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Roads can experience a variety of distresses due to the combined effects of heavy traffic, weather, the materials used to build them, the underlying soil, and the way they were constructed. Some of these distresses that occur in flexible pavements are longitudinal and transverse cracks, potholes, patching, and depressions. The severity of these distresses increases over time, which has a negative impact on ride quality. To maintain the pavement in a safe and serviceable condition, early detection and measurement of the severity of distresses are required. Image processing techniques are a modern method for detecting and measuring pavement distresses using digital images and image processing software. Traditional methods for measuring distress are laborious, slow, and risky for the measurers. In contrast, image processing techniques are simple, safe, and quick to complete. This research paper performs image processing methods and measurements using two image processing programs, one for detection and the other for measuring pavement distresses. A comparison of image measurements with traditional measurements showed that the two methods are highly correlated, with image measurements being very close to those obtained using the traditional method. The results of the study showed that the measurements of the length, width, and area of road distresses obtained using image processing techniques were similar to those obtained using the traditional method, with high coefficients of determination R² of 0.9999, 0.9257, and 0.9451, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anemia is a common problem that affects a significant part of the world's population, especially in impoverished countries. This work aims to improve the accessibility of remote diagnostic tools for underserved populations. Our proposal involves implementing algorithms to estimate hemoglobin levels using images of the eyelid conjunctiva and a calibration label captured with a mid-range cell phone. We propose three algorithms: one for calibration label segmentation, another for palpebral conjunctiva segmentation, and the last one for estimating hemoglobin levels based on the segmented images from the previous algorithms. Experiments were performed using a data set of children's eyelid images and calibration stickers. An L1 norm error of 0.72 g/dL was achieved using the SLIC-GAT model to estimate the hemoglobin level. In conclusion, the integration of these segmentation and regression methods improved the estimation accuracy compared to current approaches, considering that the source of the images was a mid-range commercial camera. The proposed method has the potential for mass screening in low-income rural populations as it is non-invasive, and its simplicity makes it feasible for community health workers with basic training to perform the test. Therefore, this tool could contribute significantly to efforts aimed at combating childhood anemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image processing is vital in modern technology, offering a diverse range of techniques for manipulating digital images to extract valuable information or enhance visual quality. Among these techniques, image inpainting stands out, involving the reconstruction or restoration of missing or damaged regions within the images. This study explores advances in image inpainting and presents a novel approach that integrates coarse-to-fine inpainting and attention-based inpainting techniques. The proposed method in this paper leverages deep learning methods to enhance the quality and efficiency of image inpainting, achieving robust and high-quality results that balance structural integrity and contextual coherence. A comprehensive evaluation and comparison with existing methods showed that the proposed approach has superior performance in maintaining structural integrity and contextual coherence within images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The accurate distribution of joints on the tunnel face is crucial for assessing the stability and safety of surrounding rock during tunnel construction. This paper introduces the Mask R-CNN image segmentation algorithm, a state-of-the-art deep learning model, to achieve efficient and accurate identification and extraction of joints on tunnel face images. First, digital images of tunnel faces were captured and stitched, resulting in 286 complete images suitable for analysis. Then, the joints on the tunnel face were extracted using traditional image processing algorithms, the commonly used U-net image segmentation model, and the Mask R-CNN image segmentation model introduced in this paper to address the lack of recognition accuracy. Finally, the extraction results obtained by the three methods were compared. The comparison results show that the joint extraction method based on the Mask R-CNN image segmentation deep learning model introduced in this paper achieved the best joint extraction effect with a Dice similarity coefficient of 87.48%, outperforming traditional methods and the U-net model, which scored 60.59% and 75.36%, respectively, realizing accurate and efficient acquisition of tunnel face rock joints. These findings suggest that the Mask R-CNN model can be effectively implemented in real-time monitoring systems for tunnel construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital images are corrupted with noise, and image denoising is an important step in image processing modules. In this review, the latest developments in filtering methods for color image restoration are analyzed. These algorithms are compared in terms of objective image quality measures and divided into major classes, such as spatial domain, switching and wavelet filtering methods. These classes are based on the particular methodology used in image denoising algorithms and further subdivided to show their classification in terms of noise models utilized, application style, and stages the filters applied in images. In particular, we present a review of filtering methods in color image denoising, published over the past two decades. Our classification and succinct descriptions of color image restoration by these mathematical filtering techniques and their characterizations can help choose the appropriate ones for various downstream image processing tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the widespread application of digital images, image processing technology plays an important role in fields such as computer vision and image analysis. Based on the orthogonal matching pursuit algorithm, an image processing method is proposed. In the process, sparse representation and reconstruction algorithm are used for image compressed sensing to complete image sampling operation. Afterwards, the theory of overcomplete sparse representation is introduced to optimize sparse representation, and an overcomplete dictionary is used to remove Gaussian noise, achieving the goal of image processing. The experimental results indicate that the research method do not show significant deficiencies in signal reconstruction when testing reconstructed signals under sparsity of 8; When testing the calculation time, the calculation time of the research method is about 0.212 s when the sparsity is 5 in the Lenna; In the error test, the mean square difference of the research method in the Lenna is stable at about 14.6; When conducting application analysis, the variance eigenvalues of the research method remained below 9.4. This indicates that the research method has good performance and can effectively process images, providing new technical support for image processing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the growing interest in studying the affective and aesthetic attributes of curvature, the present paper describes four digital image processing techniques that can be used to objectively discriminate between angular and curvilinear stimuli. MATLAB scripts for each of the techniques accompany the paper. Three studies are then reported that evaluate the efficacy of five metrics, derived from the four techniques, at quantifying the degree of angularity depicted in an image. Images of simple polygons (Study 1), artistic drawings of everyday objects (Study 2), and real-world objects, typefaces, and abstract patterns (Study 3) were analyzed. Logistic regression models were used to determine the relative importance of the metrics at distinguishing between angular and curvilinear items. With one exception, all of the metrics were capable of distinguishing between angular and curvilinear items at a level above chance, but some metrics were better at doing so than others, and their discriminative capacity was influenced by the characteristics of the image. The strengths and limitations of the metrics are discussed, as well as some practical recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Watermarking is a widespread technique for information protection and an invisible alternative to quick response codes. The literature mainly considers software implementations of watermarking methods, even though there are applications for which hardware watermarking solutions become preferable or the only possible option due to increased speed, power, or information safety requirements. A convenient, flexible, and universal solution for hardware development is intellectual property (IP) cores. IP cores are building blocks for creating processors on FPGA or ASIC. The main objective of this work is to present the implementation of the robust watermarking method in the form of an IP core suitable for image processing systems on processors. The main contribution of this work is that it is the first hardware implementation of template-based watermarking for modern neural network-based extraction methods. The paper briefly discusses the existing hardware solutions for embedding data, describes the implemented watermarking method and the implementation itself, and provides the key indicators of the resulting solution and a link to the public repository with the solution. The proposed watermarking scheme has good imperceptibility (PSNR of 39.66), bpp of 0.00097, and BER of less than 3% for attacks. The implementation supports a frequency of 120 MHz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spiking neural membrane systems (SN P systems) are a class of bio-inspired models inspired by the activities and connectivity of neurons. Extensive studies have been made on SN P systems with synchronization-based communication, while further efforts are needed for the systems with rhythm-based communication. In this work, we design an asynchronous SN P system with resonant connections where all the enabled neurons in the same group connected by resonant connections should instantly produce spikes with the same rhythm. In the designed system, each of the three modules implements one type of the three operations associated with the edge detection of digital images, and they collaborate each other through the resonant connections. An algorithm called EDSNP for edge detection is proposed to simulate the working of the designed asynchronous SN P system. A quantitative analysis of EDSNP and the related methods for edge detection had been conducted to evaluate the performance of EDSNP. The performance of the EDSNP in processing the testing images is superior to the compared methods, based on the quantitative metrics of accuracy, error rate, mean square error, peak signal-to-noise ratio and true positive rate. The results indicate the potential of the temporal firing and the proper neuronal connections in the SN P system to achieve good performance in edge detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical image processing has become a critical research area due to the vast amounts of digital image data available. However, medical images often suffer from poor illumination and low visibility of significant structures, requiring image enhancement to improve image quality before processing. In this paper, we propose a technique for enhancing medical images by removing noise and improving contrast based on three different enhancing transforms. The proposed technique embeds the image into a neutrosophic fuzzy domain, where it is mapped into three different levels of trueness, falseness, and indeterminacy, and each level is processed individually using the enhancement transforms. We compare the proposed technique with four other systems for leukemia detection and classification using accuracy and T, I, and F values. The proposed system performs the best with an accuracy of 98%, outperforming the other systems in terms of accuracy, degree of indeterminacy, and falsity. The proposed system uses different algorithms and filters to process images and extract features like color and texture. The system's classification uses k-means for segmentation and SVM for classification. The paper highlights the importance of considering T, I, and F values in evaluating the performance of different systems for leukemia detection and classification, providing a more accurate representation of the uncertainty and ambiguity involved in the evaluation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Evaluation of lid contour and marginal peak point changes to compare outcomes of external levator advancement and Müller’s muscle conjunctival resection surgery in unilateral ptosis. Methods: We reviewed the charts of unilateral ptosis patients who underwent external levator advancement or Müller’s muscle conjunctival resection. Eyelid contour analysis was conducted on preoperative and 6-month postoperative digital images. This was performed with the multiple margin reflex distances technique, measuring the vertical distance from a line intersecting the center of the pupil to the eyelid margin at 10 positions at 2 mm intervals. The marginal peak point changes were analyzed digitally using the coordinates of the peak point according to the pupil center. Each position’s mean distance was compared preoperatively, postoperatively, and with the fellow eyelid. Results: Sixteen patients underwent external levator advancement and 16 patients had Müller’s muscle conjunctival resection. The mean margin reflex distance was improved by both techniques (1.46 vs. 2.43 mm and 1.12 vs. 2.25 mm, p=0.008 and p=0.0001 respectively) and approached that of the fellow eyelid (2.43 vs. 2.88 and 2.25 vs. 2.58 mm, p=0.23 and p=0.19, respectively). However, statistically significant lid margin elevation was limited to between the N6 and T6 points in the external levator advancement group. Whereas, significant elevation was achieved along the whole lid margin in the Müller’s muscle conjunctival resection group. The marginal peak point was shifted slightly laterally in the external levator advancement group (p=0.11). Conclusions: Both techniques provide effective lid elevation, however, the external levator advancement’s effect lessens toward the canthi while Müller’s muscle conjunctival resection provides more uniform elevation across the lid margin. The margin reflex distance alone is not sufficient to reflect contour changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the continuous deepening of the urbanization process and the progress of science and technology, people transform nature and develop nature on a larger and larger scale, among which the most iconic transformation is a variety of building structures built by people. And with the passage of time, the building structure in the perennial wind and sun, there will be signs of "illness", if not timely treatment, it will have a huge impact on the stability and safety of the building structure. Based on this, in this paper, according to the characteristics of crack identification on the surface of concrete structure, background subtraction algorithm is selected for image noise reduction processing. Through three steps of digital image noise reduction, crack extraction and crack parameter identification, the quantitative recognition of cracks is completed and a complete system of crack parameter identification is formed. The experimental results show that the machine learning model of building structure health monitoring and damage recognition algorithm proposed in this paper has excellent statistical performance, and the relative error accuracy of recognition can be controlled within 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Point source detection algorithms play a pivotal role across diverse applications, influencing fields such as astronomy, biomedical imaging, environmental monitoring, and beyond. This article reviews the algorithms used for space imaging applications from ground and space telescopes. The main difficulties in detection arise from the incomplete knowledge of the impulse function of the imaging system, which depends on the aperture, atmospheric turbulence (for ground-based telescopes), and other factors, some of which are time-dependent. Incomplete knowledge of the impulse function decreases the effectiveness of the algorithms. In recent years, deep learning techniques have been employed to mitigate this problem and have the potential to outperform more traditional approaches. The success of deep learning techniques in object detection has been observed in many fields, and recent developments can further improve the accuracy. However, deep learning methods are still in the early stages of adoption and are used less frequently than traditional approaches. In this review, we discuss the main challenges of point source detection, as well as the latest developments, covering both traditional and current deep learning methods. In addition, we present a comparison between the two approaches to better demonstrate the advantages of each methodology.

With the rapid development of societal information, electronic educational resources have become an indispensable component of modern education. In response to the increasingly formidable challenges faced by secondary school teachers, this study endeavors to analyze and explore the application of artificial intelligence (AI) methods to enhance their cognitive literacy. Initially, this discourse delves into the application of AI-generated electronic images in the training and instruction of middle school educators, subjecting it to thorough analysis. Emphasis is placed on elucidating the pivotal role played by AI electronic images in elevating the proficiency of middle school teachers. Subsequently, an integrated intelligent device serves as the foundation for establishing a model that applies intelligent classification and algorithms based on the Structure of the Observed Learning Outcome (SOLO). This model is designed to assess the cognitive literacy and teaching efficacy of middle school educators, and its performance is juxtaposed with classification algorithms such as support vector machine (SVM) and decision trees. The findings reveal that, following 600 iterations of the model, the SVM algorithm achieves a 77% accuracy rate in recognizing teacher literacy, whereas the SOLO algorithm attains 80%. Concurrently, the spatial complexities of the SVM-based and SOLO-based intelligent literacy improvement models are determined to be 45 and 22, respectively. Notably, it is discerned that, with escalating iterations, the SOLO algorithm exhibits higher accuracy and reduced spatial complexity in evaluating teachers' pedagogical literacy. Consequently, the utilization of AI methodologies proves highly efficacious in advancing electronic imaging technology and enhancing the efficacy of image recognition in educational instruction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of digital image applications, image processing technology occupies a pivotal position, with image segmentation serving as a foundational component. As the digital image application domain expands across industries, the conventional segmentation techniques increasingly challenge to cater to modern demands. To address this gap, this paper introduces an MCMC-based image segmentation algorithm based on the Markov Random Field (MRF) model, marking a significant stride in the field. The novelty of this research lies in its method that capitalizes on domain information in pixel space, amplifying the local segmentation precision of image segmentation algorithms. Further innovation is manifested in the development of an adaptive segmentation image denoising algorithm based on MCMC sampling. This algorithm not only elevates image segmentation outcomes, but also proficiently denoises the image. In the experimental results, MRF-MCMC achieves better segmentation performance, with an average segmentation accuracy of 94.26% in Lena images, significantly superior to other common image segmentation algorithms. In addition, the study proposes that the denoising model outperforms other algorithms in peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity in environments with noise standard deviations of 15, 25, and 50. In essence, these experimental findings affirm the efficacy of this study, opening avenues for refining digital image segmentation methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of monitoring space debris (SD) of anthropogenic origin is discussed to ensure the safety of near-Earth space environment exploration. For dynamic low-orbit SD fragments, acquisition and processing technologies of short-exposure image series, obtained in a non-redundant aperture synthesis array, are proposed and investigated. Specific features of the optical transfer function (OTF) of the non-redundant array, namely, its "insular" character, lead to difficulties in restoring the spatial spectrum of the control object, undistorted by the atmosphere, in the whole spatial-frequency domain of the array. It is shown that to restore the object's spatial spectrum module, undistorted by the atmosphere, in the whole spatial frequency domain of the array, it is necessary to use algorithm of the Labeyrie method, modified by the authors of the present work. To restore the phase of the spatial spectrum, it is necessary to use the algorithms of unfolding the closed phase equations of the triple correlations method. By physical modeling of the formation and registration processes of analog images in the atmosphere-array system and subsequent statistical processing of digitized images, experimental evidence is given of the effectiveness of the proposed restoring technologies to achieve high resolution of SD fragments in the array, aimed at their subsequent identification and removal. Recommendations are given for practical implementation of the considered promising construction and application technologies of optical systems to control SD fragments. • The problem of space debris (SD) control is investigated to ensure the safety of space flights. • Technologies for short-exposure images of control objects in a non-redundant aperture synthesis array for SD were proposed. • Algorithms of digital processing and restoration of the diffraction images of control objects in the array were developed. • Restoring technologies of SD image processing in non-redundant aperture synthesis array were studied by PC simulation methods. • High resolution of the observed SD fragments for their subsequent identification and removal were experimentally shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the domain of architectural urban informatization, the automated precision recognition of two-dimensional paper schematics emerges as a pivotal technical challenge. Recognition methods traditionally employed frequently encounter limitations due to the fluctuating quality of architectural drawings and the bounds of current image processing methodologies, inhibiting the realization of high accuracy. The research delineates an innovative framework that synthesizes refined semantic segmentation algorithms with image processing techniques and precise coordinate identification methods, with the objective of enhancing the accuracy and operational efficiency in the identification of architectural elements. A meticulously curated data set, featuring 13 principal categories of building and structural components, facilitated the comprehensive training and assessment of two disparate deep learning models. The empirical findings reveal that these algorithms attained mean intersection over union (MIoU) values of 96.44% and 98.01% on the evaluation data set, marking a substantial enhancement in performance relative to traditional approaches. In conjunction, the framework's integration of the Hough Transform with SQL Server technology has significantly reduced the coordinate detection error rates for linear and circular elements to below 0.1% and 0.15%, respectively. This investigation not only accomplishes the efficacious transition from analog two-dimensional paper drawings to their digital counterparts, but also assures the precise identification and localization of essential architectural components within the digital image coordinate framework. These developments are of considerable importance in furthering the digital transition within the construction industry and establish a robust foundation for the forthcoming extension of data collections and the refinement of algorithmic efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Image steganography is a secure communication technique that conceals confidential information within digital images, commonly used in military, digital, and intelligence forensics applications. It preserves data integrity and confidentiality by avoiding attention and suspicion. The goal of this technique is to select random positions within the image to hide data and enhance spatial image steganography. This paper presents a hybrid model based on the salp swarm algorithm (SSA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO). The model is used to locate the optimal position of a text message within a cover image and embed it, ensuring that the stego-image created is of high quality and resistant to specific image processing attacks. The first step involves using SSA to identify the finest pixels from the cover image. In the subsequent step, PSO is employed to choose the best possible bits from these pixels for message concealment. The proposed approach is evaluated on a set of images and compared to existing methods. Experimental findings demonstrate that the suggested system surpasses previous approaches. The suggested method achieved a PSNR of 84.32279 dB and an MSE of 0.00022505 on the Lena image, a PSNR of 84.68192 dB and an MSE of 0.00021362 on the Pepper image, a PSNR of 84.53469 dB and an MSE of 0.00022125 on Baboon, and a PSNR of 84.25440 dB and an MSE of 0.00023651 on the Airplane image. These results indicate higher visual quality and better preservation of data integrity compared to existing methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image Enhancement (IE) is vital and one of the significant parts of Image processing. It is necessary to enhance the contrast and reduce the noise to improve the quality of the image.IE is one of the processes for altering the visibility of an image. It is widely applied in different fields such as medical science, industry, military, agriculture, etc. Image Enhancement is modifying digital images to make the image appear pleasing to the viewer. Several research works have been done on Image Enhancement. This paper also discusses the Self-Calibrated Illumination method (SCIM) and the HE method. SCIM along with HE Image Enhancement techniques and algorithms can improve the visual quality of the digital image. There are several techniques to enhance the quality of an image to extract meaningful information from the image. The wellknown techniques for image enhancement are the RetiNex-based method, Weber-Fechner method, Linear Regression algorithm-based method, Histogram Equalization, Fourier transform, etc. This paper reviews and compares the research work carried out in image enhancement based on the Histogram Equalization Method by different authors. This paper also reviews the merits and drawbacks along with the enhanced images and histogram plots obtained in these methods developed over the past decades. Finally, it concludes what further work needs to be done for a better quality of image. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In image processing, problems of separation and reconstruction of missing pixels from incomplete digital images have been far more advanced in past decades. Many empirical results have produced very good results; however, providing a theoretical analysis for the success of algorithms is not an easy task, especially, for inpainting and separating multi-component signals. In this paper, we propose two main algorithms based on l 1 constrained and unconstrained minimization for separating N distinct geometric components and simultaneously filling in the missing part of the observed image. We then present a theoretical guarantee for these algorithms using compressed sensing technique, which is based on a principle that each component can be sparsely represented by a suitably chosen dictionary. Those sparsifying systems are extended to the case of general frames instead of Parseval frames which have been typically used in the past. We finally prove that the method does indeed succeed in separating point singularities from curvilinear singularities and texture as well as inpainting the missing band contained in curvilinear singularities and texture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, one of the most urgent problems of digital image processing is the search for new mathematical approaches to the analysis and processing of multichannel images. The relevance of these studies is due to the need of optimization of available methods of digital image processing and increase the quality of the results obtained. In this paper, a new approach to processing of digital RGB-images based on the Blaschke theory of three-webs is proposed. Invariants of three-channel images with respect to the widest "topological" transformation group are determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical image analysis forms the basis of image-guided surgery (IGS) and many of its fundamental tasks. Driven by the growing number of medical imaging modalities, the research community of medical imaging has developed methods and achieved functionality breakthroughs. However, with the overwhelming pool of information in the literature, it has become increasingly challenging for researchers to extract context-relevant information for specific applications, especially when many widely used methods exist in a variety of versions optimized for their respective application domains. By being further equipped with sophisticated three-dimensional (3D) medical image visualization and digital reality technology, medical experts could enhance their performance capabilities in IGS by multiple folds. The goal of this narrative review is to organize the key components of IGS in the aspects of medical image processing and visualization with a new perspective and insights. The literature search was conducted using mainstream academic search engines with a combination of keywords relevant to the field up until mid-2022. This survey systemically summarizes the basic, mainstream, and state-of-the-art medical image processing methods as well as how visualization technology like augmented/mixed/virtual reality (AR/MR/VR) are enhancing performance in IGS. Further, we hope that this survey will shed some light on the future of IGS in the face of challenges and opportunities for the research directions of medical image processing and visualization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has demonstrated that digital images can be pre-processed through operations such as scaling, rotation, and blurring to enhance the accuracy of optical character recognition (OCR) by emphasizing important features within the image. Our study employed the open-source Tesseract OCR and found that accuracy can be improved through pre-processing techniques including thresholding, rotation, rescaling, erosion, dilation, and noise removal, based on a dataset of 560 phone screen images. However, our CPU-based implementation of this process resulted in an average latency of 48.32 ms per image, which can hinder the processing of millions of images using OCR. To address this challenge, we parallelized the pre-processing flow on the Nvidia P100 GPU and executed it through a streaming approach, which reduced the latency to 0.825 ms and achieved a speedup factor of 58.6x compared to the serial execution. This implementation enables the use of a GPU-based OCR engine to handle multiple sources of data streams with large-scale workloads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With advent of digital devices, we are surrounded by many digital images. We usually believe on digital images in whatever form presented to us. Therefore, we need to be careful as the images may be forged. There exist several image forgeries through which original intent of the image may be hidden and some other meaning is reflected through forgery. Copy-move forgery is one such forgery technique, where the manipulator copies certain portion of the image and duplicates it in some other portion of the same image. In this paper, we propose a novel approach to detect the copy-move forgery in images using non-overlapping block level pixel comparisons and that can achieve better detection and classification accuracy. This approach divides image into 4, 5, 6 or more such blocks and compare each block by moving sliding window over the entire image which is not overlapping with current block. It was found that with different number of blocks the forged region of different sizes can be easily found. We have used SSIM (structure similarity index) parameter to classify the image as forged or original. Algorithm is simulated on various datasets including (MICC, CASIA, coverage, and COMOFOD, etc.) and achieved maximum accuracy of 98% and also compared our result on precision, recall, FPR and FNR including other parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perchlorate, a hazardous pollutant, is mainly found in untreated wastewater from urban and industrial sites and unregulated surface and groundwater sources. Effective monitoring of perchlorate in water is essential to mitigate its potential harmful effects. Microfluidic systems are evolving as promising technologies for detecting chemical contaminants in water due to their ability to enable rapid analysis with minimal consumption of reagents and samples. The integration of paper-based microfluidic devices with digital imaging has garnered enormous attention from the perspective of developing portable analytical techniques. Nevertheless, there is a need for further exploration to fully realize the potential of these systems. This study aimed to develop and evaluate the performance of a microfluidic paper-based device for measuring perchlorate levels in water samples. Smartphone-based digital imaging was integrated with microfluidic paper-based analytical device to establish a reliable colorimetric method for detecting perchlorate contamination. The results demonstrated successful quantitative estimation of perchlorate levels in water samples using a colorimetric assay based on the methylene blue-perchlorate reaction. Real-time, on-site colorimetric data were collected using a digital smartphone, and image processing methods were used to detect the occurrence of perchlorate in water samples from digital images. The developed approach yielded a broad linear response ranging from 4 to 12 µg/L (R2 = 0.97) for perchlorate detection, with a limit of detection of 3.41 µg/L and a limit of quantification of 10.34 µg/L. The findings underscore the effectiveness of colorimetric analysis and digital imaging for paper-based analytical devices. The limitations of this method include the capability to detect only a single analyte and the requirement for additional steps in image processing to obtain analytical results. Future developments should focus on designing devices for simultaneous detection of multiple contaminants and exploring automated methods of image analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When it comes to reducing impulsive noise from digital photos, the Median Filter (MF) is a nonlinear filter that can be employed effectively. This nonlinear filter is used to erase traces left by other linear filters due to the fact that they are nonlinear in nature. The application of a median filter on an image raises questions about the image's genuineness when it is discovered. For the detection of median filtering, a slew of approaches has been developed. The main purpose of this paper is to explain different parts of median filter forensics, look at some new and existing techniques in median filter forensics, and compare the pros and cons of each technique. We also developed a taxonomy to broadly classify various methods proposed for median filter forensics. In addition, we also discussed and describe the popular testing procedure that researchers in the field are using to evaluate the median filtering detection methods and may be employed as a testing framework for future studies, for other operator detection as well as for general purpose image forensics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantum image processing is an emerging topic in the field of quantum information and technology. In this paper, we propose a new quantum image representation of RGB images with deterministic image retrieval, which is an improvement over all the similar existing representations in terms of using minimum resource. We use two entangled quantum registers constituting of total 7 qutrits to encode the color channels and their intensities. Additionally, we generalize the existing encoding methods by using both qubits and qutrits to encode the pixel positions of a rectangular image. This hybrid-qudit approach aligns well with the current progress of NISQ devices in incorporating higher dimensional quantum systems than qubits. We then describe the image encoding method using higher-order qubit-qutrit gates, and demonstrate the decomposition of these gates in terms of simpler elementary gates. We use the Google Cirq's quantum simulator to verify the image preparation in both the ideal noise-free scenario and in presence of realistic noise modelling. We show that the complexity of the image encoding process is linear in the number of pixels. Lastly, we discuss the image compression and some basic RGB image processing protocols using our representation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premise: Previously we described methods for generating three‐dimensional (3D) virtual reconstructions of plant tissues from transverse thin sections. Here, we report the applicability of longitudinal sections and improved image‐processing steps that are simpler to perform and utilize free applications. Methods: In order to obtain improved digital images and a virtual 3D object (cuboid), GIMP 2.10 and ImageJ 2.3.0 running on a laptop computer were used. Sectional views of the cuboid and 3D visualization were realized with use of the plug‐ins "Volume Viewer" and "3D Viewer" in ImageJ. Results: A 3D object was constructed and sectional views along several cutting planes were generated. The 3D object consisted of selected tissues inside the cuboid that were extracted and visualized from the original section data, and an animated video of the 3D construct was also produced. Discussion: Virtual cuboids can be constructed by stacking longitudinal images along the transverse depth direction or stacking transverse images vertically along the organ axis, with both generating similar 3D objects. Which to use depends on the purpose of the investigation: if the vertical cell structures need close examination, the former method may be better, but for more general spatial evaluations or for evaluation of organs over longer tissue distances than can be accommodated with longitudinal sectioning, the latter method should be chosen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital image noise may be introduced during acquisition, transmission, or processing and affects readability and image processing effectiveness. The accuracy of established image processing techniques, such as segmentation, recognition, and edge detection, is adversely impacted by noise. There exists an extensive body of work which focuses on circumventing such issues through digital image enhancement and noise reduction, but this work is limited by a number of constraints including the application of non-adaptive parameters, potential loss of edge detail information, and (with supervised approaches) a requirement for clean, labeled, training data. This paper, developed on the principle of Noise2Void, presents a new unsupervised learning approach incorporating a pseudo-siamese network. Our method enables image denoising without the need for clean images or paired noise images, instead requiring only noise images. Two independent branches of the network utilize different filling strategies, namely zero filling and adjacent pixel filling. Then, the network employs a loss function to improve the similarity of the results in the two branches. We also modify the Efficient Channel Attention module to extract more diverse features and improve performance on the basis of global average pooling. Experimental results show that compared with traditional methods, the pseudo-siamese network has a greater improvement on the ADNI dataset in terms of quantitative and qualitative evaluation. Our method therefore has practical utility in cases where clean images are difficult to obtain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rapid access to the Internet, digital data can be easily accessed by unauthorized users. The digital watermarking technique is a crucial way in which carrier signal hides digital information in the form of a watermark to prevent the stakeholders' authenticity by changing different coefficients. Some of the basic requirements that must be satisfied for digital image watermarking are robustness, security, and imperceptibility. To ensure robustness against image processing attacks, this paper proposes a secure digital image watermarking system based on a memristor-based hyperchaotic oscillator. To simulate real-world usage, the human visual system (HVS) model is utilized to assess image quality. The HOG model is used to extract the important features from the host image, while the ELM model is utilized for faster training. Hardware-level encryption is implemented using memristor-based hyperchaotic signals, which is combined with Arnold transformation to generate highly secure keys. This paper also presents a detailed analysis to compare and evaluate robustness and security trade-offs using benchmarks such as PSNR, NC, and SSIM with the presence of various attacks. The PSNR value of signed image is up to 41.02 dB and the SSIM value is 0.999, which indicates the imperceptibility and high security. The NC value approaches unity which dictates the high robustness of the watermarking scheme to various image processing attacks. Simulated results are verified using hyperchaotic signals generated from the hyperchaotic oscillator, which evinces exceptional security against data crimes dealing with watermarks and image processing tasks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses current formulations based on fuzzy-logic control concepts as applied to the removal of impulsive noise from digital images. We also discuss the various principles related to fuzzy-ruled based logic control techniques, aiming at preserving edges and digital image details efficiently. Detailed descriptions of a number of formulations for recently developed fuzzy-rule logic controlled filters are provided, highlighting the merit of each filter. Fuzzy-rule based filtering algorithms may be designed assuming the tailoring of specific functional sub-modules: (a) logical controlled variable selection, (b) the consideration of different methods for the generation of fuzzy rules and membership functions, (c) the integration of the logical rules for detecting and filtering impulse noise from digital images. More specifically, we discuss impulse noise models and window-based filtering using fuzzy inference based on vector directional filters as associated with the filtering of RGB color images and then explain how fuzzy vector fields can be generated using standard operations on fuzzy sets taking into consideration fixed or random valued impulse noise and fuzzy vector partitioning. We also discuss how fuzzy cellular automata may be used for noise removal by adopting a Moore neighbourhood architecture. We also explain the potential merits of adopting a fuzzy rule based deep learning ensemble classifier which is composed of a convolutional neural network (CNN), a recurrent neural networks (RNN), a long short term memory neural network (LSTM) and a gated recurrent unit (GRU) approaches, all within a fuzzy min-max (FMM) ensemble. Fuzzy non-local mean filter approaches are also considered. A comparison of various performance metrics for conventional and fuzzy logic based filters as well as deep learning filters is provided. The algorhitms discussed have the following advantageous properties: high quality of edge preservation, high quality of spatial noise suppression capability especially for complex images, sound properties of noise removal (in cases when both mixed additive and impulse noise are present), and very fast computational implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices are emerging as promising options for on-the-spot detection of chemical contaminants in water. The coupling of these devices with digital imaging technology has attracted immense interest in developing portable sensor applications. However, the potential of digital techniques still remains to be fully explored. In this work, we integrate digital imaging with microfluidic paper-based analytical devices to develop a portable colorimetric assay for iron. The experimental conditions are optimised using image analysis and the effects of imaging equipment and colorimetric analysis methods on the readout of devices are studied using numerical, graphical and statistical techniques. The experimental results are obtained for the estimation of iron contamination in water samples using a colorimetric assay based on iron (III)-thiocyanate reaction. The digital image acquisition approach using smartphone as imaging equipment is adopted for on-the-spot colorimetric data collection. Image processing techniques are employed to estimate the iron concentration in water from digital images. Greyscale colour intensity obtained from a digital image is identified as a readout of the analytical device and employed for quantitative assessment. The limit of detection for iron is estimated to be 0.26 ppm. The microfluidic approach offers good recovery and repeatability with relative standard deviation of 1.4%. The maximum percentage difference for intensities between the image analysis methods is 4.94% and that between the imaging equipment is 9.96%. The gradients of regression lines for pairwise equipment and method outputs with zero intercept range from 0.9931 to 1.0162 with high values of coefficients of determination. The correlation coefficient values for various paired comparisons (>0.99) suggest strong agreement. Statistical test results suggest no significant differences between methods and between imaging equipment (significance level 0.05). The findings suggest the efficacy of digital imaging and colorimetric analysis for paper-based analytical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copy move forgery in digital images became a common problem due to the wide accessibility of image processing algorithms and open-source editing software. The human visual system cannot identify the traces of forgery in the tampered image. The proliferation of such digital images through the internet and social media is possible with a finger touch. These tampered images have been used in news reports, judicial forensics, medical records, and financial statements. In this paper, a detailed review has been carried on various copy-move forgery detection (CMFD) and localization techniques. Further, challenges in the research are identified along with possible solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cracks in the concrete surfaces are typically clear warning signs of a potential threat to the integrity and serviceability of the structure. The techniques based on image processing can effectively detect cracks in digital images. These techniques, however, are generally susceptible to user-driven heuristic thresholds and irrelevant distractors. Inspired by the recent success of artificial intelligence, a deep learning-based automated crack detection system named CrackSN was presented. This proposed deep learning model, built on the Adam-SqueezeNet architecture, automatically learns the discriminative feature directly from the labeled and augmented patches. An image dataset of concrete surfaces is collected by smartphone and carefully prepared in order to develop and train the CrackSN system. The hyper-parameters of SqueezeNet are tuned with Adam optimization through the training and validation procedures. The fine-tuned CrackSN system outperforms state-of-the-art models in recent literature by correctly classifying 97.3% of the cracked patches in the image dataset. The success of CrackSN, demonstrated by its light network design and outstanding performance, provides a crucial step toward automated damage inspection and health evaluation for infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Al-Mustansiriyah Journal of Science is the property of Republic of Iraq Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research (MOHESR) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Research of microstructure and permeability evolution of coal following LN2 treatment elucidate the process of cryogenic fracturing due to environmentally friendly behavior in comparison with conventional hydraulic fracturing. The evolution of the 2D microstructure of bituminous coal before and after LN2 treatment was examined using a high-resolution camera. The image processing was implemented using functions from the OpenCV Python library that are sequentially applied to digital images of original coal samples. The images were converted into binary pixel matrices to identify cracks and to evaluate the number of cracks, crack density, total crack area, and average crack length. Results were visualized using Seaborn and Matplotlib Python libraries. There were calculations of total crack area (TCA), total number of cracks (TNC), crack density (CD), the average length of cracks (Q2), first (Q1) and third (Q3) quartiles in fracture length statistics. Our findings demonstrate a progressive increase in the Total Crack Area (δTCA) with longer freezing times and an increased number of freezing–thawing cycles. In contrast, the change in crack density (δCD) was generally unaffected by freezing time alone but exhibited a significant increase after several freezing–thawing cycles. Among the freezing times investigated, the highest crack density (CD) value of 300 m−1 was achieved in FT60, while the lowest CD value of 31.25 m−1 was observed in FT90 after liquid nitrogen (LN2) treatment. Additionally, the FTC4 process resulted in a 50% augmentation in the number of cracks, whereas the FTC5 process tripled the number of small cracks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting image manipulation is essential for investigating the processing history of digital images. In this paper, a novel scheme is proposed to detect the use of low-pass filters in image processing. A new convolutional neural network with a reasonable size was designed to identify three types of low-pass filters. The learning experiences of the three solvers were combined to enhance the detection ability of the proposed approach. Global pooling layers were employed to protect the information loss between the convolutional layers, and a new global variance pooling layer was introduced to improve detection accuracy. The extracted features from the convolutional neural network were mapped to the frequency domain to enrich the feature set. A leaky Rectified Linear Unit (ReLU) layer was discovered to perform better than the traditional ReLU layer. A tri-layered neural network classifier was employed to classify low-pass filters with various parameters into two, four, and ten classes. As detecting low-pass filtering is relatively easy on large-dimension images, the experimental environment was restricted to small images of 30 × 30 and 60 × 60 pixels. The proposed scheme achieved 80.12% and 90.65% detection accuracy on ten categories of images compressed with JPEG and a quality factor 75 on 30 × 30 and 60 × 60 images, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In daily life, some conventional image processing operations, e.g., histogram equalization, and filtering, are widely used to improve the visual quality of digital images. This paper designs an image processing network based on CapsNets (capsule networks), in which additional data can be carried in the processed image. Given an image to be processed, the proposed network is able to achieve some conventional image processing operations with satisfactory results. Meanwhile, additional data can be embedded into the processed image during the process of training, and the existence of additional data cannot be discovered. In this way, additional data can be transmitted secretly via the processed image, which looks normal. Compared with existing data hiding algorithms that embed data by modifying image content, the proposal to embed data during the process of training is more secure. Experimental results verify the effectiveness of the proposed network, including the quality of the processed image, embedding capacity, and security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Forensic Science & Technology is the property of Institute of Forensic Science, Ministry of Public Security and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

With advances in digital image technology, researchers of various fields have developed image processing technologies. However, noise can affect image quality significantly in visual monitoring equipment or special devices —such as CMOS sensors, CT, MRI, and SEM—that are inevitably affected by the surrounding environment. AWGN generated in images is a noise that appears in all frequency bands and is characterized by the additive noise function that follows a Gaussian distribution. Many studies have been proposed in the past to remove AWGN. However, they could not improve image quality sufficiently and had poor edge preservation performance due to severe blurring. Therefore, this study proposes an algorithm that uses spatial and adaptive weights to restore damaged images effectively. The proposed filter uses a noise density weight and a median weight as spatial weights to remove surrounding pixels that have been severely damaged. In addition, it performs adaptive weight filtering on the center pixel to restore noisy images in detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gastrointestinal (GI) tract can be affected by different diseases or lesions such as esophagitis, ulcers, hemorrhoids, and polyps, among others. Some of them can be precursors of cancer such as polyps. Endoscopy is the standard procedure for the detection of these lesions. The main drawback of this procedure is that the diagnosis depends on the expertise of the doctor. This means that some important findings may be missed. In recent years, this problem has been addressed by deep learning (DL) techniques. Endoscopic studies use digital images. The most widely used DL technique for image processing is the convolutional neural network (CNN) due to its high accuracy for modeling complex phenomena. There are different CNNs that are characterized by their architecture. In this article, four architectures are compared: AlexNet, DenseNet-201, Inception-v3, and ResNet-101. To determine which architecture best classifies GI tract lesions, a set of metrics; accuracy, precision, sensitivity, specificity, F1-score, and area under the curve (AUC) were used. These architectures were trained and tested on the HyperKvasir dataset. From this dataset, a total of 6,792 images corresponding to 10 findings were used. A transfer learning approach and a data augmentation technique were applied. The best performing architecture was DenseNet-201, whose results were: 97.11% of accuracy, 96.3% sensitivity, 99.67% specificity, and 95% AUC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Coal Science & Technology (0253-2336) is the property of Coal Science & Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The appearance of "blurred" digital images is a consequence of the violation of the immobility of the camera during the shooting of the objects under study. To this end, a procedure was devised for matched filtering of the blurred digital image of the object using its typical image form in a series of frames. This procedure is based on the automated formation of a typical form of a digital image, as well as on the choice of special parameters for the transfer function of the matched filter. Adapting the procedure specifically to the typical form makes it possible to perform a more accurate assessment of the required parameters of the blurred digital image compared to the analytically set profile. The formation of a typical form makes it possible to take into account the features of the very formation of the blurred image on each frame of the original series. Based on this, a more accurate assessment of the initial approximation of the parameters of all Gaussians of the object image is performed. In practice, matched filtering makes it possible to highlight blurred images of objects against the background of substrate noise. Also, using the matched filtering procedure makes it possible to improve the segmentation of images of reference objects and reduce the number of false detections. The devised procedure for the matched filtering of a blurred digital image using its typical form has been tested in practice as part of the research in the framework of the CoLiTec project. It was implemented in the intraframe processing unit of the Lemur software for the automated detection of new and tracking of known objects. Owing to the use of Lemur software and the proposed computational procedure introduced into it, more than 700,000 measurements of various objects under study were successfully processed and identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]