Dynamic training using multistage clustering for face recognition

A novel face recognition algorithm that uses dynamic training in a multistage clustering scheme is presented and evaluated. This algorithm uses discriminant analysis to project the face classes and a clustering algorithm to partition the projected face data, thus forming a set of discriminant clusters. Then, an iterative process creates subsets, whose cardinality is defined by an entropy-based measure, that contain the most useful clusters. The best match to the test face is found when only a single face class is retained. This method was tested on the ORL, XM2VTS and FERET face databases, whereas the UMIST database was used in order to train the proposed algorithm. Experimental results indicate that the proposed framework provides a promising solution to the face recognition problem.     

Sulphate resistance of lime-based barium mortars

This work studies the effect of barium hydroxide on the sulphate-resistance of lime-based mortars when used as an additive material to the lime binder. The overall aim of the work is to study the potential of barium hydroxide in producing a mixed binder with lime, which is able to fix the sulphate ions, block the diffusion of sulphate solutions and therefore, reduce the degradation rate of mixtures.The durability of different mixtures was studied through sulphate salt crystallisation and acid rain simulation tests, along with the characterisation of their pore-space properties. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM/EDX) and inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) were used for materials characterisation. Experimental results proved that barium hydroxide increases the durability of hardened mixtures against sulphate attack, without affecting the microstructure characteristics.     

Improved weight management using genetic information to personalize a calorie controlled diet

Background  

Gene-environment studies demonstrate variability in nutrient requirements depending upon individual variations in genes affecting nutrient metabolism and transport. This study investigated whether the inclusion of genetic information to personalize a patient's diet (nutrigenetics) could improve long term weight management.     

Antibacterial and anti-PAF activity of lipid extracts from sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata)

The anti-PAF and the antibacterial activities of lipid extracts obtained from cultured sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) and cultured gilthead sea bream (Sparus aurata) were evaluated. Total lipids of sea bass and gilthead sea bream exerted PAF-like activity while, in higher amounts they inhibited this PAF activity. Neutral lipids of both sea bass and gilthead sea bream contained only PAF antagonists while the polar lipid fractions contained both PAF antagonists and agonists. Total lipids of sea bass exhibited stronger PAF-like activity than did those of gilthead sea bream; however, neutral lipids of sea bass contained stronger PAF antagonists than did gilthead sea bream.     

Overview of current and future energy storage technologies for electric power applications

In today's world, there is a continuous global need for more energy which, at the same time, has to be cleaner than the energy produced from the traditional generation technologies. This need has facilitated the increasing penetration of distributed generation (DG) technologies and primarily of renewable energy sources (RES). The extensive use of such energy sources in today's electricity networks can indisputably minimize the threat of global warming and climate change. However, the power output of these energy sources is not as reliable and as easy to adjust to changing demand cycles as the output from the traditional power sources. This disadvantage can only be effectively overcome by the storing of the excess power produced by DG-RES. Therefore, in order for these new sources to become completely reliable as primary sources of energy, energy storage is a crucial factor. In this work, an overview of the current and future energy storage technologies used for electric power applications is carried out. Most of the technologies are in use today while others are still under intensive research and development. A comparison between the various technologies is presented in terms of the most important technological characteristics of each technology. The comparison shows that each storage technology is different in terms of its ideal network application environment and energy storage scale. This means that in order to achieve optimum results, the unique network environment and the specifications of the storage device have to be studied thoroughly, before a decision for the ideal storage technology to be selected is taken.     

Presentation and comments on EU legislation related to food industries–environment interactions: sustainable development, and protection of nature and biodiversity – genetically modified organisms

The European Union (EU) legislation regarding sustainable development moves along two distinct lines: the impact of industries (food industries included) on the environment (release of gases and green house effect and the effect of cultivating genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the environment. EU voted three communications [ COM(2002)524 , COM(2003)301 , COM(2004)38 ] in an attempt to set an action plan based on technologies to manage pollution, by promoting less polluting and less resource‐intensive products and services and ways to manage resources more efficiently. As such environment‐friendly technologies pervade practically all economic activities and sectors it is anticipated that they will reduce effectively energy and resource consumption thereby creating fewer emissions and less waste. As regards the cultivation and/or importing of GMOs, EU legislation was based on two directives ( E.U. 90/219/EEC, E.U. 2001/18/EC) and four regulations [ Regulation (EC) No. 258/97 , Regulation (EC) No. 1830/2003 , Regulation (EC) No. 1830/2003 and Regulation (EC) No. 1946/2003 ]. The directives aimed at adopting measures for limited use of GM micro‐organisms, making the procedure for granting consent to the deliberate release and placing on the market of GMOs more efficient and more transparent, making GMO labelling compulsory and thereby enhancing GMOs traceability along the entire food chain.     

Image denoising using a tight frame.

We present a general mathematical theory for lifting frames that allows us to modify existing filters to construct new ones that form Parseval frames. We apply our theory to design nonseparable Parseval frames from separable (tensor) products of a piecewise linear spline tight frame. These new frame systems incorporate the weighted average operator, the Sobel operator, and the Laplacian operator in directions that are integer multiples of 45 degrees. A new image denoising algorithm is then proposed, tailored to the specific properties of these new frame filters. We demonstrate the performance of our algorithm on a diverse set of images with very encouraging results.     

Congestion due to Rate Variations in cdma2000 Data Networks

In order to support high data rate requirements and effectively manage the scarce wireless resources, additional bandwidth channels are allocated and taken away from mobile stations in 3G wireless data networks quite frequently. A TCP sender connected to the mobile, on seeing ACKs coming at a faster pace after additional bandwidth allocation, turns overtly optimistic and injects data into the network at a rate that might be excessive for an intermediate router, thereby leading to loss of multiple packets and subsequent prolonged recovery and periods of underutilization. In this work, we characterize this problem using an analytical model for losses based on continuous flow approximation as well as an extensive simulation setup. We also illustrate how bandwidth oscillations create more severe congestion than an increase in number of users to the extent that even RED algorithm is unable to check the sharp growth of queues. As a result, multiple packets are lost in a droptail fashion. We further demonstrate the dependence of congestion due to bandwidth allocation on the time during which mobiles' rates are increased and observe the degradation in performance for typical load scenarios. We also try to identify the boundary for stable operation of RED and finally present some possible methods for improving the performance. Vikas Paliwal graduated with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Kanpur, India and an M.S. in Systems and Computer Engineering from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He has five years of research and work experience in telecommunications area in a variety of work environments across the globe. During his under-graduation he worked on a research project in micro-electronics area with IMS Research Labs, Hanover, Germany, and developed some innovative algorithms for circuit schematics and layouts. After graduating from IIT, Vikas was the core Engineering and Marketing Consultant for GMG Telecom Consultants India Limited, New Delhi, India, and helped GMG in developing a level of technical expertise in the areas of security systems that resulted in key research projects from firms such as ADT and Honeywell. Later, as part of his Masters research at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada, Vikas worked on performance analysis of CDMA data networks and queue management techniques that resulted in five research papers in various academic journals/conferences. His Masters research project also attracted the interest of Nortel Networks, Ottawa, Canada, and helped in starting joint research projects in the area of wireless systems simulation, which was of particular interest to Nortel. Vikas then worked with Solana Networks, Ottawa, on network topology detection and on products that improve the performance of mission-critical IP networks and wireless LANs. This was followed by a year of work with Qualcomm, UK, on modem software design and implementation for Qualcomm's 3G chipsets. Currently he works with Qualcomm Inc., San Diego, CA, on physical layer of WCDMA and HSxPA systems. At Qualcomm, he continues his research activities in advanced wireless systems design and implementation by actively participating in various technical forums and conducting several training/discussion sessions on UMTS systems. Ioannis Lambadaris was born in Thessaloniki, Greece. He received a diploma in Electrical Engineering from the Polytechnic School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in 1984. He was a recipient at a Fulbright Fellowship (1984–1985) for graduate studies in USA. He received a M.Sc. degree in Engineering from Brown University, Providence, RI, USA in 1985 and a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA in 1991. He was employed as a research associate at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1991–1992. Between September 1992 and July 1997 he has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Currently he is an associate professor in the same department and a member of IEEE. While at Carleton he received the Premier %92\,s Research Excellence Award (2000), and the Carleton University Research Excellence Award (2000–2001) for his research achievements in the area of modeling and performance analysis of computer networks. Professor Lambadaris' interests lie in the area of applied stochastic processes, stochastic control, queuing theory and their application for modeling and performance analysis of computer communication networks. His current research concentrates on quality of service (QoS) control for IP networks, resource allocation in optical networks, and optimal routing and flow control in ad-hoc wireless systems. Biswajit, a co-founder of Solana Networks, has15 years of experience in the area of data communication. He has worked at Nortel Networks, Bell Northern Research, Tropic Networks and Belair Networks. The primary focus of his work has been in the area of IP networking protocols and architecture. As an Independent Contributor at Nortel Networks, he spearheaded various advance technology programs and R&D projects in IP networking. He worked as a Network Architect with the MPLS team and as a member of the architecture team at Tropic Networks to address complex optical networking issues. He worked as a System Architect on WLAN mesh networking products at BelAir Networks. Dr. Nandy has a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Waterloo and has been an Adjunct Research Professor with Systems and Computer Engineering at Carleton University since 2001. He holds an M.Tech in Electrical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a B.E. in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Jadavpur University, Calcutta. He has authored and presented over 25 research papers in International conferences and holds 12 US patents. He has actively participated in various Work Groups in IETF and author of several IETF proposals in the form of Internet Drafts and RFC.