Face recognition system using local autocorrelations and multiscaleintegration

In this paper we investigate the performance of a technique for face recognition based on the computation of 25 local autocorrelation coefficients. We use a large database of 11,600 frontal facial images of 116 persons, organized in training and test sets, for evaluation. Autocorrelation coefficients are computationally inexpensive, inherently shift-invariant and quite robust against changes in facial expression. We focus on the difficult problem of recognizing a large number of known human faces while rejecting other, unknown faces which lie quite close in pattern space. A multiresolution system achieves a recognition rate of 95%, while falsely accepting only 1.5% of unknown faces. It operates at a speed of about one face per second. Without rejection of unknown faces, we obtain a peak recognition rate of 99.9%. The good performance indicates that local autocorrelation coefficients have a surprisingly high information content     

Long-term load forecasting using improved recurrent neural network

In general, electric power companies must prepare power supply capability for maximum electric load demand because it is very difficult at present to store electric power. It takes several years and requires a great amount of money to construct power generation and transmission facilities. Therefore, it is necessary to forecast long-term load demand exactly in order to plan or operate power systems efficiently. Several methods have been investigated so far for the long-term load forecasting. However, because the electric loads consist of many complex factors, good forecasting has been very difficult. This paper proposes a long-term load forecasting method using a recurrent neural network (RNN). This is a mutually connected network that has the ability of learning patterns and past records. In general, when interpolation is used for unlearned data sets, the neural network provides reasonably good outputs. However, when extrapolation is used, such as in long-term load forecasting, some kind of tunings have been necessary to obtain good results. Therefore, to solve the problem, a method is proposed in which growth rates are used as input and output data. Using the proposed method, successful results have been obtained and comparisons have been made with the conventional methods.     

A comprehensive congestion management scheme with an improved DC method

The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive congestion management scheme based on generator and FACTS device operations. To relieve congestion effectively and quickly, we use two indices based on the DC method. However, calculation errors using the DC method may become large due to its approximations. Thus, we also developed an improved DC method, which is a DC method considering transmission losses and transformer tap ratios, and performed simulations to confirm the validity of the improved DC method. Finally, we performed simulations by the proposed congestion management scheme using the IEEJ EAST 30‐machine system. The simulation results indicate that congestion can be relieved effectively and quickly. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 170(2): 28–36, 2010; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.20893     

Staging and treatment for patients with pancreatic cancer. How small is an early pancreatic cancer?

We report a case of a 66-yr-old woman with progressive hair balding, hirsutism and virilization. Gonadotropins and estradiol levels were in the postmenopausal range; total testosterone (TT), free testosterone (FT) and 17-hydroxyprogesterone (17-OHP) were elevated with dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate, androstendione and cortisol serum levels in the normal range, as 24-hr free urinary cortisol. TT, FT and 17-OHP were normalized, and FSH and LH fell to premenopausal levels on 18th day after a single i.m. injection of the GnRH analogue (GnRHa), triptorelin. Then, a diagnosis of hyperandrogenism of ovarian origin was made and bilateral ovariectomy was performed. Histological study of gonadal tissue revealed diffuse stromal hyperplasia of both ovaries with occasional nests of luteinized cells. With immunoperoxidase techniques these cells stained positively for testosterone and progesterone. One month after surgery, androgen levels were normalized together with regression of most of the clinical signs of virilization. In conclusion, our patient showed a severe virilization developed after menopause; hormonal investigations suggested a gonadotropin dependent ovarian hyperandrogenism, confirmed by histological examination; the presence of luteinized cells in the ovarian stroma was responsible for hyperandrogenism, as confirmed by the immunoperoxidase technique.