International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems

ARTICLE

An Adaptive Image-stitching Algorithm

for an Underwater Monitoring System
Regular Paper

Hengyu Li1,*, Jun Luo1, Chaojiong Huang1, Yi Yang1 and Shaorong Xie1
1 School of Mechatronic Engineering and Automation, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
* Corresponding author E-mail: lihengyu@shu.edu.cn
Received 17 Jan 2014; Accepted 14 Aug 2014
DOI: 10.5772/58988
2014 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract Against the narrow range of sonar images for

underwater monitoring, an adaptive sonar imagestitching algorithm is proposed in this paper. Compared
with conventional sonar image-stitching algorithms, this
algorithm can be applied to stitch sonar images with
fewer features and better results. This paper first
introduces the hardware platform of the underwater
monitoring system and a 3D model of the underwater
rotational mechanism. Next, related image pre-processing
is conducted to improve its accuracy. A SURF algorithm
is then applied to extract the speeded-up robust feature
(SURF) points. Compared with a threshold, if the number
of SURF points is larger, the SURF algorithm is applied to
stitch the sonar images or else the phase correlation
method is selected to mosaic the sonar images. Finally, a
weighted smoothing fusion algorithm based on a
maintained boundary is proposed to fuse the sonar
images. The algorithm is verified to give good
performance in mosaicing sonar images by an
experimental study.
Keywords Underwater Monitoring System, SURF, Phase
Correlation Method, Fusion Algorithm

1. Introduction
Currently the majority of countries are devoted to focusing
on underwater monitoring. However, the acquisition of
underwater images is performed in noisy environments
with low visibility because natural light is not available and even if artificial light is applied, the visible range is
limited [1]. Acoustic cameras can provide extremely high
resolutions (for sonar) and rapid refresh rates [2]. Therefore,
sonar systems are widely employed to obtain images of the
seabed or other underwater objects.
It is not conducive to monitoring objects or environments
underwater through sonar equipment alone because the
observation angle of high-resolution sonar equipment is so
small that only part of the underwater scene can be observed,
i.e., the horizontal view angle of DIDSON (dual-frequency
identification sonar) is 28.8. Therefore, most sonar
equipment is often installed in rotational mechanism to
obtain different scene information; as such, sonar images are
stitched to expand the monitoring horizon of the underwater
environment [3]. Thus, image mosaicing technology plays a
significant role in underwater monitoring systems.

J Adv
Syst, 2014,
11:166
| doi:
Hengyu Li,IntJun
Luo,Robot
Chaojiong
Huang,
Yi Yang
and10.5772/58988
Shaorong Xie:
An Adaptive Image-stitching Algorithm for an Underwater Monitoring System

There has been much research into optical image-stitching;

however, little research has been devoted to stitching for
sonar images. Image-stitching on an optical image can be
divided into algorithms based on the pixel-level, the
frequency power spectrum and features [4]. The calculation
of the pixel-level algorithm is simple and fast, but the
mosaicing result is not ideal if the images are particularly
noisy or if there are not enough features. The calculation of
the frequency power spectrum algorithm is also fast and
noise correlation interference can be overcome, but it
requires a sufficient overlap width. Meanwhile, feature
points can easily be extracted by the feature algorithm,
which is suitable for stitching the images with enough
features but the cost of a heavy calculation load.
It is not appropriate to adopt a pixel-level algorithm for
stitching sonar images with a lot of noise. In previous
studies, many researchers have concentrated on the
frequency power spectrum algorithm or the feature
algorithm independently to mosaic sonar image. In the
view of current study, the phase correlation method [5-7]
is the most popular algorithm in the field of the frequency
power spectrum algorithm while the SIFT (scale invariant
feature transform) [8], FAST (features from accelerated
segment test) [9] and ORB (oriented FAST and rotated
BRIEF) [10] and SURF [11-13] algorithms enjoy
tremendous popularity in the field of feature algorithms.
Several modified phase correlation algorithms based on the
Fourier transform have been proposed in the literature [57]. The algorithms enable the measurement of translation,
rotation and scaling factors between two images. The
stitching resulting from this algorithm is good on paper.
However, the precision of the stitching result for sonar
images with sufficient features is lower than for the feature
algorithm. The SIFT algorithm has been studied for
extracting distinctive invariant features from images which
can be used to perform reliable matching between different
views of an object or scene [8]. Because the SIFT feature
points are described as 128-dimensional vectors, the speed
of this algorithm is not fast. Mair et al. [9] have described a
novel corner detection approach, called the FAST (features
from accelerated segment test) algorithm. The FAST
algorithm only uses the surrounding pixels information to
get the feature points, which is simple and relatively quick.
However, the accuracy of the stitching result from this
algorithm is worse than for the SIFT algorithm. The
literature [10] has also described the ORB algorithm. An

ORB descriptor is obtained by adding rotational invariance

to a BRIEF (binary robust independent elementary
features) descriptor. This algorithm is described as a binary
bit string and ach bit is defined by comparing the strength
of point pair - the matching speed is greatly improved in
this way. However, it is not suitable for stitching sonar
images with few features. Another popular algorithm is
the SURF algorithm [11-13]. SURF points are described as
64-dimensional vectors. Compared with the SIFT
algorithm, this algorithm is faster. However, the stitching
result of the SURF algorithm for sonar images without
features is not good.
The underwater monitoring system described in the
present paper is applied to monitor Huangpu River in
Shanghai for security, which is more sandy, muddy and
narrow than other aquatorium, such as an ocean or a
reservoir. It is also frequently interfered with by tides,
vessels and stormy waves, incurring low visibility and bad
reverberation. Instances involving a great deal of
background noise and fewer targets in the sonar image
reflect the difficulty of obtaining a qualified mosaicing
image. Moreover, the sonar device mounted on the USV is
inevitably affected by waves during the operation process,
resulting in the obtaining of fuzzy sonar images.
Difficulties that arise might include large deformations
after calibration or the absence of overlapping regions
between images, ultimately leading to a failure or serious
distortion when mosaicing.
Given the non-ideal result of separately applying an
algorithm to stitch sonar images, this paper takes
advantage of both the frequency power spectrum
algorithm and the feature algorithm to stitch sonar images,
and thus proposes an adaptive algorithm based on phase
correlation and SURF for sonar image-stitching whose
basic flow diagram is illustrated as in Figure 1. The
adaptive algorithm proposed is an improved combination
of the SURF algorithm and the phase correlation algorithm,
reserving their respective remits. On the one hand, the
feature points out of the detection zone (the fan zone) of
sonar images are removed and inner feature points are
double-checked by the RANSAC (Random Sample
Consensus) algorithm. On the other hand, the translation
parameter is obtained by computing the parameters of
scale and rotation using log-polar transformation so as to
improve the phase correlation algorithm.

Figure 1. The basic flow of the adaptive sonar image-stitching algorithm

2

Int J Adv Robot Syst, 2014, 11:166 | doi: 10.5772/58988

The structure of the paper is as follows. Firstly, a brief

review of the hardware platform is given in Section 2.
Preliminary tasks such as image pre-processing and feature
point extraction are conducted in Section 3. Next, an
adaptive sonar image-stitching algorithm for underwater
monitoring system is proposed. The algorithm is divided
into two parts, including the SURF and phase correlation
algorithms, which are - respectively - described in Sections
4 and 5. Afterwards, the weighted smoothing fusion
algorithm based on the maintained boundary is proposed
to fuse sonar images in Section 6. In Section 7, we will
present experimental results that confirm the effectiveness
of the proposed method. Finally, the conclusions of the
paper are stated in Section 8.
2. Hardware Platform Design
2.1 System Introduction
The underwater monitoring system is established based
on a common boat, as shown in Figure 2. The system can
be divided into three parts, comprising the fore, the cabin
and the aft, according to the position of the boat. The fore,
is equipped with sonar which has the capacity to detect
targets accurately in muddy water and can be used for a
wide range of fast patrols. System control and monitoring
display are conducted in the cabin and the aft is equipped
with an underwater robot that can move freely
underwater. If the system finds a suspicious spot, the
control system will control the underwater robot to
conduct a close and thorough search.
2.2 3D Rotational Mechanism Design
Considering the cruising speed of the boat and the
monitoring requirements underwater, the rotational stage
should satisfy the following requirements, namely it
should: (1) be able to rotate around three directions; (2) be
water sealing, and (3) provide feedback information. As
no commercially available rotational mechanism can meet
these requirements, this paper presents a 3D rotational
mechanism to extend the scope for monitoring, as shown
in Figure 3.

Figure 3. 3D rotational stage

Figure 3 shows a 3D rotational mechanism, consisting of a

yaw mechanism, a pitch mechanism and a roll
mechanism, which can implement yaw, pitch and roll
movements around three directions, driven by servo
motors. Owing to requirement (2), several sealing devices
are installed in mounting places. The 3D rational
mechanism mounts attitude sensors to detect angle
information, to meet the requirement (3). The designed
3D rational mechanism is capable of a maximum
rotational speed of 60/s and the adequate rotational
ranges of yaw, pitch and roll range from -90 to 90, from
-70 to 10 and from -10 to 10, respectively.
3. Image Pre-processing
Compared with optical images, sonar images have
several characteristics [14]: (1) sonar images generally
have a low resolution, vague details and poor
identification because of the difference in size and the
effect from the beam-forming arrays during image
restoration; (2) Sonar images have strong Gaussian noise
and a low SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) because of the
absorption effect, the scattering effect and the convolution
effect of light underwater.
In view of characteristic (2), the Gaussian smoothing
algorithm is applied to smooth sonar images. Owing to
characteristic (1), the algorithm based on stretching the
grey-value of images [15] is adopted to improve image
contrast and to enhance the image feature information of
the target in monitoring area.
4. Feature Point Pair Calculation
4.1 Feature Points Extraction
This paper introduces the SURF algorithm [11-13] to
extract feature points. The specific implementation steps
of the algorithm are as follows:

Figure 2. Underwater monitoring system

(1) Convert the sonar image into an integral image. An

integral image of an arbitrary point expressed as
X = X ( x, y ) is represented as:
Hengyu Li, Jun Luo, Chaojiong Huang, Yi Yang and Shaorong Xie:
An Adaptive Image-stitching Algorithm for an Underwater Monitoring System

i x j y

I (X ) =

I (i, j )

(1)

i =0 j =0

(2) Extract the interest points of the image by a Hessian

matrix. A Hessian matrix of an arbitrary point in a scale
is defined as:
L xx ( X , ) L xy ( X , )
H ( X , ) =

L xy ( X , ) L yy ( X , )

(2)

where L xx ( X , ) represents the convolution of Gaussian

second-order partial derivatives in direction x, and
L xy ( X , ) and L yy ( X , ) have a similar meaning.
(3) Build a scale space. The algorithm applies increasingly
large box filter templates to create an image pyramid.
(4) Determine the feature points. The algorithm defines
local maxima as feature points by comparing a filter point
with 26 points, including eight pixels in the same scale,
nine points adjacent to an upper scale and nine points
adjacent to a lower scale.
The feature point extraction of the SURF algorithm is
improved by treating feature points out of a detection
zone (a fan zone) as wrong points. The fan zone has a
28.8 fan angle and a radius which is the same as the
image height.

The prerequisite of using the SURF algorithm is that the

number of feature points must be equal or else greater
than four. If the number of feature points is greater than
four, the SURF algorithm is applied to stitch the sonar
images. If the number of feature points is less than four,
the phase correlation method is introduced to stitch sonar
images.
5. Image Registration Algorithm
5.1 Homography Matrix Solving by the SURF Algorithm
The sonar device nearly confirms the perspective
transformation model during actual imaging. It should be
noted that the homography matrix calculation confirms
the condition whereby the number of feature points
should be more than four. The relationship between two
images can be concluded as a planar perspective
transformation matrix, which is shown as follows:
(3)

X 1 = HX 2

where X 1 is expressed as (x1 , y1 ,1) , X 2 is expressed as

(x 2 , y 2 ,1)T , and (x1 , y1 ) and (x2 , y 2 ) are a matched point
pair.
T

5.2 Calculating Parameters by the Phase Correlation Algorithm

4.2 Solving the Feature Vectors

5.2.1 Solving the Translation Parameters

Feature point gradients are first obtained in directions x and

y as two axes in a new coordinate system. Next, the response
to the feature points is mapped onto this coordinate system.
The maximum of the accumulating wavelet responses in a
certain range of direction is determined as the main
direction of the gradient, whereby the feature points will
be described in the main direction after that. The feature
points are finally described as 64-dimensional vectors.

The phase correlation method [5-7] is originally applied

to register images that merely have a translation
transformation.

4.3 Matching the Feature Points

The Euclidean distance between the feature vectors of
images is regarded as a similarity measurement of feature
points. The algorithm first takes a feature point from a
reference image and finds the nearest point and the second
nearest point in the other image. The reference point and the
nearest feature point are defined as a matching point pair if
the proportional between the nearest distance and the
second nearest distance is less than 75% [16]. All the feature
points are traversed in the reference image and potential
matching point pairs are found by this algorithm.
To improve the accuracy of the matching based on
traditional feature point matching, feature point pairs
need duplicate check because the resolution of the sonar

image is relatively low. Mismatched point pairs are

rejected by RANSAC algorithm after coarse matching [17].

Int J Adv Robot Syst, 2014, 11:166 | doi: 10.5772/58988

The relationship of two image signals is assumed to be:

f 2 ( x, y ) = f1 ( x x 0 , y y 0 )

(4)

where xo represents translation in direction x and

yo represents translation in direction y . Thus, (4) is then
converted into (5) according to the Fourier
transformation:
F2 (u, v) = F1(u, v)e j (uxo + vyo )

where

(5)

F1 (u , v ) and F2 (u, v) respectively represent

Fourier transformations of f1( x, y ) and f 2 ( x, y ) .

The cross-power spectrum between F1(u , v) and F2 (u, v)

can be calculated as follows:

QO (u, v ) =

j ( uxo + vyo )
F1 (u, v ) F2 (u, v )
=e
*
| F1 (u, v ) F2 (u, v ) |

where F1* (u , v ) is the complex conjugate of F1 (u , v) .

(6)

 j ( ux o + vy o )

The inverse Fourier transformation of e

is
( x x o , y y o ) , which is a two-dimensional pulse
function. Finally, the peak coordinate of ( x x o , y y o ) is
determined as a translation parameter. The basic flow of
the algorithm is illustrated as Figure 4.

Figure 4. The basic flow of the phase correlation algorithm

5.2.2 Solving the Scale and Rotation Parameters

The phase correlation algorithm can also be applied to
calculate scale and rotation parameters [18]. However, the
algorithm is applied to the logarithm polar form of the
amplitude spectrum instead of directly to the image. The
scale and rotation parameters of the image are converted
to translation parameters by the transformation that will
be presented below. The assumable relationship of two
image signals is satisfied as:

f 2 ( x , y ) = f1 [ ( x cos + y sin ) xo ,

( x sin + y cos ) y o )]

(7)

where represents the scale parameter and

represents the rotation parameter. (7) can be converted
to (8) according to the Fourier transformation:

F2 ( u , v ) = e

j F2 ( u , v )

2 F1 [ 1

(u cos + v sin ), 1 ( u sin + v cos )] |

(8)

where F2 (u , v ) is the phase spectrum of F2 ( x, y) .

The amplitude spectrum relationship is obtained from (8)
and the result is illustrated as (9):

| F2 ( u, v ) |= 2 | F1 [ 1 ( u cos + v sin ),

( u sin + v cos )] |
1

(9)

where | F2 (u , v) | is the amplitude spectrum of f 2 ( x, y ) ,

| F1 (u, v) | is the amplitude spectrum of f1 ( x, y ) . The
logarithmic polar coordinate transformation is then
conducted for (9) and the result can be obtained as (10):

f 2 pl ( , ) = 2 f1 pl ( , )

5.2.3 Solving the Translation, Scale and Rotation Parameters

As presented in 5.2.1 and 5.2.2, the translation parameter
and the parameters of scale and rotation are calculated by
the phase correlation algorithm and the transformed
phase correlation algorithm, respectively. On this basis,
we propose an improved transformed phase correlation
algorithm to register sonar images. Specifically, the
parameters of scale and rotation are calculated according
to 5.2.2. Related image geometric transformations have
been done to get only the translation relationship
between the original image and the treated image. Next,
the translation parameter is solved according to 5.2.1. The
basic flow of the phase correlation algorithm is shown as
Figure 5.

Figure 5. The basic flow of the phase correlation algorithm

6. Image Fusion
After the above processing, it is necessary to conduct
coordinate mapping in the next step. To avoid black holes,
inverse mapping is adopted in this paper. In addition,
coordinate mapping will lead to an inevitable situation in
which the integral points will be non-integer points after
coordinate mapping. The double linear interpolation
algorithm [19] is introduced to avoid this issue.
If images are fused directly by simple superposition, the
spliced position will produce a conspicuous joint and blur
overlap area. The weighted smoothing algorithm [20] is
introduced to improve it. The idea behind the algorithm
based on weighted smoothing is shown in Figure 6. The
overlap of adjacent images f1 and f 2 is in the interval
[ x1 , x2 ] . W1 ( x) and W2 ( x) are weighted functions whose
relationship is expressed as:
W2 ( x) = 1 W1 ( x) = 1 i / W

(11)

where 0 i W , W is the width of the overlapping

portion.

(10)

where = log( ) .
The scale and rotation parameters between two images
can be converted to translation parameters after the above
transformation and then the phase correlation algorithm
can be introduced to calculate translation parameters.

Figure 6. The algorithm based on weighted smoothing

Hengyu Li, Jun Luo, Chaojiong Huang, Yi Yang and Shaorong Xie:
An Adaptive Image-stitching Algorithm for an Underwater Monitoring System

Finally, the pixel value of the fusion image

f is

calculated as:

f ( x, y) = f1 ( x, y)W1 ( x) + f 2 ( x, y)W2 ( x)

(12)

However, the above algorithm will inevitably cause the

boundary of the overlapping area to become blurred. To
enhance the integration of the image-stitching, the fusion
algorithm based on weighted smoothing is improved and
the author proposes a weighted smoothing fusion
algorithm based on a maintained boundary. The basic
flow of this algorithm is depicted as Figure 7.

7. Experimental Results and Analysis

7.1 Experimental Results of the Algorithm
The paper applies the proposed algorithm to stitch
sonar images. A suitable threshold is obtained by
continuous testing, which turns out to be 40 in our
experiment. Two original images are shown as Figure
8(a) and (b), and the result of image-stitching is shown
as Figure 8(c). The SURF feature point numbers of the
two original images are, respectively, 43 and 42, which
are larger than the threshold of 40. As such, the SURF
algorithm is selected to mosaic the two sonar images.
Given that the feature point numbers of the two original
images are larger than the threshold, this indicates that
the images contain enough feature information. It is easy
to see that the original images have a common
characteristic object from Figure 8(a) and (b). As shown in
Figure 8(c), there are eight feature point pairs mainly
nearby the feature object, which are matched accurately.
In Figure 8(d), it can be seen that the view field is widely
expanded compared with the original images.

Figure 7. The basic flow of the weighted smoothing fusion

algorithm based on the maintained boundary

The specific implementation steps of the algorithm are as

follows: (1) detect the edges of compass operator; (2)
maintain the pixels if they belong to the boundary or else
skip to the next step; (3) calculate the values of the pixels
in the overlap portion according to (12).

In addition, this algorithm is also applied to stitching

sonar images which lack features. Two original images
are shown as Figure 9(a) and (b). The numbers of the
SURF points in the two original images are, respectively,
13 and 5, both of which are less than the threshold 40.
As such, the phase correlation algorithm is selected to
mosaic the two sonar images.

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Figure 8. (a) and (b) The original image. (c) The result of image-geometric transformations of scale and rotation. (d) Stitched image.

(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Figure 9. (a) and (b) The original image. (c) The result of image-geometric transformations of scale and rotation. (d) Stitched image.
6

Int J Adv Robot Syst, 2014, 11:166 | doi: 10.5772/58988

The relationship
between original
Images

SIFT algorithm

Phase correlation
algorithm

The proposed algorithm

Translation
parameters: ( 5, 7)
Scale and rotation:
1 and 0
Translation
parameters: (30,
60)
Scale and rotation:
1 and 0

The images
between Figure
9 (a) and (b)
The images
between Figure
10 (a) and (b)

Translation parameters: (40, 3)

Scale and rotation: 1 and 10.8

Table 1. The relationship between the original images calculated by different algorithms

As the numbers of feature points in the two original

images are less than the threshold, this indicates that the
images contain insufficient feature information. As seen
in Figure 9(a) and (b), the two images have a common
link. Figure 9(c) is the stitched result following the
geometric transformations of scale and rotation from
Figure 9(b) to (a). It can be concluded that the link is
substantially coincident in the mosaic image and that the
view field is widely expanded compared with the original
images.
7.2 The Analysis of the Algorithm
In order to illustrate the effect of the algorithm more
convincingly, this paper specifically carried out a set of
comparative experiments. These comparative algorithms
were selected from the algorithms based on the feature
and transform domain, which enjoy significant
prevalence in the image-stitching field. The algorithms
based on SIFT and correlation are, respectively, adopted
in the above two fields. This paper applies these
algorithms to stitch the above sonar images in order to
compare the effects occurring between the proposed
algorithm and the classic algorithms. The relationship
between the original images can be calculated by these
algorithms, and the result is shown in Table 1.
The rotational movement of the sonar equipment can be
measured by angle sensors. The sonar equipment rotates
by around 3 from Figure 8(a) to (b) and the angle
difference between Figure 9(a) and (b) is around 12. In
Table 1, the results of rotation calculated by the algorithm
based on correlation are both 0, far from the measured
angles. Therefore, this algorithm is not appropriate for
sonar image-stitching.
The case from Figure 8(a) to (b) has a scale of 1 and a
rotation of 3, with an approximate homography of:

0.99863 0.0523360
0.0523360
0.99863

0
0

x0
y0
1

Compared with the SURF algorithm, the results of scale and

rotation from the proposed algorithm are more accurate.
Similarly, the case of Figure 9(a) to (b) has a scale of 1 and
a rotation of 12, with an approximate homography of:
0.97814 0.2079117
0.2079117
0.97814

0
0

x0
y0
1

The scale is 1 and the rotation turns to 10.8 calculated by

the proposed algorithm, with a homography of:

0.98229 0.1873813 x0
0.1873813
y0
0.98229

0
0
1
As to homography, the one from the proposed algorithm
is closer to the standard value than the SIFT algorithm.
However, we cannot determine which is better between
the proposed algorithm and SIFT from Table 1. Naturally,
we switch emphasis to observing stitched images. The
stitched images are shown as Figures 10 and 11.

(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 10. (a) The image stitched by the algorithm based on SIFT.
(b) The image stitched by the algorithm based on correlation.
(c) The image stitched by the algorithm proposed in this paper.

Compared with Figure 10(c), the bottom of Figure 10(a) is

not fused well, even exhibiting some distortion. Similarly,
compared with Figure 11(c), the common features of Figure
11(a) do not coincide well. It is concluded that the
Hengyu Li, Jun Luo, Chaojiong Huang, Yi Yang and Shaorong Xie:
An Adaptive Image-stitching Algorithm for an Underwater Monitoring System

proposed algorithm is better than SIFT. Figure 10(b) and

Figure 11(b) are the fused results of the images stitched by
phase correlation, which is still worse than Figure 10(c) and
Figure 11(c). According to the above analysis, the proposed
algorithm brings better results on sonar image-stitching.

(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 11. (a) The image stitched by the algorithm based on SIFT.
(b) The image stitched by the algorithm based on correlation.
(c) The image stitched by the algorithm proposed in this paper.

8. Summary
This paper proposes an adaptive sonar image-stitching
algorithm for an underwater monitoring system which is
based on phase correlation and SURF. It turns out to be
effective and practical after experiments. An alternative
algorithm can be applied to stitch sonar images according
to the number of feature points. In other words, the
algorithm employs SURF for sonar images with enough
feature points while it employs phase correlation for
sonar images lacking feature points. The paper also
proposes a weighted smoothing algorithm based on a
maintained boundary for image fusion which can
enhance the integration of image-stitching. This
algorithm takes advantages of the SURF and phase
correlation algorithms to improve the accuracy and
timeliness of sonar image-stitching.
9. Acknowledgements
This project is supported by the Key Projects of the
National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.
61233010) and the National Nature Science Foundation of
China (No. 61305106). The authors also gratefully
acknowledge the helpful comments and suggestions of
the reviewers, which have improved the presentation.
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