PIC-Score: Probabilistic Interpretable Comparison Score for Optimal Matching Confidence in Single- and Multi-Biometric (Face) Recognition

In the context of biometrics, matching confidence refers to the confidence that a given matching decision is correct. Since many biometric systems operate in critical decision-making processes, such as in forensics investigations, accurately and reliably stating the matching confidence becomes of high importance. Previous works on biometric confidence estimation can well differentiate between high and low confidence, but lack interpretability. Therefore, they do not provide accurate probabilistic estimates of the correctness of a decision. In this work, we propose a probabilistic interpretable comparison (PIC) score that accurately reflects the probability that the score originates from samples of the same identity. We prove that the proposed approach provides optimal matching confidence. Contrary to other approaches, it can also optimally combine multiple samples in a joint PIC score which further increases the recognition and confidence estimation performance. In the experiments, the proposed PIC approach is compared against all biometric confidence estimation methods available on four publicly available databases and five state-of-the-art face recognition systems. The results demonstrate that PIC has a significantly more accurate probabilistic interpretation than similar approaches and is highly effective for multi-biometric recognition. The code is publicly-available

Electrodeposition of Zn-Mn alloys from recycling battery leach solutions in the presence of amines

The recovery of metal ions by electrodeposition from solutions resulting from the lixiviation of spent Zn-MnO2 batteries was studied. It was attempted to optimise the electrodeposition process, the selectivity of ion-separation, the morphologic characteristics, and the anticorrosive and galvanic properties of metallic deposits. The simultaneous deposition of zinc and manganese on different ferrous substrates under various experimental conditions was tested. This allowed us to access the efficiency of the electrodeposition, the morphology and composition of the metallic deposits, as well as their performance as galvanic coating layers. The effect of amine additives, namely, of methylamine and ethylenediamine, on the properties of the coatings was also studied. It was shown that the amines with buffering or passivating effects improve the simultaneous deposition of Mn

Model Compression Techniques in Biometrics Applications: A Survey

The development of deep learning algorithms has extensively empowered humanity's task automatization capacity. However, the huge improvement in the performance of these models is highly correlated with their increasing level of complexity, limiting their usefulness in human-oriented applications, which are usually deployed in resource-constrained devices. This led to the development of compression techniques that drastically reduce the computational and memory costs of deep learning models without significant performance degradation. This paper aims to systematize the current literature on this topic by presenting a comprehensive survey of model compression techniques in biometrics applications, namely quantization, knowledge distillation and pruning. We conduct a critical analysis of the comparative value of these techniques, focusing on their advantages and disadvantages and presenting suggestions for future work directions that can potentially improve the current methods. Additionally, we discuss and analyze the link between model bias and model compression, highlighting the need to direct compression research toward model fairness in future works.Comment: Under review at IEEE Journa

Fluorescence in nanostructured fulleride films

Applied Physics Letters, 89Nanostructuring of fullerene C60 beam deposited films is achieved by electrochemical reduction in a potassium hydroxide aqueous solution. Alkali fulleride clusters are formed at the electrode, as it is illustrated by cyclic voltammetry, x-ray diffraction, and scanning tunneling microscopy. Fluorescence emission from fluorophore doped fullerene reduced films was investigated by fluorescence spectroscopy and scanning near-field optical microscopy. These techniques lead to results which also fit such nanometer-sized fulleride cluster interpretation. In particular, the fluorophore fluorescence lifetime decreases as long as aggregation in the film is more effective,which occurs with the increase of film thickness

Produção de mudas de Ipomoea acuminata (Vahl) Roem. & Schult. por estaquia: resultados preliminares.

Organizado por Patricia Póvoa de Mattos, Celso Garcia Auer, Rejane Stumpf Sberze, Katia Regina Pichelli e Paulo César Botosso

Quebra de dormência de sementes de Albizia polycephala (Benth.) Killip.

Resumo 14

Electrochemical routes for industrial synthesis

This review examines the reasons for increasing interest towards electrolyses by the chemical industry, reviews the electrochemical industries as most of them now exist, and provides a status report on the key technological advances which are occurring to meet present and future needs. Classical industries like those of chloroalkali, aluminium, p-aminophenol, adiponitrile, ethylene glycol, anthraquinone, perfluorinated products, glyoxylic acid and L-cysteine are initially covered. Considering the large amount of available publications in these topics of electrochemical engineering, the covered relevant information is treated at a scientific level, although in a simplified way. Then the paper deals with emerging inorganic and organic processes, e.g. electrosynthesis in ionic liquids and mediated electrochemical processes, and finishes by assessing what the future development trend might be given the electrochemical and non electrochemical competing influences. With this approach it is hoped to stimulate the interest of chemical engineers and scientists non-specialised in electrochemical routes, and to review some cutting edge research, particularly as far as electrosynthesis in ionic liquids is concerned

Quebra de dormência de sementes de Mimosa furfuracea Bentham.

Organizado por Patricia Póvoa de Mattos, Celso Garcia Auer, Rejane Stumpf Sberze, Katia Regina Pichelli e Paulo César Botosso