No abstract

No abstract

The quantitative evaluation of disparity maps is based on error measures. Among the existing measures, the percentage of Bad Matched Pixels (BMP) is widely adopted. Nevertheless, the BMP does not consider the magnitude of the errors and the inherent error of stereo systems, in regard to the inverse relation between depth and disparity. Consequently, different disparity maps, with quite similar percentages of BMP, may produce 3D reconstructions of largely different qualities. In this paper, a ground-truth based measure of errors in estimated disparity maps is presented. It offers advantages over the BMP, since it takes into account the magnitude of the errors and the inverse relation between depth and disparity. Experimental validations of the proposed measure are conducted by using two state-of-the-art quantitative evaluation methodologies. Obtained results show that the proposed measure is more suited than BMP to evaluate the depth accuracy of the estimated disparity map.

Generating new music based on rules of counterpoint has been deeply studied in music informatics. In this article, we try to go further, exploring a method for generating new music based on the style of Palestrina, based on combining statistical generation and pattern discovery. A template piece is used for pattern discovery, and the patterns are selected and organized according to a probabilistic distribution, using horizontal viewpoints to describe melodic properties of events. Once the template is covered with patterns, two-voice counterpoint in a florid style is generated into those patterns using a first-order Markov model. The template method solves the problem of coherence and imitation never addressed before in previous research in counterpoint music generation. For constructing the Markov model, vertical slices of pitch and rhythm are compiled over a large corpus of dyads from Palestrina masses. The template enforces different restrictions that filter the possible paths through the generation process. A double backtracking algorithm is implemented to handle cases where no solutions are found at some point within a generation path. Results are evaluated by both information content and listener evaluation, and the paper concludes with a proposed relationship between musical quality and information content. Part of this research has been presented at SMC 2016 in Hamburg, Germany.

No abstract

No abstract

Failure of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls attributed to the corrosion of galvanized steel in soil has raised concern on the adequacy of current design requirements. In this work, a numerical model was developed to calculate the corrosion rate of galvanized steel in soil at three different stages of corrosion by considering key soil corrosion parameters, such as resistivity, temperature, moisture content, pH, and oxygen availability. Results show that the proposed model is in agreement with widely accepted empirical models, and can be used for the service-life design and risk assessment of MSE walls and to determine the optimum zinc cover thickness.

No abstract