Track Counting Research Articles

Tracking and people counting using Particle Filter Method

In recent years, technology has developed quite rapidly, especially in the field of object tracking. Moreover, if the object under study is a person and the number of people a lot. The purpose of this research is to apply Particle Filter method for tracking and counting people in certain area. Tracking people will be rather difficult if there are some obstacles, one of which is occlusion. The stages of tracking and people counting scheme in this study include pre-processing, segmentation using Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM), tracking using particle filter, and counting based on centroid. The Particle Filter method uses the estimated motion included in the model used. The test results show that the tracking and people counting can be done well with an average accuracy of 89.33% and 77.33% respectively from six videos test data. In the process of tracking people, the results are good if there is partial occlusion and no occlusion

Renal fat fraction and diffusion tensor imaging in patients with early-stage diabetic nephropathy.

To investigate the renal fat fraction and water molecular diffusion features in patients with early-stage DN using Dixon imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Sixty-one type 2 diabetics (normoalbuminuria: n = 40; microalbuminuria: n = 21) and 34 non-diabetic volunteers were included. All participants received three-point Dixon imaging and DTI using a 3.0-T magnetic resonance imager. The fat fraction [FF] and DTI features [fractional anisotropy (FA), apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), tract counts and length from DTI tractography] were collected. All image features were compared between cohorts using one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni post-hoc analysis. Renal FF in the microalbuminuric group was significantly higher than in the normoalbuminuric and control groups (5.6% ± 1.3%, 4.7% ± 1.1% and 4.3% ± 0.5%, respectively; p < 0.001). Medullary FA in the microalbuminuric group was the lowest (0.31 ± 0.06) in all cohorts. The tract counts and length in the renal medulla were significantly lower in the microalbuminuric group than in the other two groups. Dixon imaging and DTI are able to detect renal lipid deposition and water molecule diffusion abnormalities in patients with early-stage DN. Both techniques have the potential to noninvasively evaluate early renal impairment in type 2 diabetes. • Dixon imaging demonstrated renal fat deposition in early-stage DN; • Renal fractional anisotropy decreased in patients with early-stage DN; • Renal tractography demonstrated reduced track counts and length in early-stage DN.

A time-lagged effect of conspecific density on habitat selection by snowshoe hare.

Ideal free distribution theory predicts that increased conspecific density redistributes individuals to low-density, suboptimal habitat. However, possible lags in response to population density remain poorly documented. Snowshoe hares (Lepus americanus) may exhibit density-dependent habitat selection due to its marked variation in population density. Based on 11 years (2004–2014) of snow tracking in Quebec (Canada), we investigated snowshoe hares’ short-term and delayed habitat selection responses to population density. We predicted that at high densities, hare distribution expands into low-density habitat, thus weakening the association between hares and high-density habitat. We surveyed hare tracks along 95 km of transects on average each year and georeferenced 14,240 tracks. We used Generalized Estimating Equations for track count per 100 m transect segment as a function of the proportion of different forest age classes (0–20 y, 20–40 y and 40–80 y) within 50 m of the segments. We used model coefficients for each age class as a measure of habitat preference, and modeled those coefficients as a function of a population density index in current and previous winters. Coefficients for 20- to 40-y-old forests were positive each year, indicating that this habitat was preferred. The association between track counts and 20- to 40-y-old forest significantly declined with density during the previous winter, suggesting that hare spread from preferred forest with a lagged response to density. To our knowledge, no previous empirical studies have documented a lagged habitat selection response to population density. Time lags offer possible explanation for documented deviations from ideal free distribution models.

Deep Background Modeling Using Fully Convolutional Network

Background modeling plays an important role for video surveillance, object tracking, and object counting. In this paper, we propose a novel deep background modeling approach utilizing fully convolutional network. In the network block constructing the deep background model, three atrous convolution branches with different dilate are used to extract spatial information from different neighborhoods of pixels, which breaks the limitation that extracting spatial information of the pixel from fixed pixel neighborhood. Furthermore, we sample multiple frames from original sequential images with increasing interval, in order to capture more temporal information and reduce the computation. Compared with classical background modeling approaches, our approach outperforms the state-of-art approaches both in indoor and outdoor scenes.

Concentration of Radon Released from Marine Sediment Around Hajjam Island, Southern Iraq, North West Arabian gulf, using CR-39 detector

Hajjam Island lies in the lower reaches of Khor Al-Zubair southern of Iraq, it is the unity island in the Iraqi marine water. 15 sediment samples were collected from sites around the island and transferred to the lab in Marine Science Centre for radiological investigation. Two methods were adopted, Active and Passive, for determination of Radon in which an environmental radon monitoring system comprising a radon-cup, an etching system, and a track counting system, was constructed. The radon cup is a cylindrical chamber with a radius of 3.5 cm and a height of 15 cm in combination with a CR-39 detector. The effected radium concentrations from sediment samples were found to range from 0.0013 to 0.0049 with an average value of 0.0028 Bq/Kg. Concentrations of radon measured by passive method were 132±34 to 414±108 with average value 287±45 Bq/m 3 and by active method were 401±26 to 145±9 with average value 263±20 Bq/m 3 . The area and mass exhalation rates were found to be 0.1 to 0.31 with average value of 0.220 Bq/m 2 /h and 0.002 to 0.006 with average value 0.004 Bq/kg/h respectively. The values are found to be safe for sediment use.

Corrigendum to: Distribution and relative abundance of forest duikers in Dassioko Sud Forest Reserve (coastal Côte d'Ivoire)

Context Duikers play a vital role in maintaining forest ecosystems, as both seed dispersers and prey. In West Africa, duikers are also an important source of food and income; however, it is likely that some species are now being hunted at unsustainable levels. So as to contribute to duiker conservation, we used line-transect data and additional information on dung and track counts to estimate relative abundance and establish distribution patterns of forest duikers in Côte d'Ivoire's Dassioko Sud Forest Reserve (DSFR), a poorly known, remnant coastal rainforest. We also collected basic information on hunting pressure. Methods Forest duiker counts were made twice per month from July 2013 to March 2014 on six line transects of varying lengths (5.6–6.7km) and in different regions of the DSFR, representing different habitat types. The number of sightings per kilometre walked, defined as ‘encounter rate', was used to compute an index of relative abundance. We recorded all evidence of poachers and used these data to generate a poaching index (# poaching signs per kilometre) for different habitat types. Key results The DSFR has lost three of seven total forest duiker species and populations of the four remaining species are declining. Encounter rates were greatest for Philantomba maxwellii (0.46 indices km–1) and accounted for 68% of total encounters. Cephalophus niger, C. dorsalis and C. silvicultor were encountered at similar (0.07 indices km–1) but much lower rates. For all species, mean encounter rates were highest in degraded forest (0.38–0.73 indices km–1), followed by secondary (0.2–0.44 indices km–1) and primary (0.19–0.44 indices km–1) forest. Conclusions Of the four forest duiker species still present in the DSFR, the black, bay and yellow-backed duikers are the most affected by anthropogenic pressures. Duiker abundance in the DSFR varies with habitat type. This variation is apparently influenced by differences in forest structure, poaching pressure and proximity to villages. Implications The study provides baseline data for future managing of ungulate populations in the DSFR. We recommend that a biomonitoring study of duiker populations be initiated immediately to help determine population trends, investigate habitat preferences, and help curb illegal hunting activities in this important forest reserve.

PENGENDALIAN PERSEDIAAN DAN PENJADWALAN PASOKAN BAHAN BAKU IMPORT DENGAN METODE ABC ANALYSIS DI PT UNILEVER INDONESIA, CIKARANG, JAWA BARAT

&lt;p&gt;Inventory control becomes a very important activity in a company because the cost of inventory can reach about 20% to 40% of the total annual value. Inventory is a capital or company asset consist of raw materials, work in process and finished product. Currently, the value of inventory at PT Unilever Indonesia Savory Factory has exceeded the maximum target of the company but some raw materials have shortage or stock-out, meaning that the current inventory condition is inefficient because the company invests too much in inventory but the shortage of inventory for certain raw materials still occurs. This is the reason why it is necessary to improve inventory efficiency. Improvements were made by utilizing ABC inventory analysis method and arranging and scheduling raw material supply as needed, then making priority scale of raw material improvement on ABC inventory analysis based on class A, B and C. The research was continued by rescheduling the tracking delivery and counting time frozen horizon which is the amount of time it takes raw materials during the distribution process or delivery process, so the frozen horizon is smaller than lead time. By performing fixed order interval on class A and fixed order quantity raw materials for class B and C raw materials, the quantity of imported raw materials gradually adjust to the needs and the high value of the company’s inventory can be reduced gradually as well. The end result is the risk of shortage can be reduced as much as 26%, overstock can be reduced by 12% and in total overall value over value inventory can be decreased as much as 23%.&lt;/p&gt;

Short-term changes in spatial distribution pattern of an herbivore in response to accumulating snow

Deep snow can reduce accessibility to vegetation and cover by herbivores by blanketing understory cover, yet simultaneously increase access to foliage at higher levels. Thus, snow depth fluctuation should lead to spatiotemporal variation in herbivore habitat use. We measured shifts in habitat use by snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus Erxleben, 1777) as a function of snow depth in an eastern Canadian boreal forest where snow depth often exceeds 1 m. We hypothesized that as snow accumulates, snowshoe hares shift from locations with dense vegetation just above ground to locations with dense vegetation higher above ground. We surveyed 58 km of transects over three winters and found 1954 hare tracks. We analyzed track counts as a response to a density index of low vegetation (0–1.5 m above ground), high vegetation (2–4 m above ground), predator tracks, and snow depth. We found more hare tracks in sites with dense high vegetation when snow was deeper, and more hare tracks in sites with dense low vegetation when snow was shallower. Predator track presence did not influence responses to snow depth. Snow depth dynamics can drive hare distribution, and in turn, introduce uncertainty in spatial distribution models for the species and possibly its interactions with predators.

Uncertainty of an automatic system for counting alpha tracks on CR-39

For accurate counting of alpha tracks on the polyallyl diglycol carbonate of CR-39-type track detectors, the size distributions of both artifact tracks and alpha tracks were investigated with an automatic counting system. At the same temperature and etchant concentration, the numbers and sizes of alpha tracks changed significantly with the etching time, and the artifact track changes were smaller. At the etching time of 5 h, the sizes of alpha tracks were evidently larger than those of the artifact tracks, and the deviation of its size distribution was much smaller than those of longer etching time. Based on the size distribution of alpha tracks etched for 5 h, the overlap effect and uncertainty of overlap correction were studied by the Monte Carlo simulations for different track densities. It was found that the counting uncertainty of the system could be less than 6% in a density range of 10–160 tracks mm−2 after taking the overlap correction into account.

Slicer and process improvements for open-source GMAW-based metal 3-D printing

Low-cost gas metal arc welding (GMAW)-based 3-D printing has proven effective at additive manufacturing steel and aluminum parts. Early success, however, was based on hand-writing G-code, which is inadequate for the majority of potential users. To enable automated slicing a 3-D model and generating G-code for an acceptable path for GMAW 3-D printing, this paper reports on upgrading of the free and open source CuraEngine. The new slicer, MOSTMetalCura, provides the following novel abilities necessary for GMAW 3-D printing: i) change the perimeter metric from width to track count, ii) avoid movement that overlaps previous weld beads, iii) have infill start immediately after the perimeter finished and in the direction that eliminates translations, iv) add a variable pause between layers to allow for substrate cooling, v) configure GPIO pins to turn on/off the welder, and vi) set optimized wire feed speed and voltage of the welder based on printing speed, layer height, filament diameter, and tool track width. The process for initiating these changes are detailed and the new slicer is used to help improve the function of the printer for ER70S-6 steel. To find the printing function with the smallest bead width based on volume of material, the line width, layer height, and printing speed are varied to provide wire feed speed calculated by MOSTMetalCura, then the settings are used to print 3-D models. The results of 3-D printing three case study objects of increasing geometric complexity using the process methodology improvements presented, which show resolution of 1mm bead widths.

HIGH DOSE FAST NEUTRON DOSIMETRY USING PADC PLASTIC NUCLEAR TRACK DETECTORS AND GREY LEVEL ANALYSIS.

The objective of this work is to demonstrate the possibility of performing fast neutron dosimetry up to 5 Sv using optical absorbance of polyallyl diglycol carbonate (PADC) detectors, obtained through grey level analysis of PADC images acquired with a commercial track-counting dosimetry system, and estimate the uncertainties involved. PADCs were irradiated with doses from 100 mSv to 5 Sv (252Cf source) and etched. PADC images were acquired using the TASLIMAGE™ Neutron Dosimetry System (Track Analysis Systems Ltd.) and analysed to obtain the grey levels and the optical absorbance. The absorbance from different detectors and batches was analysed to determine the uncertainties involved, from which the final uncertainty in the method, ~30% and dominated by the uncertainty in the calibration curve, was estimated. A dose estimation <2 Sv can also be performed using a 'universal curve' by normalising the absorbance to that of a detector irradiated with 1 Sv. The data presented here allows the extension of the dose range of track counting systems using no additional equipment, only the images already acquired by the systems.

P49: Equinus correction during multilevel surgery in adults with cerebral palsy

Continuous monitoring of human motion and its interaction with the surrounding environment is crucial for healthcare applications such as early diagnosis of neurological disorders, or rehabilitation of vulnerable patients with walking difficulties in hospital and age-care settings. Additionally, it is also necessary to provide assistive care to visually impaired individuals who are prone to falls. Commonly used wearable sensors require on-body components, which may cause discomfort. More importantly, the forgetfulness of people in hospital or aged-care settings or their resistance in using the on-body units, undermine the effectiveness of a wearable-based monitoring strategy. The ideal monitoring system should not interfere with the individual’s privacy and daily routines and work continuously, without requiring any specific on-body devices. Here, we present a contactless sensing platform that can monitor and distinguish complex movements of human subjects, without requiring them to use wearable devices. The approach uses flexible Non-Contact Triboelectric Sensors (NCTS) (7 ×3.6 ×0.5 cm3) produced by attaching a negatively pre-charged PDMS film onto an aluminum (Al) foil. By exploiting the sensitivity to external electrostatic charges, near-field remote monitoring of human movements at distances as far as 1.5 m, is successfully achieved. Furthermore, The NCTS system differentiates activities such as walking, running, and jumping; and estimates walking speed, relative position, and direction of two people walking together in a contactless manner, which is not well examined in the literature of Non-contact Triboelectric Sensors, by analyzing the time domain and frequency spectrum of the output signal. Besides, the sensor is integrated with a portable accident prevention system designed to avoid visually impaired people’s collisions with obstacles. Falling detection tests provide promising results for their application in elderly safety. Finally, indoor navigation/position monitoring and direction recognition are achieved and demonstrated using multiple NCTS, for future potential applications in elder activity tracking and people counting in hospitals.

Optimizing sampling design to infer the number of marine turtles nesting on low and high density sea turtle rookeries using convolution of negative binomial distribution

Reliable monitoring of wildlife populations represents a non-negligible cost, and in a limited-resource world, resources allocated to monitoring are not devoted to actions to solve identified problems.I explore resource efficient survey designs based on a negative binomial distribution including variable survey intervals for marine turtles using track counts as an index of female activity. In the modified procedure, all new tracks between two monitoring patrols are recorded. These data are analyzed by statistical models that take advantage of the statistical properties of the sum of counts.The outputs of models with different lagged monitoring dates (3–10 days) are compared with the outputs of daily surveys using extrapolations from high and low density populations. Results show that the quality of the estimates is similar when total time series analysis is compared with situations in which only a fourth, a seventh, or a tenth of monitoring daily during the season are used.This solution permits the reallocation of funds from monitoring to other conservation activities. Furthermore, the efficient sampling design and the statistical methods allow getting similar information with less effort.

Conservation implications of brown hyaena (&lt;i&gt;Parahyaena brunnea&lt;/i&gt;) population densities and distribution across landscapes in Botswana

The brown hyaena (Parahyaena brunnea) is endemic to southern Africa. The largest population of this near-threatened species occurs in Botswana, but limited data were available to assess distribution and density. Our objectives were to use a stratified approach to collate available data and to collect more data to assess brown hyaena distribution and density across land uses in Botswana. We conducted surveys using track counts, camera traps and questionnaires and collated our results and available data to estimate the brown hyaena population based on the stratification of Botswana for large carnivores. Brown hyaenas occur over 533 050 km² (92%) of Botswana. Our density estimates ranged from 0 brown hyaenas/100 km² in strata of northern Botswana to 2.94 (2.16–3.71) brown hyaenas/100 km² in the southern stratum of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. We made assumptions regarding densities in strata that lacked data, using the best references available. We estimated the brown hyaena population in Botswana as 4642 (3133–5993) animals, with 6.8% of the population in the Northern Conservation Zone, 73.1% in the Southern Conservation Zone, 2.0% in the smaller conservation zones and 18.1% in the agricultural zones. The similar densities of brown hyaenas in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve and the Ghanzi farms highlight the potential of agricultural areas in Botswana to conserve this species. The conservation of brown hyaenas in the agricultural landscape of Botswana is critical for the long-term conservation of the species; these areas provide important links between populations in South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe.Conservation implications: Botswana contains the core of the brown hyaena population in southern Africa, and conflict mitigation on agricultural land is crucial to maintaining connectivity among the range countries.

Employing wavelet for neutron tracks distribution analysis in PADC detectors

PADC nuclear track dosemeters are used for fast neutron monitoring. A system, based on one-shot image acquisition is employed and a simple image analysis, based on the track counting, is performed in a series of image regions. When this procedure fails a different approach is needed. In the present paper we tested a wavelet transform based algorithm to detect possible “patterns” in tracks distributions that could be associated to dosemeter anomalies, assuming that a neutron exposure should produce a homogenous distribution. The algorithm, tested with samples of our dosimetric service, showed its potential effectiveness and capabilities.

Uncertainty evaluation of fluorescent nuclear track detectors (FNTDs) for neutron dose measurements

Fluorescent nuclear track detectors (FNTDs) developed by Landauer Inc. are used as passive dosimeters for neutron dose measurements. Commercial FNTD readers are operated in a track counting mode for low dose neutrons (up to 50 mSv). In order to evaluate the ability of the reader to detect recoil proton tracks, the relationship between track densities of FNTDs and etch pit densities of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detectors (PNTDs) for 241Am-Be neutrons was compared. The relationship was linear in the range of the measured doses from 0.63 mSv to 13.30 mSv. The correlation indicates that both neutron dosimeters similarly detect the recoil proton tracks. The low limit of detection (LLD) using the reader was 1.44 tracks/mm2. In this measurement, the uncertainty of track counting was also evaluated. The relationship between track counts and coefficients of variation (CVs) agreed well with the Poisson distribution. According to the theoretical estimation and the LLD, more than 11.11 counts per 2.08 mm2 are needed to obtain CVs below 30%. In addition, decreasing the CV value was demonstrated by expanding the scan area. Therefore, there is a possibility to improve the measurement accuracy for the LLD with a wider scan area.

Determination of track counting loss threshold of spark counter due to high track densities on strippable LR115 II nuclear track detectors

Nuclear track etched detectors are widely used for radon measurements. At the Department of Physics, University of Osijek, the strippable nuclear track detectors LR115 type II are used for indoor radon measurements and their tracks are counted by a spark counter. The probability of track counting loss by saturation rises with the track density.A hundred of strippable nuclear track etched films LR115 type II were irradiated with a constant flux of α-particles in different times using a home-made “KVOD” device for controlling time of irradiation and a saturation effect at high track densities (above 6000 tr/cm2) was observed. The track counting loss threshold of 6200 tr/cm2 was determined for the used type of spark counter and a correction function for track counting was found. Direct counting of aluminium sublimated spots and tracks by the optical counting system confirmed the validity of track counting correcting formula for this type of spark counter.

A one-shot imaging system for neutron track counting

The Individual Monitoring Service of ENEA Radiation Protection Institute supplies thousands of dosemeters for fast neutron dosimetry per year to a series of national laboratories and hospitals. A PADC (poly allyl diglycol carbonate) sheet is used to detect neutron tracks through a chemical etching process. A track reader has been developed with the main idea of employing a CCD camera to get one-shot image acquisition of the etched dosemeter for the track counting. The digital image, that can be visually inspected on the video by the operator during the acquisition, is analyzed through a Labview program, that controls all the phases of the procedure and produces a report containing the evaluated doses and the results of the basic image quality analysis performed. The developed system showed a good reproducibility and stability and its accuracy was judged adequate for our radiation monitoring needs.

Statistics for LA-ICP-MS based fission track dating

Despite the conceptual elegance and simplicity of the External Detector Method (EDM) for fission track dating, an increasing number of laboratories are switching to LA-ICP-MS as a means of measuring the uranium content of apatite, zircon and sphene. LA-ICP-MS based fission track (LAFT) dating offers shorter turnaround times, removes the need to handle radioactive materials and hydrofluoric acid, and facilitates double-dating with the U-Pb method. This paper aims to bring the statistical treatment of LAFT data on an equal footing with the EDM by formulating four different analytical protocols, depending on the accuracy and reproducibility of the uranium measurements. Under the ‘absolute’ dating approach, the spontaneous track densities and uranium concentrations are directly plugged into the fundamental fission track age equation, assuming that both of these measured quantities have been determined accurately, and that the fission decay constant and equivalent isotopic track length are known. The ‘zeta calibration’ approach avoids making these assumptions by normalisation to a reference material of known age. Uranium zoning has a detrimental effect on the accuracy of LAFT ages. This effect can be removed by counting only those fission tracks located within the laser ablation pit. Alternatively, the uranium heterogeneity may be quantified by fitting multiple ablation spots in some or all the analysed grains, using a (lognormal) distributional assumption for the uranium concentration. LAFT dating is arguably less well suited than the EDM to young and U-poor samples that lack sufficient spontaneous fission tracks to reveal visual evidence for uranium zoning. Such samples occasionally contain no fission tracks at all, resulting in infinite analytical uncertainties. This paper introduces a pragmatic solution to this problem, in which the uranium measurement are converted to ‘virtual’ induced fission track counts to produce strictly positive ages with finite standard errors. With the age equation and zero-track strategy in place, LAFT ages can be subjected to more sophisticated statistical analysis. Using a logarithmic transformation, these ages can be visualised on radial plots and deconvolved into finite and continuous mixtures. The methods introduced in this paper have been implemented in a software package called IsoplotR that is available free of charge at http://isoplotr.london-geochron.com.

Distribution and relative abundance of forest duikers in Dassioko Sud Forest Reserve (coastal Côte d'Ivoire)

Context Duikers play a vital role in maintaining forest ecosystems, as both seed dispersers and prey. In West Africa, duikers are also an important source of food and income; however, it is likely that some species are now being hunted at unsustainable levels. So as to contribute to duiker conservation, we used line-transect data and additional information on dung and track counts to estimate relative abundance and establish distribution patterns of forest duikers in Côte d’Ivoire’s Dassioko Sud Forest Reserve (DSFR), a poorly known, remnant coastal rainforest. We also collected basic information on hunting pressure. Methods Forest duiker counts were made twice per month from July 2013 to March 2014 on six line transects of varying lengths (5.6–6.7km) and in different regions of the DSFR, representing different habitat types. The number of sightings per kilometre walked, defined as ‘encounter rate’, was used to compute an index of relative abundance. We recorded all evidence of poachers and used these data to generate a poaching index (# poaching signs per kilometre) for different habitat types. Key results The DSFR has lost three of seven total forest duiker species and populations of the four remaining species are declining. Encounter rates were greatest for Philantomba maxwellii (0.46 indices km–1) and accounted for 68% of total encounters. Cephalophus niger, C. dorsalis and C. silvicultor were encountered at similar (0.07 indices km–1) but much lower rates. For all species, mean encounter rates were highest in degraded forest (0.38–0.73 indices km–1), followed by secondary (0.2–0.44 indices km–1) and primary (0.19–0.44 indices km–1) forest. Conclusions Of the four forest duiker species still present in the DSFR, the black, bay and yellow-backed duikers are the most affected by anthropogenic pressures. Duiker abundance in the DSFR varies with habitat type. This variation is apparently influenced by differences in forest structure, poaching pressure and proximity to villages. Implications The study provides baseline data for future managing of ungulate populations in the DSFR. We recommend that a biomonitoring study of duiker populations be initiated immediately to help determine population trends, investigate habitat preferences, and help curb illegal hunting activities in this important forest reserve.