Spectral minutiae representations for fingerprint recognition

The term biometrics refers to the technologies that measure and analyze human intrinsic physical or behavioral characteristics for authenticating individuals. Nowadays, biometric technology is increasingly deployed in civil and commercial applications. The growing use of biometrics is raising security and privacy concerns. Storing biometric data, known as biometric templates, in a database leads to several privacy risks such as identity fraud and cross matching. A solution is to apply biometric template protection techniques, which aim to make it impossible to recover the biometric data from the templates.\ud The goal of our research is to combine biometric systems with template protection. Aimed at fingerprint recognition, this thesis introduces the Spectral Minutiae Representation method, which enables the combination of a minutiae-based fingerprint recognition system with template protection schemes based on fuzzy commitment or helper data schemes.\ud In this thesis, three spectral minutiae representation methods have been proposed: the location-based spectral minutiae representation (SML), the orientation-based spectral minutiae representation (SMO) and the complex spectral minutiae representation (SMC). From the experiments shown in this thesis, SMC achieved the best results.\ud Based on the spectral minutiae features, this thesis further presented contributions in three research directions. First, this thesis recommends several ways to enhance the recognition performance of SMC. Second, with regard to feature reduction, this thesis introduced two feature reduction methods, Column-PCA (CPCA) and Line-DFT (LDFT). Third, with regard to quantization, this thesis introduced the Spectral Bits and Phase Bits representations. \ud The spectral minutiae representation scheme proposed in this thesis enables the combination of fingerprint recognition systems with template protection based on the helper data scheme. Furthermore, this scheme allows for a fast minutiae comparison, which renders this scheme suitable as a pre-selector for a large-scale fingerprint identification system, thus significantly reducing the time to perform matching. The binary spectral minutiae representation achieved an equal error rate of less than 1% on the FVC2000-DB2 database when applying multi-sample enrolment. The fast comparison speed together with the promising recognition performance makes this spectral minutiae scheme very applicable for real time applications

Assessing the value of urban green infrastructure ecosystem services for high-density urban management and development:Case from the capital core area of Beijing, China

Urban green infrastructure (UGI) includes green and blue open spaces that provide multiple ecosystem services (ES) and the ecological and cultural benefits for people to hedge the urbanization challenges. In this paper, we assessed the total economic value of ES provided by UGI in the capital core area of Beijing by calculating the value of six types of ES related to high-density urban features: (1) climate regulation, (2) carbon sequestration and oxygen production, (3) water control and conservation, (4) air pollution reduction, (5) noise reduction (6) cultural services through the combination of replacement cost, carbon tax, shadow project, afforestation cost, and market price methods. The results showed that UGI generated economic benefits in the surveyed area of about CNY ¥1.56 billion (USD $240 million) per year or CNY ¥91.76 (USD$14) per capita. The largest share of ES came from carbon sequestration and oxygen production, amounting to about 46.32% of the total ES value. Our findings also revealed that the distribution of ES value patterns varied across communities. This study enhanced the understanding of local UGI and had significant policy implications for future urban sustainable management, both in the capital core area of Beijing and in other high-density urban areas

A quality integrated spectral minutiae fingerprint recognition system

Many fingerprint recognition systems are based on minutiae matching. However, the recognition accuracy of minutiae-based matching algorithms is highly dependent on the fingerprint minutiae quality. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce a quality integrated spectral minutiae algorithm, in which the minutiae quality information is incorporated to enhance the performance of the spectral minutiae fingerprint recognition system. In our algorithm, two types of quality data are used. The first is the minutiae reliability, expressing the probability that a given point is indeed a minutia; the second is the minutiae location accuracy, quantifying the error on the minutiae location. We integrate these two types of quality information into the spectral minutiae representation algorithm and achieve a decrease of 1% in equal error rate in the experiment

A Systematic Review of Landscape Corridor Conservation and Management in Europe

Since EU Commission initiated Green Infrastructure (GI) strategy, an important step has been taken to help public to understand benefits of nature, such as providing food, clean air, and water resource. Besides, Green Infrastructure plays an important role in climate regulation, stormwater prevention, sustaining biodiversity. And its recreational function is also valuable for human society. Therefore, it is necessary to invest more resources in Green Infrastructure to develop, maintain and sustain it (Green Infrastructure COM, 2013). Green Infrastructure is planned as a strategically network of natural and seminatural areas with environmental functions and its elements are designed and managed to deliver a wide range of ecosystem services it (European Environment Agency, 2011), which also provide solutions for urban and rural landscape conservation and sustainable development under the background of rapid and fundamental transformations in European landscapes. Landscape corridor is identified as thin strips that connect isolated patches (Joshua J. T. et al., 2002). It has similar features such as connectivity, functionality, integration, and can be considered as a part of Green Infrastructure network from systems thinking, ecological thinking and social thinking. Landscape corridor can be defined as the linear landscape elements with cultural properties that represent the combined works of nature and of man. It is important due to its connectivity as well as its scenic, cultural, social, economical, ecological and recreational functions. Comparing with the concept of Green Infrastructure, we can find that Landscape corridor (LC) shares many common features with GI, but it also has its own properties gained from its unique linear form, such as connectivity and/or forming boundaries

Spectral representation of fingerprints

Most fingerprint recognition systems are based on the use of a minutiae set, which is an unordered collection of minutiae locations and directions suffering from various deformations such as translation, rotation and scaling. The spectral minutiae representation introduced in this paper is a novel method to represent a minutiae set as a fixed-length feature vector, which is invariant to translation, and in which rotation and scaling become translations, so that they can be easily compensated for. These characteristics enable the combination of fingerprint recognition systems with a template protection scheme, which requires a fixed-length feature vector. This paper introduces the idea and algorithm of spectral minutiae representation. A correlation based spectral minutiae\ud matching algorithm is presented and evaluated. The scheme shows a promising result, with an equal error rate of 0.2% on manually extracted minutiae

What Difference Does Public Participation Make? An Alternative Futures Assessment Based on the Development Preferences for Cultural Landscape Corridor Planning in the Silk Roads Area, China

Landscape corridor planning (LCP) has become a widespread practice for promoting sustainable regional development. This highly complex planning process covers many policy and planning issues concerning the local landscape, and ideally involves the people who live in the area to be developed. In China, regional planners and administrators encourage the development of landscape corridor planning. However, the current LCP process rarely considers ideas from local residents, and public participation is not recognized as beneficial to planning outcomes. We use a specific Chinese case of LCP to analyze how citizen involvement may enrich sustainable spatial planning in respect to ideas considered and solutions developed. To this end, we compare a recently approved landscape corridor plan that was created without public participation with alternative solutions for the same landscape corridor, developed with the involvement of local residents. These alternatives were then evaluated by professional planners who had been involved in the initial planning process. We demonstrate concrete differences between planning solutions developed with and without public participation. Further, we show that collaborative processes can minimize spatial conflicts. Finally, we demonstrate that public participation does indeed contribute to innovations that could enrich the corridor plan that had been produced exclusively by the decision-makers. The paper closes with a discussion of difficulties that might accompany the involvement of local residents during sustainable LCP in China

Making rural micro-regeneration strategies based on resident perceptions and preferences for traditional village conservation and development:The case of Huangshan village, China

Micro-regeneration is a gradual renewal strategy that uses small-scale interventions to improve the quality of the living environment and local community, as well as spur industrial development. It is the small-scale interventions that have continued to make micro-regeneration a viable economic rural renewal approach for traditional village conservation and development. As such, in this work we explore potential micro-regeneration strategies and promotions based on assessments of public perception and preferences in an “unlisted” traditional village in China (i.e., an area with limited investment for conservation compared to “listed”, renowned traditional villages). We aim to identify the most perceptible modes of village transformation and industrial development for rural micro-regeneration strategies in the Huangshan traditional village of China. We also tested how the social character of respondents significantly affected their preferences in this regard. The public participatory mapping results illustrated a spatially clustered pattern made up of small spaces and individual buildings demanding micro-regeneration interventions. The survey based on 150 residents living around these sites disclosed that a unified repair approach subsidized by government and traffic condition improvements are the most recognized modes of village transformation, and the tourism is the most perceived and preferred method for industrial development. Significant differences between public perceptions and preferences of both village transformation and industrial development were identified corresponding to gender and income demographics, while village transformation perceptions change is dependent on age. Therefore, our study demonstrates evidence-based recommendations for active and effective rural micro-regeneration practices

Fingerprint Verification Using Spectral Minutiae Representations

Most fingerprint recognition systems are based on the use of a minutiae set, which is an unordered collection of minutiae locations and orientations suffering from various deformations such as translation, rotation, and scaling. The spectral minutiae representation introduced in this paper is a novel method to represent a minutiae set as a fixed-length feature vector, which is invariant to translation, and in which rotation and scaling become translations, so that they can be easily compensated for. These characteristics enable the combination of fingerprint recognition systems with template protection schemes that require a fixed-length feature vector. This paper introduces the concept of algorithms for two representation methods: the location-based spectral minutiae representation and the orientation-based spectral minutiae representation. Both algorithms are evaluated using two correlation-based spectral minutiae matching algorithms. We present the performance of our algorithms on three fingerprint databases. We also show how the performance can be improved by using a fusion scheme and singular points

Vision-Related Quality of Life and Self-Rated Satisfaction Outcomes of Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Surgery: Three-Year Prospective Study

BACKGROUND: Subjective functional outcomes measurements, such as vision health-related quality of life (VRQoL) and self-rated satisfaction measures can provide helpful multidimensional vision health information that is more comprehensive than traditional objective measures, such as best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). The purpose of this study is to demonstrate 3-year longitudinal postoperative VRQoL and self-rated satisfaction changes after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) surgery. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A prospective case series report was conducted in 92 RRD patients who underwent surgery during January 2004 through December 2006. Preoperative, 3-month, 1-year and 3-year postoperative patient VRQoL and self-rated satisfaction were assessed by face-to-face interviews. The importance of objective variables for predicting three dependent variables: CLVQOL composite scores change, 3-year postoperative CVLQOL composite score and self-rated satisfaction degree scores were calculated by stepwise multivariate linear or logistic regression analysis methods. RESULTS: The total CLVQOL composite scores change ranged between -48 and 90 (mean±standard deviation: 19.48±31.34), including positive changes in 62 patients. The self-rated satisfaction degree scores ultimately improved in 86 patients as compared with preoperative degrees. Statistically significant increases occurred only in the composite scores of subscale mobility and self-rated satisfaction degrees in the first 3 months, while the composite scores of the remaining subscales, and the total CLVQOL, BCVA in the RRD eye and weighted average BCVA, increased steadily throughout the first postoperative year. A better 3-year postoperative weighted average BCVA was associated with all of the 3 dependent outcome variables. CONCLUSIONS: VRQoL of RRD patients improved substantially after surgery and they were satisfied with their postoperative vision. The BCVA, VRQoL and self-rated satisfactory degree scores recovered in different patterns, and supplemented each other in the RRD surgery outcomes evaluated. Surgeons are advised to pay closer attention to binocular vision in RRD patients, and make efforts to explain the results of surgery