This paper aims to solve a real-life problem: the bike-sharing management system arises the requirement of offering the customers the accessibility of the bikes in different bike-stations concerning the potential demands in every time-slice. The prediction of needs is critical to the distribution of the limited resources (bikes and empty slots to place the bikes) and the management of the system. We propose addressing this problem by using the regression model, which is trained by the raw data collecting from the different sensors. Thanks to the wide distribution of the edge devices, the machine learning algorithms, and the advanced computing ability, we may incorporate the intelligence to the database-related system. We will demonstrate that the boosting gradient method as a predictor to forecast the quantities of rentals and returns of bikes, outperforming the other means, e.g., random forest, support vector machine, etc. It reaches a promising result; the average accuracy reaches 75%.
The paper describes the indexing algorithm suitable for organization of database which contains a large amount of visual information. This approach can be applied to the hybrid database design method which was proposed by the authors in previous publications. Analysis of existing methods shows that the most effective algorithm in this case is B+ tree indexing method. The basic database operations with use of this algorithm are developed. Comparison with other possible approaches is discussed. Directions of the future research are identified.
Microns are bean-like command objects with structural and behavioral properties that are naturally aligned with microservices design principles and architectural goals. A micron based microservice implementation revolves around building every microservice operation as a micron command. Microns are then logically grouped to virtually realize a bubble microservice. Bubbles facilitate postponing the need for physically defining service domain boundaries until deployment and are meant to be more agile and scalable than traditional microservices implementation approaches. Microns are not limited to building microservices; they are adequate for building many parts of the architecture as long-lived software assets that can be reused in realizing existing and future architecture trends. This paper attempts to re-explore commands through microns and discusses their suitability for building microservices and many other parts of the architecture with the ultimate goal of increasing system's agility, scalability, performance, and consistency. The paper also presents some micron-based applications and designs, where microns serve as high-quality architectural elements that can non-invasively make existing as well as new snippets of logic accessible over the web and other channels with minimal effort.
Image watermarking is considered as a backbone in multimedia security. A watermark is embedded into a cover image in order to prove the ownership, authenticating data and/or protecting copyright. However, the watermarked image face threats when transmitted through Internet which leads to fair-quality of watermark and even erasing. A new challenge in image watermarking to come up with a new hybrid robust method for ownership proofing which guarantee resistance of the watermark by preserving the watermarked image quality in terms of imperceptibility. This paper aims to provide a new semi-blind based watermarking technique for medical images, using Schur decomposition and DCT. The main idea is the embedding of the watermark in the DCT middle band coefficient of the cover image blocks, after carrying out the Schur decomposition on the image's blocks. The experimental results show that the proposed watermarking method ensures strong robustness and good imperceptibility
Lean has given a competitive advantage to many companies in various sectors around the world. Although it has a socio-technical character that involves behavior change, many managers have seen it simply as a cost and job-cutting program. This has prompted an overstated focus as a toolbox, owing to the lack of a standard definition. The result was many misconceptions that have remained unsolved since the 1990s. This article proposes a model considering Lean as a System of Systems, which allows to formalize the interdependencies among the different elements of the value chain when implementing this strategy. For that purpose, knowledge elicitation from literature review has first been performed, leading to the characterization of what should be a productivity-based deployment. Then, loop diagrams reflecting the interdependencies at three levels of analysis have been proposed. The results provide a guidance and a support for decision makers to better understand these interdependencies, including social-technical aspects that are relevant for productivity, but generally neglected or misused when deploying Lean.
