A New Method for Detecting Altered Text in Document Images

As more and more office documents are captured, stored, and shared in digital format, and as image editing software are becoming increasingly more powerful, there is a growing concern about document authenticity. To prevent illicit activities, this paper presents a new method for detecting altered text in document images. The proposed method explores the relationship between positive and negative coefficients of DCT to extract the effect of distortions caused by tampering by fusing reconstructed images of respective positive and negative coefficients, which results in Positive-Negative DCT coefficients Fusion (PNDF). To take advantage of spatial information, we propose to fuse R, G, and B color channels of input images, which results in RGBF (RGB Fusion). Next, the same fusion operation is used for fusing PNDF and RGBF, which results in a fused image for the original input one. We compute a histogram to extract features from the fused image, which results in a feature vector. The feature vector is then fed to a deep neural network for classifying altered text images. The proposed method is tested on our own dataset and the standard datasets from the ICPR 2018 Fraud Contest, Altered Handwriting (AH), and faked IMEI number images. The results show that the proposed method is effective and the proposed method outperforms the existing methods irrespective of image type.

Adjustable positive and negative hygrothermal expansion metamaterial inspired by the Maltese cross

A metamaterial that can manifest both positive and negative coefficients of moisture and thermal expansion is presented herein, based on inspiration from the Maltese cross. Each unit of the metamaterial consists of a pair of equal-armed crosses pin-joined at their junctions to permit rotation, but elastically restrained by a bimaterial spiral spring, and four pairs of hinge rods to translate the relative rotational motion of the pair of equal-armed crosses into translational motion of the connecting rods. The effective coefficients of moisture and thermal expansion models were developed for small and large changes in the hygrothermal conditions using infinitesimal (approximate) and finite (exact) motion analyses, respectively, with the former giving constant effective coefficients with respect to environmental changes. Results indicate that the approximate method underestimates the magnitude of both the effective expansion coefficients under cooling and drying but overestimates magnitudes of both coefficients during heating and moistening, and that the change in both expansion coefficients is more drastic during cooling and drying than during heating and moistening. In addition to providing another micro-lattice geometry for effecting expansion coefficients of either signs, this metamaterial exhibits auxetic property.

Covariance of Interdependent Samples with Application to GWAS

We devise a significance test for covariance of samples not drawn independently, but with known inter-sample covariance structure. The test distribution we propose is a linear combination of χ2 distributions, with positive and negative coefficients. The corresponding cumulative distribution function can be efficiently calculated with Davies algorithm at high precision. As an application, we propose a test for dependence between SNP-wise effect sizes of two genome-wide association studies at the level of genes. The test can be extended to detect gene-wise causal links. We illustrate this method by uncovering potential shared genetic links between severity of Covid-19, taking of class M05B medication (drugs affecting bone structure and mineralization), Vitamin D (25OHD) and Calcium concentrations. In particular, our method detects a potential role played by chemokine receptor genes linked to TH1 versus TH2 immune reaction, a gene related to integrin beta-1 cell surface expression, and other genes potentially impacting severity of Covid-19.

Analysis of genetic parameters of reproductive traits in conserved breed sows raised in Poland

The aim of the study was to estimate the genetic parameters for reproductive performance in native breeds sows covered by genetic resource conservation programmes in Poland. The study used data on reproductive performance of 1,182 Złotnicka White sows, 1,648 Złotnicka Spotted sows and 1,180 Puławska sows. The following traits were analysed: age at first farrowing, number of piglets born alive, number of piglets at 21 days of age and farrowing interval. Covariance components and genetic parameters were estimated using an REML animal model with different combinations of fixed and random effects. Convergence of the iterative process was achieved by the selection of the AIREML algorithm. The estimated values of the coefficients of heritability for the number of piglets born ranged from h2 = 0.09 in the Puławska breed to h2 = 0.30 in the Złotnicka White breed. For the number of piglets reared, they varied between h2 = 0.09 in the Złotnicka Spotted breed to h2 = 0.27 in the Puławska breed. The heritability values for age at first farrowing and farrowing interval were higher, and ranged from 0.4 to 0.5. The significant positive and negative coefficients of phenotypic correlation, estimated between age at first farrowing and farrowing interval with the number of piglets born alive and reared per litter, suggest that the native pig breeds should be bred in keeping with their breed predispositions.

Oscillatory Properties for Second-Order Impulsive Neutral Dynamic Equations with Positive and Negative Coefficients on Time Scales

We study oscillatory properties for second-order impulsive neutral dynamic equations with positive and negative coefficients on time scales. By using variable substitution, we obtain sufficient conditions for several dynamic equations to be oscillatory.

PCA BAND SELECTION METHOD FOR A HYPERSPECTRAL SENSORS ONBOARD AN UAV

The development of light and small sensors, like Lidar and hyperspectral sensors, has gained popularity over the last few years. In this paper we present the experience of UFPR (Brazil), in collaboration with KIT (Germany), on the use of a UAV system carrying a hyperspectral sensor for land cover studies. The sensors were integrated with the traditional IMU-GNSS systems to record data from a quadricopter. The study focuses on band selection, aiming at reducing computational effort and statistical limitations. For this purpose, the principal components of the multispectral image are computed. The best principal components are then selected according to the explained original variance, as described by the relative size of the eigenvalues. Then, each principal component is analyzed searching for contrasting spectral regions, described by consecutive positive and negative coefficients. The most representative band of each spectral region is the selected according to its information contents and contribution to the computation of the respective eigenvectors. The method is tested using images collected with the FireflEYE 185 Cubert camera with 125 channels in the wavelength between 450 nm and 950 nm, flying over the experimental Canguiri farm in Curitiba, Brazil. Finally, we discuss the advantages of the method and its limitations.

Asymptotic Criteria of Neutral Differential Equations with Positive and Negative Coefficients and Impulsive Integral Term

In this paper, the asymptotic behavior of all solutions of impulsive neutral differential equations with positive and negative coefficients and with impulsive integral term was investigated. Some sufficient conditions were obtained to ensure that all nonoscillatory solutions converge to zero. Illustrative examples were given for the main results.

Operating Cash Flow and Dividend Changes as a Management Tool for Planning and Making Decision

The main objective of this study was to examine whether operating cash flows have incremental information beyond operating net income in explaining dividend changes for a sample of Jordanian industrial firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) during the period 2010-2016 Arguments for operating cash flow information suggest that it is better than accrual net income in reflecting the firm performance and in measuring the firm liquidity. Both performance and liquidity are viewed as significant factors influencing a firm’s dividend policy. To examine this, operating cash flow, operating net income and lagged dividends were incorporated in a regression model. The results of this model indicated that the only significant variables explaining dividend changes were operating net income and lagged dividends with positive and negative coefficients, respectively. An attempt was also made to address the problem of nonlinearity in the relationship between cash flow and dividend changes. The sample of the industrial firms were divided into two groups (high growth and low growth firms) based on market to book value ratio. The results of the two regression models provided evidence consistent with the superiority of accrual operating net income over operating cash flow in explaining dividend changes. The results of this study suggest that Jordanian industrial firms base their dividend policies on accrual net income rather than on cash flows. One possible consequence of this suggestion is that cash dividends are not internally financed and as a result, this would deteriorate the liquidity and solvency position of a firm.

Existence of Nonoscillation Solutions of Second-order Neutral Dierential Equations

This paper is concerned with existence of nonoscillation solution for a family of second-order neutral differential equations with positive and negative coefficients. A sufficient conditions for existence of nonoscillation solution is obtained by contraction fixed point theorem, special case of the equation has also been studied.