A globally and quadratically convergent primal–dual augmented Lagrangian algorithm for equality constrained optimization

We present a primal–dual augmented Lagrangian method to solve an equality constrained minimization problem. This is a Newton-like method applied to a perturbation of the optimality system that follows from a reformulation of the initial problem by introducing an augmented Lagrangian function. An important aspect of this approach is that, by a choice of suitable updating rules of parameters, the algorithm reduces to a regularized Newton method applied to a sequence of optimality systems. The global convergence is proved under mild assumptions. An asymptotic analysis is also presented and quadratic convergence is proved under standard regularity assumptions. Some numerical results show that the method is very efficient and robust.     

Time–frequency localized three-band biorthogonal wavelet filter bank using semidefinite relaxation and nonlinear least squares with epileptic seizure EEG signal classification

In this paper, we design time–frequency localized three-band biorthogonal linear phase wavelet filter bank for epileptic seizure electroencephalograph (EEG) signal classification. Time–frequency localized analysis and synthesis low-pass filters (LPF) are designed using convex semidefinite programming (SDP) by transforming a nonconvex problem into a convex SDP using semidefinite relaxation technique. Three-band parameterized lattice biorthogonal linear phase perfect reconstruction filter bank (BOLPPRFB) is chosen and nonlinear least squares algorithm is used to determine its parameters values that generate the designed analysis and synthesis LPF such that the band-pass and high-pass filters are also well localized in time and frequency domain. The designed analysis and synthesis three-band wavelet filter banks are compared with the standard two-band filter banks like Daubechies maximally regular filter banks, Cohen–Daubechies–Feauveau (CDF) biorthogonal filter banks and orthogonal time–frequency localized filter banks. Kruskal–Wallis statistical test is employed to measure the statistical significance of the subband features obtained from the various two and three-band filter banks for epileptic seizure EEG signal classification. The results show that the designed three-band analysis and synthesis filter banks both outperform two-band filter banks in the classification of seizure and seizure-free EEG signals. The designed three-band filter banks and multi-layer perceptron neural network (MLPNN) are further used together to implement a signal classifier that provides classification accuracy better than the recently reported results for epileptic seizure EEG signal classification.     

Evidential grammars: A compositional approach for scene understanding. Application to multimodal street data

Automatic scene understanding from multimodal data is a key task in the design of fully autonomous vehicles. The theory of belief functions has proved effective for fusing information from several sensors at the superpixel level. Here, we propose a novel framework, called evidential grammars, which extends stochastic grammars by replacing probabilities by belief functions. This framework allows us to fuse local information with prior and contextual information, also modeled as belief functions. The use of belief functions in a compositional model is shown to allow for better representation of the uncertainty on the priors and for greater flexibility of the model. The relevance of our approach is demonstrated on multi-modal traffic scene data from the KITTI benchmark suite.     

Necessary optimality conditions for fuzzy variational problems

The main aims of this study are to derive the fuzzy Euler-Lagrange conditions for both fuzzy unconstrained and constrained variational problems based on the concepts of differentiability and integrability of a fuzzy mapping that may be parameterized by the left and right-hand functions of its α-level sets.     

1993: Axline's eight principles of play therapy revisited.

Examined V. Axlines's book, Play Therapy (1947) which includes 8 basic principles on non-directive play therapy. Student responses to learning these principles in play therapy classes were also examined. Each student was assigned a play therapy client and was observed and assisted directly by the instructor, a licensed clinical psychologist. Clients were mildly trouble children (aged 5–10 yrs) and were selected from a referral base by the instructor as appropriate for the course. As the semester progressed and students gained direct experience, weekly small (3–4 student) group discussions were held to explore in-depth understanding of play therapy principles and how these principles are put into practice. It is concluded that Axline's book remains a classic text and a foremost resource in the field. Coupling it with experiential learning is an invaluable basis for teaching play therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Publishing opinions: A note on the usefulness of commentaries": Comment.

Comments on J. J. Christensen-Szalanski and L. R. Beach's (see record 1984-21471-001) conclusion that the attention given to commentaries and replies to articles did not justify the extra space and argues that citation indexes do not measure the major usefulness of these commentaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Commentary on "Publishing opinions: A note on the usefulness of commentaries."

Comments on J. J. Christensen-Szalanski and L. R. Beach's (see record 1984-21471-001) conclusion that the attention given to commentaries and replies to articles did not justify the extra space. The author indicates that a 40% increase in space was associated with a 91% increase in citations; data do not argue against the use of commentaries. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A crucial experiment resubmitted.

Presents the "experiment" conducted by the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 18:17–40 in which the priests of Baal and Elijah each sacrificed a bull and invoked the name of their respective god, but only Elijah's god responded. Satirical comments of 3 "reviewers" of psychological articles are included to show the ethical and methodological issues that might be raised if such an experiment were conducted today. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New gauss–seidel like block iterative methods to solve discrete boundary value problems

The concept of new Gauss–Seidel like iterative methods, which was introduced in [3], will be extended so as to obtain a class of convergent Gauss–Seidel like block iterative methods to solve linear matrix equations Ax=b with an M-Matrix A. New block iterative methods will be applied to finite difference approximations of the Laplace's equation on a square (“model problem” [8]) which surpass even the block successive overrelaxation iterative method with optimum relaxation factor in this example.     

A linear discrete scheme for the Ginzburg–Landau equation

This paper considers a 2D Ginzburg–Landau equation with a periodic initial-value condition. A fully discrete Galerkin–Fourier spectral approximation scheme, which is a linear scheme, is constructed and the dynamical behaviour of the discrete system is then analysed. First, the existence and convergence of global attractors of the discrete system are obtained by a priori estimates and the error estimates of the discrete solution without any restriction on the time step, and the convergence of the discrete scheme is then obtained. The numerical stability of the discrete scheme is proved.