity. The method enables online accurate prediction of the RUL of hydraulic pumps using only limited degradation data, with a prediction accuracy of over 85%, which meets practical application requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a data-driven factor graph (FG) model designed to perform anchor-based positioning. The system makes use of the FG to compute the target position, given the distance measurements to the anchor node that know its own position.The aim was to design a hybrid structure (that involves data and modeling approaches) to address positioning models from a Bayesian point of view, customizing them for each technology and scenario. The weighted geometric dilution of precision (WGDOP) metric, which measures the effect on the positioning solution of distance error to the corresponding anchor node and network geometry of the anchor nodes, was taken into account. The presented algorithms were tested with simulated data and also with real-life data collected from IEEE 802.15.4-compliant sensor network nodes with a physical layer based on ultra-wide band (UWB) technology, in scenarios with one target node, three and four anchor nodes, and a time-of-arrival-based range technique. The results showed that the presented algorithm based on the FG technique provided better positioning results than the least squares-based algorithms and even UWB-based commercial systems in various scenarios, with different setups in terms of geometries and propagation conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of users of the Internet has been continuously rising, with an estimated 5.1 billion users in 2023, which comprises around 64.7% of the total world population. This indicates the rise of more connected devices to the network. On average, 30,000 websites are hacked daily, and nearly 64% of companies worldwide experience at least one type of cyberattack. As per IDC's 2022 Ransomware study, two-thirds of global organizations were hit by a ransomware attack that year. This creates the desire for a more robust and evolutionary attack detection and recovery model. One aspect of the study is the bio-inspiration models. This is because of the natural ability of living organisms to withstand various odd circumstances and overcome them with an optimization strategy. In contrast to the limitations of machine learning models with the need for quality datasets and computational availability, bio-inspired models can perform in low computational environments, and their performances are designed to evolve naturally with time. This study concentrates on exploring the evolutionary defence mechanism in plants and understanding how plants react to any known external attacks and how the response mechanism changes to unknown attacks. This study also explores how regenerative models, such as salamander limb regeneration, could build a network recovery system where services could be automatically activated after a network attack, and data could be recovered automatically by the network after a ransomware-like attack. The performance of the proposed model is compared to open-source IDS Snort and data recovery systems such as Burp and Casandra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Synthesizing plans for a deformable object to transit from initial observations to goal observations, both of which are represented by high-dimensional data (namely "raw" data), is challenging due to the difficulty of learning abstract state representations of raw data and transition models of continuous states and continuous actions. Even though there have been some approaches making remarkable progress regarding the planning problem, they often neglect actions between observations and are unable to generate action sequences from initial observations to goal observations. In this paper, we propose a novel algorithm framework, namely AGN. We first learn a state-abstractor model to abstract states from raw observations, a state-generator model to generate raw observations from states, a heuristic model to predict actions to be executed in current states, and a transition model to transform current states to next states after executing specific actions. After that, we directly generate plans for a deformable object by performing the four models. We evaluate our approach in continuous domains and show that our approach is effective with comparison to state-of-the-art algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environment consists of the interaction between the physical, biotic, and anthropic means. As this interaction is dynamic, environmental characteristics tend to change naturally over time, requiring continuous monitoring. In this scenario, the internet of things (IoT), together with traditional sensor networks, allows for the monitoring of various environmental aspects such as air, water, atmospheric, and soil conditions, and sending data to different users and remote applications. This paper proposes a Standard-based Internet of Things Platform and Data Flow Modeling for Smart Environmental Monitoring. The platform consists of an IoT network based on the IEEE 1451 standard which has the network capable application processor (NCAP) node (coordinator) and multiple wireless transducers interface module (WTIM) nodes. A WTIM node consists of one or more transducers, a data transfer interface and a processing unit. Thus, with the developed network, it is possible to collect environmental data at different points within a city landscape, to perform analysis of the communication distance between the WTIM nodes, and monitor the number of bytes transferred according to each network node. In addition, a dynamic model of data flow is proposed where the performance of the NCAP and WTIM nodes are described through state variables, relating directly to the information exchange dynamics between the communicating nodes in the mesh network. The modeling results showed stability in the network. Such stability means that the network has capacity of preserve its flow of information, for a long period of time, without loss frames or packets due to congestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Real-time monitoring of multiphase fluid flows with distributed fibre optic sensing has the potential to play a major role in industrial flow measurement applications. One such application is the optimization of hydrocarbon production to maximize short-term income, and prolong the operational lifetime of production wells and the reservoir. While the measurement technology itself is well understood and developed, a key remaining challenge is the establishment of robust data analysis tools that are capable of providing real-time conversion of enormous data quantities into actionable process indicators. This paper provides a comprehensive technical review of the data analysis techniques for distributed fibre optic technologies, with a particular focus on characterizing fluid flow in pipes. The review encompasses classical methods, such as the speed of sound estimation and Joule-Thomson coefficient, as well as their data-driven machine learning counterparts, such as Convolutional Neural Network (CNN), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) algorithms. The study aims to help end-users establish reliable, robust, and accurate solutions that can be deployed in a timely and effective way, and pave the wave for future developments in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose a novel hybrid discriminative learning approach based on shifted-scaled Dirichlet mixture model (SSDMM) and Support Vector Machines (SVMs) to address some challenging problems of medical data categorization and recognition. The main goal is to capture accurately the intrinsic nature of biomedical images by considering the desirable properties of both generative and discriminative models. To achieve this objective, we propose to derive new data-based SVM kernels generated from the developed mixture model SSDMM. The proposed approach includes the following steps: the extraction of robust local descriptors, the learning of the developed mixture model via the expectation–maximization (EM) algorithm, and finally the building of three SVM kernels for data categorization and classification. The potential of the implemented framework is illustrated through two challenging problems that concern the categorization of retinal images into normal or diabetic cases and the recognition of lung diseases in chest X-rays (CXR) images. The obtained results demonstrate the merits of our hybrid approach as compared to other methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In data clustering, the measured data are usually regarded as uncertain data. As a probability-based clustering technique, possible world can easily cluster the uncertain data. However, the method of possible world needs to satisfy two conditions: determine the data of different possible worlds and determine the corresponding probability of occurrence. The existing methods mostly make multiple measurements and treat each measurement as deterministic data of a possible world. In this paper, a possible world-based fusion estimation model is proposed, which changes the deterministic data into probability distribution according to the estimation algorithm, and the corresponding probability can be confirmed naturally. Further, in the clustering stage, the Kullback–Leibler divergence is introduced to describe the relationships of probability distributions among different possible worlds. Then, an application in wearable body networks (WBNs) is given, and some interesting conclusions are shown. Finally, simulations show better performance when the relationships between features in measured data are more complex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of prognostics and health management solutions in the manufacturing industry has lagged behind academic advances due to a number of practical challenges. This work proposes a framework for the initial development of industrial PHM solutions that is based on the system development life cycle commonly used for software-based applications. Methodologies for completing the planning and design stages, which are critical for industrial solutions, are presented. Two challenges that are inherent to health modeling in manufacturing environments, data quality and modeling systems that experience trend-based degradation, are then identified and methods to overcome them are proposed. Additionally included is a case study documenting the development of an industrial PHM solution for a hyper compressor at a manufacturing facility operated by The Dow Chemical Company. This case study demonstrates the value of the proposed development process and provides guidelines for utilizing it in other applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the energy sector, since the adoption of remote device management for massive advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) devices and Internet of Things (IoT) technology using a representational state transfer (RESTful) architecture, a blurred boundary has been developed between traditional AMI and IoT. With respect to smart meters, the standard-based smart metering protocol, called the device language message specification (DLMS) protocol, still has a predominant role in the AMI industry. Thus, we aim to propose a novel data interworking model in this article that embraces the DLMS protocol in AMI using the most promising IoT protocol, the so-called lightweight machine-to-machine (LwM2M) protocol. We provide a 1:1 conversion model using the correlation of the two protocols with an analysis of the object modeling and resource management methods of both the LwM2M and DLMS protocols. The proposed model utilizes a complete RESTful architecture, which is the most beneficial in the LwM2M protocol. It improves the average packet transmission efficiency and packet delay on the plaintext and encrypted text (session establishment and authenticated encryption) by 52.9%p and 9.9%p, respectively, and by 11.86 ms for both cases, compared to the encapsulation method of the LwM2M protocol, KEPCO's current approach. This work provides the key idea to unify the protocol for the remote metering and device management of field devices into the LwM2M protocol, and it is expected that this work will improve the efficiency in the operation and management of KEPCO's AMI system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electrical power grid, is an interconnected network for delivering electricity from producers to consumers. Electrical grids vary in size from covering a single building through national grids (which cover whole countries) to transnational grids (which can cross continents). As the rollout of smart meters continues worldwide, there are use-cases where common solutions fail and the network availability of certain meters is very low due to poor communication conditions. This paper proposes a data slicing model for large data files which have to travel securely and reliably throughout the Smart Grid. The manuscript addresses improvements for PRIME PLC network availability by using correct data slicing at the application level along a tuned transmission rate in accordance with the noise levels of the power grid. Successful communications, even at low rates, mean that no manual interaction from energy supplier operators is needed reducing the maintenance costs for both the energy companies as well as for the end user. Experiments on a low power electrical grid setup have been performed in order to evaluate availability improvements through the proposed method as well as the feasibility of remote firmware upgrades. The results have shown that the current approach has similar upgrade time results with a manual firmware upgrade performed through an optical probe. Moreover, the results show that the presented remote firmware upgrade method is reliable and practical. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel data classification framework, combining sparse auto-encoders (SAEs) and a post-processing system consisting of a linear system model relying on Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm. All the sensitive and high-level features are extracted by using the first auto-encoder which is wired to the second auto-encoder, followed by a Softmax function layer to classify the extracted features obtained from the second layer. The two auto-encoders and the Softmax classifier are stacked in order to be trained in a supervised approach using the well-known backpropagation algorithm to enhance the performance of the neural network. Afterwards, the linear model transforms the calculated output of the deep stacked sparse auto-encoder to a value close to the anticipated output. This simple transformation increases the overall data classification performance of the stacked sparse auto-encoder architecture. The PSO algorithm allows the estimation of the parameters of the linear model in a metaheuristic policy. The proposed framework is validated by using three public datasets, which present promising results when compared with the current literature. Furthermore, the framework can be applied to any data classification problem by considering minor updates such as altering some parameters including input features, hidden neurons and output classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geometric model fitting is a fundamental issue in computer vision, and the fitting accuracy is affected by outliers. In order to eliminate the impact of the outliers, the inlier threshold or scale estimator is usually adopted. However, a single inlier threshold cannot satisfy multiple models in the data, and scale estimators with a certain noise distribution model work poorly in geometric model fitting. It can be observed that the residuals of outliers are big for all true models in the data, which makes the consensus of the outliers. Based on this observation, we propose a preference analysis method based on residual histograms to study the outlier consensus for outlier detection in this paper. We have found that the outlier consensus makes the outliers gather away from the inliers on the designed residual histogram preference space, which is quite convenient to separate outliers from inliers through linkage clustering. After the outliers are detected and removed, a linkage clustering with permutation preference is introduced to segment the inliers. In addition, in order to make the linkage clustering process stable and robust, an alternative sampling and clustering framework is proposed in both the outlier detection and inlier segmentation processes. The experimental results also show that the outlier detection scheme based on residual histogram preference can detect most of the outliers in the data sets, and the fitting results are better than most of the state-of-the-art methods in geometric multi-model fitting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared with traditional physical commodities, data are intangible and easy to leak, and the related trading process has problems, such as complex participating roles, lengthy information flow, poor supervisory coverage and difficult information traceability. To handle these problems, we construct a distributed supervision model for data trading based on blockchain, and conduct multi-party hierarchical and multi-dimensional supervision of the whole process of data trading through collaborative supervision before the event, at present and after the event. First, the characteristics of information flow in the data trading process are analyzed, and the main subject and key supervision information in the data trading process are sorted out and refined. Secondly, combined with the actual business process of data trading supervision, a multi-channel structure of distributed supervision is proposed by adopting an access–verification–traceability strategy. Finally, under the logical framework of the supervision model, the on-chain hierarchical structure and the data hybrid storage method of "on-chain + off-chain" are designed, and multi-supervisor-oriented hierarchical supervision and post-event traceability are realized through smart contracts. The results show that the constructed blockchain-based distributed supervision model of data trading can effectively isolate and protect sensitive and private information between data trading, so as to realize the whole process, multi-subject and differentiated supervision of key information of data trading, and provide an effective and feasible method for the controllable and safe supervision of data trading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a data analysis and modelization method for the rolling mill process of billets in steel plants. By exploiting rolling mill signals and advanced data processing algorithms, a reliable billet tracking system is designed, which tracks each workpiece from the furnace entrance to the rolling mill stands' exit area. Based on the stored information, two problems are addressed: the data analysis of the temperature sensors (a thermal imaging camera and pyrometers) and the current that is related to the rolling mill stands' absorption, and subsequently, a mathematical modelization of the billets' temperature along their path in the rolling mill is produced. The data analysis suggested that we should perform hardware modifications: the thermal imaging camera was repositioned to avoid the effect of scale formation on the temperature measurements. The modelization phase provided the basis for future control and/or diagnosis applications that will exploit a temperature decay model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing correlations between features extracted from Electroencephalography (EEG) signals and emotional aspects have motivated the development of a diversity of EEG-based affect detection methods. Both intra-subject and inter-subject approaches have been used in this context. Intra-subject approaches generally suffer from the small sample problem, and require the collection of exhaustive data for each new user before the detection system is usable. On the contrary, inter-subject models do not account for the personality and physiological influence of how the individual is feeling and expressing emotions. In this paper, we analyze both modeling approaches, using three public repositories. The results show that the subject's influence on the EEG signals is substantially higher than that of the emotion and hence it is necessary to account for the subject's influence on the EEG signals. To do this, we propose a data transformation that seamlessly integrates individual traits into an inter-subject approach, improving classification results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Codebook model is one of the popular real-time models for background subtraction. In this paper, we first extend it from traditional Red-Green-Blue (RGB) color model to multispectral sequences. A self-adaptive mechanism is then designed based on the statistical information extracted from the data themselves, with which the performance has been improved, in addition to saving time and effort to search for the appropriate parameters. Furthermore, the Spectral Information Divergence is introduced to evaluate the spectral distance between the current and reference vectors, together with the Brightness and Spectral Distortion. Experiments on five multispectral sequences with different challenges have shown that the multispectral self-adaptive Codebook model is more capable of detecting moving objects than the corresponding RGB sequences. The proposed research framework opens a door for future works for applying multispectral sequences in moving object detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the era of the Internet of Things (IoT), drug developers can potentially access a wealth of real-world, participant-generated data that enable better insights and streamlined clinical trial processes. Protection of confidential data is of primary interest when it comes to health data, as medical condition influences daily, professional, and social life. Current approaches in digital trials entail that private user data are provisioned to the trial investigator that is considered a trusted party. The aim of this paper is to present the technical requirements and the research challenges to secure the flow and control of personal data and to protect the interests of all the involved parties during the first phases of a clinical trial, namely the characterization of the potential patients and their possible recruitment. The proposed architecture will let the individuals keep their data private during these phases while providing a useful sketch of their data to the investigator. Proof-of-concept implementations are evaluated in terms of performances achieved in real-world environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A considerable number of Internet of Things deployments are isolated from specific solutions, from devices to data platforms. Standardized data models were proposed to overcome the interoperability gap between these deployments. Next generation service interfaces-linked data (NGSI-LD) is one of the proposed platforms that exploits linked data and proposes an information model and an application programming interface (API) for easy use and standard management of context information. The NGSI-LD information model is based on JSON for Linked Data (JSON-LD) as a serialization format for context information. This efficiently exploits the potential of semantics and linked open data. However, the NGSI-LD graph API and query language are still theoretically defined and limited to some preliminary works. Consequently, current NGSI-LD implementations are mainly based on traditional databases, where the JSON-LD serialization is supported but not exploited owing to the difficulties in defining and implementing new NGSI-LD based Graph APIs. One of the basic solutions is the use of an RDF store for NGSI-LD payloads because these types of databases are well defined and maintained and will not need any added effort for JSON-LD based payloads. However, the main complication at this level is the use of reification to annotate relationships. This study focused on both aspects of exploiting the semantics of NGSI-LD by proposing standardized mapping mechanisms to RDF graphs without reifying JSON-LD payloads and with respect to the NGSI-LD context model and API. Our main proposals highlight that exploiting the RDF store for processing NGSI-LD data semantically is feasible and uncomplicated. We illustrated the proposed mapping approaches with real use-case examples and a possible exploitation of semantic approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land surface temperature (LST) is a critical state variable of land surface energy equilibrium and a key indicator of environmental change such as climate change, urban heat island, and freezing-thawing hazard. The high spatial and temporal resolution datasets are urgently needed for a variety of environmental change studies, especially in remote areas with few LST observation stations. MODIS and Landsat satellites have complementary characteristics in terms of spatial and temporal resolution for LST retrieval. To make full use of their respective advantages, this paper developed a pixel-based multi-spatial resolution adaptive fusion modeling framework (called pMSRAFM). As an instance of this framework, the data fusion model for joint retrieval of LST from Landsat-8 and MODIS data was implemented to generate the synthetic LST with Landsat-like spatial resolution and MODIS temporal information. The performance of pMSRAFM was tested and validated in the Heihe River Basin located in China. The results of six experiments showed that the fused LST was high similarity to the direct Landsat-derived LST with structural similarity index (SSIM) of 0.83 and the index of agreement (d) of 0.84. The range of SSIM was 0.65–0.88, the root mean square error (RMSE) yielded a range of 1.6–3.4 °C, and the averaged bias was 0.6 °C. Furthermore, the temporal information of MODIS LST was retained and optimized in the synthetic LST. The RMSE ranged from 0.7 °C to 1.5 °C with an average value of 1.1 °C. When compared with in situ LST observations, the mean absolute error and bias were reduced after fusion with the mean absolute bias of 1.3 °C. The validation results that fused LST possesses the spatial pattern of Landsat-derived LSTs and inherits most of the temporal properties of MODIS LSTs at the same time, so it can provide more accurate and credible information. Consequently, pMSRAFM can be served as a promising and practical fusion framework to prepare a high-quality LST spatiotemporal dataset for various applications in environment studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a new data-driven model design for rendering force responses from elastic tool deformation. The new design incorporates a six-dimensional input describing the initial position of the contact, as well as the state of the tool deformation. The input-output relationship of the model was represented by a radial basis functions network, which was optimized based on training data collected from real tool-surface contact. Since the input space of the model is represented in the local coordinate system of a tool, the model is independent of recording and rendering devices and can be easily deployed to an existing simulator. The model also supports complex interactions, such as self and multi-contact collisions. In order to assess the proposed data-driven model, we built a custom data acquisition setup and developed a proof-of-concept rendering simulator. The simulator was evaluated through numerical and psychophysical experiments with four different real tools. The numerical evaluation demonstrated the perceptual soundness of the proposed model, meanwhile the user study revealed the force feedback of the proposed simulator to be realistic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wireless sensor networks are being increasingly used in several application areas, particularly to collect data and monitor physical processes. Non-functional requirements, like reliability, security or availability, are often important and must be accounted for in the application development. For that purpose, there is a large body of knowledge on dependability techniques for distributed systems, which provide a good basis to understand how to satisfy these non-functional requirements of WSN-based monitoring applications. Given the data-centric nature of monitoring applications, it is of particular importance to ensure that data are reliable or, more generically, that they have the necessary quality. In this survey, we look into the problem of ensuring the desired quality of data for dependable monitoring using WSNs. We take a dependability-oriented perspective, reviewing the possible impairments to dependability and the prominent existing solutions to solve or mitigate these impairments. Despite the variety of components that may form a WSN-based monitoring system, we give particular attention to understanding which faults can affect sensors, how they can affect the quality of the information and how this quality can be improved and quantifie. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]