Face Recognition Using Fractal Codes

In this paper we propose a new method for face recognition using fractal codes. Fractal codes represent local contractive, affine transformations which when iteratively applied to range-domain pairs in an arbitrary initial image result in a fixed point close to a given image. The transformation parameters such as brightness offset, contrast factor, orientation and the address of the corresponding domain for each range are used directly as features in our method. Features of an unknown face image are compared with those pre-computed for images in a database. There is no need to iterate, use fractal neighbor distances or fractal dimensions for comparison in the proposed method. This method is robust to scale change, frame size change and rotations as well as to some noise, facial expressions and blur distortion in the imag

Urban sprawl in Iranian cities and its differences with the western sprawl

Recently a number of studies have focused on urban sprawl in the Iranian cities and the negative impacts of such development pattern. Although in a general view the phrase “urban sprawl” is used for fast and sometimes uncontrolled urbanizations, but there are dissimilarities between the urban sprawl in the western societies with the so-called Iranian urban sprawl. This paper discusses these differences as part of five main aspects that are mentioned in the internationally recognized urban sprawl definitions. Suburban sprawl, single-use developments/zoning, disconnected street network, low accessibility of the new developments, and commercial strip development are the aspects that are descriptively discussed as the main differences between the two types of sprawl. The main point of the discussion is that due to the wide range of similarities, which are briefly introduced, the type of the fast outward urban growth that is observed in the periphery of the Iranian cities can be defined as a part of the universal urban sprawl trend. Finally a definition is suggested for explaining urban sprawl in Iran

The Relationship between Agility Capabilities and Organizational Performance: a Case Study among Home Appliance Factories in Iran

Agility capabilities are considered as inescapable features of today’s forward-looking organizations. Those organizations which possess such characteristic would be able to achieve competitive advantage and gain an edge over competitors. In this regard, this paper seeks to explore the agility capabilities of manufacturing firms and its’ impact on organizational performance. Moreover, this study investigates the key principles and features of the agile manufacturing companies and agile manufacturing dimensions. Given the importance of agility capabilities compared to other features of manufacturing companies, this component is selected for the study and its effect on corporate performance is also examined. This study adopts the descriptive survey method and uses questionnaire for the purpose of data collection. Also, the inferential statistical technique is applied in order to data analysis. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient is used to test the hypotheses and the key informants are the managers and employees of manufacturing companies in Iran. The data analysis reveals that there is a significant positive relationship between agility capabilities and performance of the company in the confidence level of 0.99. Keywords: Agility, Agility Capabilities, Organizational performance, Organizational agilit