Looking ahead: Joint small group detection and tracking in crowd scenes

Small group detection and tracking in crowd scenes are basis for high level crowd analysis tasks. However, it suffers from the ambiguities in generating proper groups and in handling dynamic changes of group configurations. In this paper, we propose a novel delay decision-making based method for addressing the above problems, motivated by the idea that these ambiguities can be solved using rich temporal context. Specifically, given individual detections, small group hypotheses are generated. Then candidate group hypotheses across consecutive frames and their potential associations are built in a tree. By seeking for the best non-conflicting subset from the hypothesis tree, small groups are determined and simultaneously their trajectories are got. So this framework is called joint detection and tracking. This joint framework reduces the ambiguities in small group decision and tracking by looking ahead for several frames. However, it results in the unmanageable solution space because the number of track hypotheses grows exponentially over time. To solve this problem, effective pruning strategies are developed, which can keep the solution space manageable and also improve the credibility of small groups. Experiments on public datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of our method. The method achieves the state-of-the-art performance even in noisy crowd scenes.     

Transmission system restoration with co-optimization of repairs,load pickups,and generation dispatch

This paper studies the restoration of a transmission system after a significant disruption such as a natural disaster. It considers the co-optimization of repairs, load pickups, and generation dispatch to produce a sequencing of the repairs that minimizes the size of the blackout over time. The core of this process is a Restoration Ordering Problem (ROP), a non-convex mixed-integer nonlinear program that is outside the capabilities of existing solver technologies. To address this computational barrier, the paper examines two approximations of the power flow equations: The DC model and the recently proposed LPAC model. Systematic, large-scale testing indicates that the DC model is not sufficiently accurate for solving the ROP. In contrast, the LPAC power flow model, which captures line losses, reactive power, and voltage magnitudes, is sufficiently accurate to obtain restoration plans that can be converted into AC-feasible power flows. An experimental study also suggests that the LPAC model provides a robust and appealing tradeoff between accuracy and computational performance for solving the ROP.     

Exactly satisfying initial conditions neural network models for numerical treatment of first Painlevé equation

In this paper, novel computing approach using three different models of feed-forward artificial neural networks (ANNs) are presented for the solution of initial value problem (IVP) based on first Painlevé equation. These mathematical models of ANNs are developed in an unsupervised manner with capability to satisfy the initial conditions exactly using log-sigmoid, radial basis and tan-sigmoid transfer functions in hidden layers to approximate the solution of the problem. The training of design parameters in each model is performed with sequential quadratic programming technique. The accuracy, convergence and effectiveness of the proposed schemes are evaluated on the basis of the results of statistical analyses through sufficient large number of independent runs with different number of neurons in each model as well. The comparisons of these results of proposed schemes with standard numerical and analytical solutions validate the correctness of the design models.     

Mathematical representation of radiality constraint in distribution system reconfiguration problem

Distribution systems are most commonly operated in a radial configuration for a number of reasons. In order to impose radiality constraint in the optimal network reconfiguration problem, an efficient algorithm is introduced in this paper based on graph theory. The paper shows that the normally followed methods of imposing radiality constraint within a mixed-integer programming formulation of the reconfiguration problem may not be sufficient. The minimum-loss network reconfiguration problem is formulated using different ways to impose radiality constraint. It is shown, through simulations, that the formulated problem using the proposed method for representing radiality constraint can be solved more efficiently, as opposed to the previously proposed formulations. This results in up to 30% reduction in CPU time for the test systems used in this study.     

Optimal resilient power grid operation during the course of a progressing wildfire

We study a two-stage stochastic and nonlinear optimization model for operating a power grid exposed to a natural disaster. Although this approach can be generalized to any natural hazard of continuous (and not instantaneous) nature, our focus is on wildfires. We assume that an approaching wildfire impacts the power grid by reducing the transmission capacity of its overhead lines. At the time when proactive decisions have to be taken, the severity of the wildfire is not known. This introduces uncertainty. In this paper, we extend previous work by more realistically capturing this uncertainty and by strengthening the mathematical programming formulation through standard reformulation techniques. With these reformulation techniques, the resulting two-stage, convex mixed-integer quadratically constrained programming formulation can be efficiently solved using commercial quadratic programming solvers as demonstrated on a case study on a modified version of the IEEE 123-bus test system with 100 scenarios. We also quantify the uncertainties through a second case study using the following three standard metrics of two-stage stochastic optimization: the expected value of perfect information, the expected result of using the expected value solution and the value of the stochastic solution.     

Intrinsic dielectric behavior of Mg2TiO4 spinel ceramic

In the work, we focused on the intrinsic dielectric behavior of Mg₂TiO₄ spinel ceramic by P–V–L theory and infrared spectra analysis. Ti–O bonds have larger bond ionicity values, thus playing an important role in dielectric polarization. The theoretical dielectric constant was predicted by calculating the bond susceptibility of each chemical bond. Furthermore, Ti(1)–O bonds are responsible for the structural stability of Mg₂TiO₄ ceramic. Based on classical dispersion theory, permittivity and loss corresponding to each infrared active mode were quantified, and then the crucial contribution of low-frequency modes to intrinsic dielectric properties were determined.     

On voltage collapse and apparent-power losses

The paper proposes a new concept for assessing vulnerably of a power system in terms of voltage stability. The concept is based on the apparent-power losses and uses only local data, i.e. voltage and current phasors at every line end in the system. In the paper, we prove that, at the voltage-collapse point, the entire increase in loading of the most critical line is due to increased transmission losses, which also coincides with the singularity of the Jacobian matrix. It is shown that this information can be used as an indication of a voltage-instability proximity. The proposed local method has several advantages over the existing static and dynamic methods, which is also shown in the paper.     

Thermoelastic evaluation of composite laminates using digital imaging processing

The study of the variation of the curvature of non-symmetric composite laminates with temperature provides a measure of the magnitude of the thermal stresses and the mechanical behavior of the material with temperature. In the present work, an experimental method based on the pioneer use of a digital camera and image processing method is proposed to perform such measurements. Taking advantage of the method and by comparing experimental and CLT, extended-CLT and FEM simulation results, an evaluation of the residual stresses is described and an approach providing more precise determination of the residual thermal stresses in non-symmetric laminates is proposed.     

稀疏差分网络和多监督哈希用于高效图像检索

针对基于深度哈希的图像检索中卷积神经网络（CNN）特征提取效率较低和特征相关性利用不充分的问题,提出一种融合稀疏差分网络和多监督哈希的新方法SDNMSH（sparse difference networks and multi-supervised hashing）,并将其用于高效图像检索。SDNMSH以成对的图像作为训练输入,通过精心设计的稀疏差分卷积神经网络和一个监督哈希函数来指导哈希码学习。稀疏差分卷积神经网络由稀疏差分卷积层和普通卷积层组成。稀疏差分卷积层能够快速提取丰富的特征信息,从而实现整个网络的高效特征提取。同时,为了更加充分地利用语义信息和特征的成对相关性,以促进网络提取的特征信息能够更加有效地转换为具有区分性的哈希码、进而实现SDNMSH的高效图像检索,采用一种多监督哈希（MSH）函数,并为此设计了一个目标函数。在MNIST、CIFAR-10和NUS-WIDE三个广泛使用的数据集上进行了大量的对比实验,实验结果表明,与其他先进的深度哈希方法相比,SDNMSH取得了较好的检索性能。