The Web is changing the way organizations are conducting their business. Businesses are rushing to provide modular applications, called Web services, that can be programmatically accessed through the Web. Despite the tremendous developments achieved so far, one of the most important, yet untapped potential, is the use of Web services as facilitators for inter-organizational cooperation. This promising concept, known as Web service composition, is gaining momentum as the potential silver bullet for the envisioned Semantic Web. The development of such integrated services has so far been ad hoc, time-consuming, and requires extensive low-level programming efforts. In this paper, we present WebBIS (Web Base of Internet-accessible Services), a generic framework for composing and managing Web services. We combine the object-oriented and active rules paradigms for such a task. We also provide a ontology-based framework for organizing the Web service space. We finally propose a peer-to-peer mechanism for reporting, propagating, and reacting to changes in Web services.

A watermarking algorithm based on image normalization has recently been proposed by Dong and Galatsanos. In this paper, we introduce a different image normalization method for watermarking. Experimental results show that our new image normalization based watermarking algorithm is more robust against the general affine transformation attack. In addition, we show that flipping and aspect ratio information can be obtained using the central moments of both the original image and the watermarked image.

In this paper, we describe an adaptive lossless compression algorithm for color video sequences utilizing backward adaptive temporal prediction and an integer wavelet transform. We exploit two redundancies in color video sequences, specifically spatial and temporal redundancies. We show that an adaptive scheme exploiting the two redundancies has better compression performance than lossless compression of individual image frames. The result of the proposed scheme is compared to current video compression algorithms.

We describe some of the research issues and challenges in image-based location awareness and navigation. We describe two systems being developed at Purdue University as testbeds for our ideas. The main system architecture combines image processing, mobility, wireless communication, and location awareness.

We propose new schemes to introduce error resilience into the compressed video bitstreams for transmission over packet networks. First, we develop an adaptive packetization scheme that prohibits any dependency across packets, for error resilience purposes, while exploiting the dependency within each packet to improve the source coding performance. Secondly, we address a two-layer rate-distortion optimization scheme to serve our packetization method. We also use forward error correction (FEC) coding across packets to provide further error protection. Finally, we present a simplified version of our schemes to make it fully compliant with the current ITU video coding standard - H.263+.

In this paper, we derive and evaluate theoretical rate-distortion performance bounds for scalable video compression algorithms which use a single motion-compensated prediction (MCP) loop. These bounds are derived using rate-distortion theory based on an optimum mean-square error (MSE) quantizer. By specifying translatory motion and using an approximation of the predicted error frame power spectral density, it is possible to derive parametric versions of the rate-distortion functions which are based solely on the input power spectral density and the accuracy of the motion-compensated prediction. The theory is applicable to systems which allow prediction drift, such as the SNR-scalability in MPEG-2, as well as those with zero prediction drift such as the MPEG-4 fine grained scalable standard.

Leaky motion prediction techniques have been developed as a way to trade-off between video coding efficiency and drift error resilience. In this paper, we present a statistical analysis of leaky motion prediction in the presence of channel errors. We assume the encoder has some basic knowledge of the channel such as the channel error pattern and error rate. We derive a closed-form expression of the rate distortion function and find the analytic solution for the leaky motion prediction parameter. Two examples are presented 10 demonstrate the results.

This paper describes our approaches to introduce service learning and research concepts from image and signal processing into the undergraduate ECE curriculum at Purdue University. In particular, we describe two project courses we have developed: one is in the context of the Purdue Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program and the other is a new course known as Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP). We will describe three projects: EPICS TCHA, EPICS C-SPAN, and VIP Multimedia. These projects provide students, from first-year students to seniors, with the opportunities to integrate real-world solutions and fundamental materials covered in the classroom

The Block-based Discrete Cosine Transform (BDCT) is one of the most widely used transforms in image and video coding. However, it introduces annoying blocking artifact at low data rates. A great deal of work has been done to reduce the artifact. In this paper, we propose a transform domain-based Markov Random Field (TD-MRF) model to address this problem. Based on this new model, a transform domain maximum a posteriori (MAP) algorithm is presented to remove the blocking artifacts in images and video. It is shown that our new approach can reduce the computational complexity dramatically while achieving significant visual improvements.

Recent trends have created new challenges in the presentation of multimedia information. First, large, high-resolution video displays are increasingly popular. Meanwhile, many mobile devices, such as PDAs and mobile telephones, can display images and videos on small screens. One obvious issue is that content designed for a large display is inappropriate for a small display. Moreover, wireless bandwidth and battery lifetime are precious resources for mobile devices. In order to provide useful content across systems with different resources, we propose “resource-driven content adaptation” by augmenting the content with metadata that can be used to display or render the content based on the available resources. We are investigating several problems related to resource-driven content adaptation. These include: adaptation of the presented content based on available resources- display resolution, bandwidth, processor speed, quality of services, and energy. Content adaptation may add or remove information based on available resources. Adaptive content can utilize resources more effectively but also present challenges in resource management, content creation, transmission, and user perception.

We present a spatially adaptive wavelet video coding technique with an update-first lifting structure. A common problem in many adaptive-transform frameworks is the introduction of a large overhead to address side information. We demonstrate that our structure does not need to transmit any side information to synchronize the encoder and decoder. We incorporate this technique in a motion compensated wavelet video codec. The experimental results confirm the performance improvement.

Food services and nutrition education are priorities for the Coordinated School Health Program in Massachusetts, which is a CDC-funded partnership between the Massachusetts Departments of Education and Public Health. Despite funding and resources provided by governmental and non-governmental agencies, schools are facing barriers in effectively creating a healthy nutritional environment. A qualitative survey was conducted to understand barriers to implementing quality lunch and nutrition education programs perceived by superintendents, principals, food service directors, nurses, and health educators in Massachusetts. The results suggest that while funding can initially enable schools to provide quality lunch, but without changes in students’ preference for unhealthy food and parental and community involvement in fostering students’ healthy eating behavior, the lunch programs cannot achieve a sustainable success. Lack of opportunity for communication among food service staff, health educators, and teachers appears to hinder the coordination necessary to promote school lunch as well as school-wide nutrition education. Respondents acknowledged that the state’s academic assessment system is the priority issue in their schools, but expressed that the interests and initiatives of superintendents and principals in the lunch and nutrition education programs can be enhanced. Overall, the results suggest that successful implementation of quality lunch and nutrition education programs require not only the collaborative efforts of school administration and staff but also the support of parents, community, and the mass media.

As mobile systems (such as laptops and mobile telephones) continue growing, navigation assistance and location-based services are becoming increasingly important. Existing technology allow mobile users to access Internet services (e.g. email and web surfing), simple multimedia services (e.g. music and video clips), and make telephone calls. However, the potential of advanced multimedia services has not been fully developed, especially multimedia for navigation or location based services. At Purdue University, we are developing an image database, known as LAID, in which every image is annotated with its location, compass heading, acquisition time, and weather conditions. LAID can be used to study several types of navigation problems: A mobile user can take an image and transmit the image to the LAID sever. The server compares the image with the images stored in the database to determine where the user is located. We refer to this as the “forward” navigation problem. The second type of problem is to provide a “virtual tour on demand”. A user inputs a starting and an ending addresses and LAID retrieves the images along a route that connects the two addresses. This is a generalization of route planning. Our database currently contains over 20000 images and covers approximately 25% of the city of West Lafayette, Indiana.

Despite scholarly consensus that there is more than one type of involvement, investigators have not developed measures that assess the various types across diverse contexts. The goal of this study was to develop and validate measures of value-, outcome-, and impression-relevant involvement. Items were developed for three social issues (abortion, death penalty, marijuana) and two consumer products (jeans, toothpaste). The results indicate that these items effectively distinguish the three types of involvement. In addition, evidence of construct validity was obtained. Specifically, impression-relevant involvement was associated with other-directedness, outcome-relevant involvement was more strongly associated with information seeking than either value- or impression-relevant involvement, and value-relevant involvement (but also outcome-relevant involvement) was related to attitude extremity.

This paper overviews the problems with temporal synchronization in video watermarking and describes a new approach for efficient synchronization and resynchronization. A complete version of the new method has been presented.