Multi-scale 3-D Surface Description: Open and Closed Surfaces

A novel technique for multi-scale smoothing of a free-form 3-D surface is presented. Complete triangulated models of 3-D objects are constructed automatically and using a local parametrization technique, are then smoothed using a 2-D Gaussian filter. Our method for local parametrization makes use of semigeodesic coordinates as a natural and efficient way of sampling the local surface shape. The smoothing eliminates the surface noise together with high curvature regions such as sharp edges, therefore, sharp corners become rounded as the object is smoothed iteratively. Our technique for free-form 3-D multi-scale surface smoothing is independent of the underlying triangulation. It is also argued that the proposed technique is preferrable to volumetric smoothing or level set methods since it is applicable to incomplete surface data which occurs during occlusion. Our technique was applied to closed as well as open 3-D surfaces and the results are presented here

Multi-Scale Free-Form Surface Description and Curvature Estimation

A novel technique for multi-scale smoothing of a free-form 3-D surface is presented. Complete triangulated models of 3-D objects are constructed at our center [4] and using a local parametrization technique, are then smoothed using a 2-D Gaussian filter. Our method for local parametrization makes use of semigeodesic coordinates as a natural and efficient way of sampling the local surface shape. The smoothing eliminates the surface noise together with high curvature regions such as sharp edges, therefore, sharp corners become rounded as the object is smoothed iteratively. Our technique for free-form 3-D multi-scale surface smoothing is independent of the underlying triangulation. It is also argued that the proposed technique is preferrable to volumetric smoothing or level set methods since it is applicable to incomplete surface data which occurs during occlusion. The technique was applied to simple and complex 3-D objects and the results are presented here

Word matching using single closed contours for indexing handwritten historical documents

Effective indexing is crucial for providing convenient access to scanned versions of large collections of historically valuable handwritten manuscripts. Since traditional handwriting recognizers based on optical character recognition (OCR) do not perform well on historical documents, recently a holistic word recognition approach has gained in popularity as an attractive and more straightforward solution (Lavrenko et al. in proc. document Image Analysis for Libraries (DIAL’04), pp. 278–287, 2004). Such techniques attempt to recognize words based on scalar and profile-based features extracted from whole word images. In this paper, we propose a new approach to holistic word recognition for historical handwritten manuscripts based on matching word contours instead of whole images or word profiles. The new method consists of robust extraction of closed word contours and the application of an elastic contour matching technique proposed originally for general shapes (Adamek and O’Connor in IEEE Trans Circuits Syst Video Technol 5:2004). We demonstrate that multiscale contour-based descriptors can effectively capture intrinsic word features avoiding any segmentation of words into smaller subunits. Our experiments show a recognition accuracy of 83%, which considerably exceeds the performance of other systems reported in the literature

A Multi-scale Bilateral Structure Tensor Based Corner Detector

9th Asian Conference on Computer Vision, ACCV 2009, Xi'an, 23-27 September 2009In this paper, a novel multi-scale nonlinear structure tensor based corner detection algorithm is proposed to improve effectively the classical Harris corner detector. By considering both the spatial and gradient distances of neighboring pixels, a nonlinear bilateral structure tensor is constructed to examine the image local pattern. It can be seen that the linear structure tensor used in the original Harris corner detector is a special case of the proposed bilateral one by considering only the spatial distance. Moreover, a multi-scale filtering scheme is developed to tell the trivial structures from true corners based on their different characteristics in multiple scales. The comparison between the proposed approach and four representative and state-of-the-art corner detectors shows that our method has much better performance in terms of both detection rate and localization accuracy.Department of ComputingRefereed conference pape

Look, the World is Watching How We Treat Migrants! The Making of the Anti-Trafficking Legislation during the Ma Administration

Employing the spiral model, this research analyses how anti-human trafficking legislation was promulgated during the Ma Ying-jeou (Ma Yingjiu) presidency. This research found that the government of Taiwan was just as accountable for the violation of migrants’ human rights as the exploitive placement agencies and abusive employers. This research argues that, given its reliance on the United States for political and security support, Taiwan has made great efforts to improve its human rights records and meet US standards for protecting human rights. The reform was a result of multilevel inputs, including US pressure and collaboration between transnational and domestic advocacy groups. A major contribution of this research is to challenge the belief that human rights protection is intrinsic to democracy. In the same light, this research also cautions against Tai-wan’s subscription to US norms since the reform was achieved at the cost of stereotyping trafficking victimhood, legitimising state surveillance, and further marginalising sex workers

The comparision of essential oil composition from Thymus vulgaris L., Melissa officinalis L. and Achillea millefolium L. in Shahrekord climate condition

In this research, the essential oil composition of Thymus vulgaris L., Melissa officinalis L. and Achillea millefolium L. were evaluated in Shahrekord climate condition. The aerial parts of these plants in full flowering stages were collected in summer 2017 from a research farm of Shahrekord University. The essential oils were extracted by hydro distillation method (clevenger apparatus) and were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Results were showed that the thymol (33.2%), α-terpinene (18.50%), p-cymene (10.9%) and linalool (5%) were the most components of Thymus vulgaris. Neral (26.3%), geranial (25%), β-caryophyllene (6.9%), geranyl acetate (6.4%) and cis-crysantenol (5.8%) were the most important compound of M. officinalis essential oil and the cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (27.19%), cis-chrysantheol (13.16%), germacren D (7.24%), β-caryophyllene (6.69%) and thymol (6.15%) recorded in Achillea essential oil In conclusion, the results were showed that essential oils of thyme, lemon balm, and yarrow had suitable quality composition in Shahrekord climate conditions

The emerging geography of e-commerce in British retailing

This paper explores the growth of e-commerce in British grocery retailing and examines the spatial variations in e-commerce usage. The main data source is a large commercial consumer survey (Acxiom’s Research Opinion Data) rarely used by academics to date. Using these data in combination with census data, the paper addresses a number of key questions. After outlining key trends in the dataset on e-commerce usage (by product and over time) the first research question is: How do e-commerce purchases vary by geodemographic group? To answer this question, we explore e-commerce usage by age, sex and social class. The second key question is: Does e-commerce usage vary by type of geographical region? Thus, we explore variations in usage for urban and rural areas. The dynamics of urban–rural diffusion are also addressed here – by examining, in addition, the spread of broadband use across Britain. The last question is: To what degree do e-commerce sales vary by access to physical stores? This is addressed by examining consumers’ home locations in relation to geographical accessibility. The results show that age and income are crucial demographic discriminators of e-commerce usage, as is rural location versus urban, and distance from physical stores

Interplay between telecommunications and face-to-face interactions - a study using mobile phone data

In this study we analyze one year of anonymized telecommunications data for over one million customers from a large European cellphone operator, and we investigate the relationship between people's calls and their physical location. We discover that more than 90% of users who have called each other have also shared the same space (cell tower), even if they live far apart. Moreover, we find that close to 70% of users who call each other frequently (at least once per month on average) have shared the same space at the same time - an instance that we call co-location. Co-locations appear indicative of coordination calls, which occur just before face-to-face meetings. Their number is highly predictable based on the amount of calls between two users and the distance between their home locations - suggesting a new way to quantify the interplay between telecommunications and face-to-face interactions

Commute replacement and commute displacement the rise of part-day home working

Working by telecommunication has been the subject of research attention in transportation studies for many years. Particular consideration has been given to occasional working from home (home working) by (full-time, paid) employees who represent a tangible removal of commute trips on days that people work from home. However, little recognition or attention has been given to the fact that home working not only may be undertaken for part of a week but also may be undertaken for parts of given days. This paper focuses particularly on part-day home working. It defines and uses the term "varied spatiotemporal (VST) working" to describe working days in which at least 30 min of continuous working takes place at home accompanied by work taking place at the workplace. Notably, such home working does not remove the commute trips but can temporally displace one or both of them. The research reported in this paper builds on preceding survey work that had established that the number of people who practice VST working and the number of VST days worked appear to be about double those for full-day home working (which has typically been the focus of research attention). The results presented in this paper are based on 25 in-depth interviews with individuals who practice VST working. The aim of the research was to examine more closely and to understand the nature of VST working and the motivations and constraints for its practice and to consider its potential contribution as a transportation demand management measure