Consistency problems in ER-schemas for database systems

At a conceptual level data modelling consists in providing a structured form of relevant information and to accompany structures with constraints in order to capture more semantics. Cardinality constraints are among the most popular classes of constraints in database models. While each constraint class is now well understood, little is done about their interaction since possible conflicts among them may appear. The global coherence of these constraints must be considered before creating the physical corresponding database. In order to help in database design, our aim is then to propose a tool for reasoning about a set of Cardinality constraints. We will treat the global coherence using mathematical programming technique. The analyses and the detection of invalid sub-schemas will be done using Fourier-Motzkin elimination.     

Local generic representation for patch uLBP-based face recognition with single training sample per subject

Multimedia Tools and Applications - In this paper, we propose a novel paradigm of Patch uniform Local Binary Patterns (PuLBP) based Local Generic Representation (LGR) for face recognition. Indeed,...     

Flying Capacitor Multilevel Inverter Control Considering Lower Order Harmonics Elimination Based on Newton-Raphson Algorithm

Newton-Raphson-based flying capacitor multilevel inverter modeling is investigated for capacitor voltage balancing. Without using voltage feedback, Newton-Raphson method determines the best switching pattern for maintaining nil mean current in all capacitors, hence minimizing the capacitor voltage fluctuation and eliminating certain harmonic orders. Flying capacitor multilevel inverter (FCMI) modeling is developed to work with the selective harmonic elimination (SHE) technique to obtain a programmable pulse generator for multilevel inverter commutation cell control. Theoretical results are verified by experiments and simulations for a flying capacitor four-level inverter. Results show that the proposed method does effectively eliminate a number of specific low order harmonics, and the output voltage is resulted in low total harmonic distortion and with balanced flying capacitors.     

On the modelling of uncertainty in radar CFAR detection

In this paper, we propose a model for a constant false alarm detection that uses fuzzy logic to describe the uncertainty on the decision about the presence or the absence of a target. The received signal is processed in a sequential manner so that the test is performed after each observation. Each time an observation is taken, the membership function to three regions, namely; “signal present”, “signal absent” and “Uncertainty” is evaluated. Then, the received signals from different observations are combined according to some fuzzy fusion rules to obtain the global decision. The simulation results obtained showed that the bounded product rule gives the best detection performance among all the others.     

3D Deformable Super-Resolution for Multi-Camera 3D Face Scanning

Low-cost and high-accuracy 3D face measurement is becoming increasingly important in many computer vision applications including face recognition, facial animation, games, orthodontics and aesthetic surgery. In most cases fringe projection based systems are used to overcome the relatively uniform appearance of skin. These systems employ a structured light camera/projector device and require explicit user cooperation and controlled lighting conditions. In this paper, we propose a 3D acquisition solution with a 3D space-time non-rigid super-resolution capability, using three calibrated cameras coupled with a non calibrated projector device, which is particularly suited to 3D face scanning, i.e. rapid, easily movable and robust to ambient lighting variation. The proposed solution is a hybrid stereovision and phase-shifting approach, using two shifted patterns and a texture image, which not only takes advantage of stereovision and structured light, but also overcomes their weaknesses. The super-resolution scheme involves a shape+texture 3D non-rigid registration for 3D artifacts correction in the presence of small non-rigid deformations as facial expressions.     

A comparative study between three different methods of hydrogel network characterization: effect of composition on the crosslinking properties using sol–gel,rheological and mechanical analyses

Polymer Bulletin - Previously, different techniques were used to identify the crosslinking density of hydrogels. In this study, we aimed to compare three different methods of network structure...     

A robust invariant bipolar representation for R 3 surfaces: applied to the face description

In this paper, we intend to introduce a novel invariant curved surface representation under the 3D motion group. It is constructed from the superposition of the two geodesic potentials generated from a given couple of surface points. By sampling this continuous representation, invariant points are extracted from a large neighborhood around these reference points. Different numerical methods are implemented in order to find an efficient approximation in the mean of the shape distance. The inference of small distortions of points positions applied to the reference points is analyzed. We apply the proposed representation to real 3D images. The experimentations are performed on the 3D facial database Bosphorus.     

Provision of quality of service in wireless fourth generation networks

A key word describing next generation wireless networks is ‘seamless’. Wireless fourth generation (4G) networks represent a set of new technologies that will enable seamless integration of various wireless access systems, while targeting to support various sophisticated and quality of service constraining applications, such as high‐speed data services and multimedia services. This paper first proposes an architecture for 4G networks. The most significant feature of this architecture is its flexibility, openness and ability to enable seamless handoff in a single logical overlay network composed of many heterogeneous access networks. A medium access control (MAC) protocol for basic access networks is then introduced. A generic scheduling scheme, named CS‐EDF (channel state‐earliest deadline first) and the details of an efficient handoff management method are also briefly introduced. The bandwidth utilization, handoff resources reservation, and scheduling scheme performances of the proposed schemes are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.