Overlapping Optimized Schwarz Methods for Parabolic Equations in n-Dimensions

We introduce in this paper a new tool to prove the convergence of the Overlapping Optimized Schwarz Methods with multisubdomains. The technique is based on some estimates of the errors on the boundaries of the overlapping strips. Our guiding example is an n-Dimensional Linear Parabolic Equation

Mutagenicity assessment of aerosols in emissions from wood combustion

Mestrado em Estudos AmbientaisPolycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) extracts of PM2.5 collected from combustion of seven wood species and briquettes were tested for mutagenic activities using Ames test with Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100. The woods werePinuspinaster (maritime pine), Eucalyptus globulus (eucalypt), Quercussuber (cork oak), Acacia longifolia (golden wattle), Quercusfaginea (Portuguese oak), Oleaeuropea (olive), and Quercus ilex rotundifolia (Holm oak). Burning experiments were done using woodstove and fireplace, hot start and cold start. A mutagenic/weak mutagenic response was recorded for all species except golden wattle. The extracts with indirect acting mutagenicity were mainly obtained from fireplace and cold start conditions. The strong mutagenic extracts were not correlated with high emission factors of carcinogenic PAHs. Several samples were weak mutagens at low concentration of PAHs. The negative result recorded for the golden wattle extracts is positive since after confirmation, this species can be recommended for domestic use.(FCT) - PTDC/AMB/65706/2006 (BIOEMI

Metadata Augmentation for Semantic- and Context- Based Retrieval of Digital Cultural Objects

Cultural objects are increasingly stored and generated in digital form, yet effective methods for their indexing and retrieval still remain an open area of research. The main problem arises from the disconnection between the content-based indexing approach used by computer scientists and the description-based approach used by information scientists. There is also a lack of representational schemes that allow the alignment of the semantics and context with keywords and low-level features that can be automatically extracted from the content of these cultural objects. This paper presents an integrated approach to address these problems, taking advantage of both computer science and information science approaches. The focus is on the rationale and conceptual design of the system and its various components. In particular, we discuss techniques for augmenting commonly used metadata with visual features and domain knowledge to generate high-level abstract metadata which in turn can be used for semantic and context-based indexing and retrieval. We use a sample collection of Vietnamese traditional woodcuts to demonstrate the usefulness of this approach

Improving the Foreign Direct Investment Capacity of the Mountainous Provinces in Viet Nam

The main purpose of this research is to suggest policies to improve the foreign direct investment attraction capacity in Northern Mountainous Provinces of Vietnam in short and medium-term. Though this region has huge potentials to develop, but poor infrastructure, remote location and bad FDI climate have hindered the FDI inflows. This research focuses on FDI climate factors, pays attention on region’s constraints, and suggests policy for three levels consisting of national, regional and provincial levels.Vietnam, International investment, Long-term capital movements, Foreign investments, Local economy, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Localization of Laplacian eigenfunctions in circular, spherical and elliptical domains

We consider Laplacian eigenfunctions in circular, spherical and elliptical domains in order to discuss three kinds of high-frequency localization: whispering gallery modes, bouncing ball modes, and focusing modes. Although the existence of these modes was known for a class of convex domains, the separation of variables for above domains helps to better understand the "mechanism" of localization, i.e. how an eigenfunction is getting distributed in a small region of the domain, and decays rapidly outside this region. Using the properties of Bessel and Mathieu functions, we derive the inequalities which imply and clearly illustrate localization. Moreover, we provide an example of a non-convex domain (an elliptical annulus) for which the high-frequency localized modes are still present. At the same time, we show that there is no localization in most of rectangle-like domains. This observation leads us to formulating an open problem of localization in polygonal domains and, more generally, in piecewise smooth convex domains.Comment: 24 pages, SIAM J. Appl. Math. 201

Extensible Detection and Indexing of Highlight Events in Broadcasted Sports Video

Content-based indexing is fundamental to support and sustain the ongoing growth of broadcasted sports video. The main challenge is to design extensible frameworks to detect and index highlight events. This paper presents: 1) A statistical-driven event detection approach that utilizes a minimum amount of manual knowledge and is based on a universal scope-of-detection and audio-visual features; 2) A semi-schema-based indexing that combines the benefits of schema-based modeling to ensure that the video indexes are valid at all time without manual checking, and schema-less modeling to allow several passes of instantiation in which additional elements can be declared. To demonstrate the performance of the events detection, a large dataset of sport videos with a total of around 15 hours including soccer, basketball and Australian football is used