Arabic handwritten digit recognition

In this paper, we fill a gap in the literature by studying the problem of Arabic handwritten digit recognition. The performances of different classification and feature extraction techniques on recognizing Arabic digits are going to be reported to serve as a benchmark for future work on the problem. The performance of well known classifiers and feature extraction techniques will be reported in addition to a novel feature extraction technique we present in this paper that gives a high accuracy and competes with the state-of-the-art techniques. A total of 54 different classifier/features combinations will be evaluated on Arabic digits in terms of accuracy and classification time. The results are analyzed and the problem of the digit ‘0’ is identified with a proposed method to solve it. Moreover, we propose a strategy to select and design an optimal two-stage system out of our study and, hence, we suggest a fast two-stage classification system for Arabic digits which achieves as high accuracy as the highest classifier/features combination but with much less recognition time.     

基于综合技术的人脸检测与识别系统

本文提出了一个完整的人脸检测与识别系统。首先利用“参考白”技术进行了光线补偿,然後利用肤色及人脸结构特徵实现了人脸检测,并考虑了类似肤色的影响,最後根据人脸图像的灰度特性和几何特性,采用投影法和人脸五官的比例关系进行定位和提取,并在多媒体数据库中实现了人脸照片的直接查询。     

Multi-data source fusion

This paper describes a new approach of heterogeneous data source fusion. Data sources are either static or active: static data sources can be structured or semi-structured, whereas active sources are services. In order to develop data sources fusion systems in dynamic contexts, we need to study all issues raised by the matching paradigms. This challenging problem becomes crucial with the dominating role of the internet. Classical approaches of data integration, based on schemas mediation, are not suitable to the World Wide Web (WWW) environment where data is frequently modified or deleted. Therefore, we develop a loosely integrated approach that takes into consideration both conflict management and semantic rules which must be enriched in order to integrate new data sources. Moreover, we introduce an XML-based Multi-data source Fusion Language (MFL) that aims to define and retrieve conflicting data from multiple data sources. The system, which is developed according to this approach, is called MDSManager (Multi-Data Source Manager). The benefit of the proposed framework is shown through a real world application based on web data sources fusion which is dedicated to online markets indices tracking. Finally, we give an evaluation of our MFL language. The results show that our language improves significantly the XQuery language especially considering its expressiveness power and its performances.     

基于神经网络数字识别方法的研究

针对无指针式仪表表盘的数字识别问题,提出一种基于特征提取和粗糙集特征约简的神经网络数字识别方法;该方法首先利用数字图像预处理技术处理图像并利用特征提取方法提取数字图像特征,然后利用粗糙集理论进行特征约简,最后将约简后的信息输入到训练好的神经网络进行识别;实验表明,相对于传统方法,该方法具有识别率高、速度快的特点,具有较高的实用价值;并且该方法在保留神经网络高鲁棒性的同时,为快速准确地进行数字识别开辟了新的途径。     

Dimensional reduction of 3D building models using graph theory and its application in building energy simulation

Since the various people involved in the design process for a building project tend to hold conflicting views, this inevitably leads to a range of disparate models for planning and calculation purposes. In order to interpret the relevant geometrical, topological and semantical data for any given building model, we identify a structural component graph, a graph of room faces, a room graph and a relational object graph as aids and explain algorithms to derive these relations. We start with a building model by transferring its geometrical, topological and semantical data into a volume model, decomposing the latter into a so-called connection model and then extracting all air volume bodies and hulls of the model by means of further decomposition into elementary cyclic connection components. The technique is demonstrated within the scope of building energy simulation by deriving both a dimensionally reduced object model required for setting up a thermal multizone model and a geometrical model for defining single or multiple computational fluid dynamic domains in a building together with incidence matrices correlating these models. The algorithm is basically applicable to any building energy simulation tool.

Kernel PCA for Feature Extraction and De-Noising in Nonlinear Regression

In this paper, we propose the application of the Kernel Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique for feature selection in a high-dimensional feature space, where input variables are mapped by a Gaussian kernel. The extracted features are employed in the regression problems of chaotic Mackey–Glass time-series prediction in a noisy environment and estimating human signal detection performance from brain event-related potentials elicited by task relevant signals. We compared results obtained using either Kernel PCA or linear PCA as data preprocessing steps. On the human signal detection task, we report the superiority of Kernel PCA feature extraction over linear PCA. Similar to linear PCA, we demonstrate de-noising of the original data by the appropriate selection of various nonlinear principal components. The theoretical relation and experimental comparison of Kernel Principal Components Regression, Kernel Ridge Regression and ε-insensitive Support Vector Regression is also provided.     

Motif analysis for automatic segmentation of CT surface contours into individual surface features

This paper presents a new layer-based technique for automatic high-level segmentation of 3-D surface contours into individual surface features through motif analysis. The procedure starts from a contour-based surface model representing a composite surface area of an object. For each of the surface contours, a relative turning angle (RTA) map is derived. The RTA map usually contains noise and minor features. Algorithms based on motif analysis are applied for extracting a main profile of the RTA map free from background noise and other minor features. All feature points on the extracted profile are further identified from the extracted main profile through further motif analysis. The original contour is thus partitioned into individual segments with the identified feature points. A collection of consecutive contour segments among different layers form an individual 3-D surface feature of the original composite surface. The developed approach using motif analysis is particularly useful for the identification of smooth joins between individual surface features and for the elimination of superposed noise and unwanted minor features.     

SAFE: An Efficient Feature Extraction Technique

This paper proposes an efficient window-based semi-automatic feature extraction technique which uses simulated annealing for minimizing the energy of an active contour within a specified image region. The energy is computed based on a chamfer image, in which pixel values are a function of distance to image edges. A user places a number of control points close to the feature of interest. B-spline fitted to these points provides an initial approximation of the contour. A window containing both the initial contour and the feature of interest is considered. The contour with minimum energy inside the window provides the final delineation. Comparison of the performance of the proposed algorithm with traditional snake, a popular feature extraction technique based on energy minimization, demonstrates the superiority of the SAFE technique. Received 18 August 1999 / Revised 25 October 2000 / Accepted in revised form 8 December 2000     

Premelting transition in uranium dioxide

Thermal analysis of the cooling curves of small samples of uranium dioxide, laser heated in a high-pressure autoclave on a subsecond time scale to a temperature just below the melting point, reveals, in the case of nominally stoichiometric UO_2.00, a significant -like heat capacity peak, indicating a premelting transition in this material. The results are discussed and a simple model is presented in terms of which the observed behavior can be described.Summary of a paper presented at the Third Workshop on Subsecond Thermophysics, September 17–18, 1992, Graz, Austria. Because of its length, the full paper was published in a regular issue of this journal (Vol. 14, No. 2, 1993).