Word shape analysis for a hybrid recognition system

This paper describes two wholistic recognizers developed for use in a hybrid recognition system. The recognizers use information about the word shape. This information is strongly related to word zoning. One of the recognizers is explicitly limited by the accuracy of the zoning information extraction. The other recognizer is designed so as to avoid this limitation. The recognizers use very simple sets of features and fuzzy set based pattern matching techniques. This not only aims to increase their robustness, but also causes problems with disambiguation of the results. A verification mechanism, using letter alternatives as compound features, is introduced. Letter alternatives are obtained from a segmentation based recognizer coexisting in the hybrid system. Despite some remaining disambiguation problems, wholistic recognizers are found capable of outperforming the segmentation based recognizer. When working together in a hybrid system, the results are significantly higher than that of the individual recognizers. Recognition results are reported and compared

Exploiting zoning based on approximating splines in cursive script recognition

Because of its complexity, handwriting recognition has to exploit many sources of information to be successful, e.g. the handwriting zones. Variability of zone-lines, however, requires a more flexible representation than traditional horizontal or linear methods. The proposed method therefore employs approximating cubic splines. Using entire lines of text rather than individual words is shown to improve the zoning accuracy, especially for short words. The new method represents an improvement over existing methods in terms of range of applicability, zone-line precision and zoning-classification accuracy. Application to several problems of handwriting recognition is demonstrated and evaluated

Deciphering the radio star formation correlation on kpc scales : I. Adaptive kernel smoothing experiments

One of the tightest correlations in astronomy is the relation between the integrated radio continuum and the far-infrared (FIR) emission. Within nearby galaxies, variations in the radio–FIR correlation have been observed, mainly because the cosmic ray electrons migrate before they lose their energy via synchrotron emission or escape. The major cosmic-ray electron transport mechanisms within the plane of galactic disks are diffusion, and streaming. A predicted radio continuum map can be obtained by convolving the map of cosmic-ray electron sources, represented by that of the star formation, with adaptive Gaussian and exponential kernels. The ratio between the smoothing lengthscales at 6 cm and 20 cm can be used to determine, between diffusion and streaming, which is the dominant transport mechanism. The dependence of the smoothing lengthscale on the star formation rate bears information on the dependence of the magnetic field strength, or the ratio between the ordered and turbulent magnetic field strengths on star formation. Star formation maps of eight rather face-on local and Virgo cluster spiral galaxies were constructed from Spitzer and Herschel infrared and GALEX UV observations. These maps were convolved with adaptive Gaussian and exponential smoothing kernels to obtain model radio continuum emission maps. It was found that in asymmetric ridges of polarized radio continuum emission, the total power emission is enhanced with respect to the star formation rate. At a characteristic star formation rate of $\dot{\Sigma}_*=8 \times 10^{-3}\,M_{\odot}$ yr−1 kpc−2, the typical lengthscale for the transport of cosmic-ray electrons is l = 0.9 ± 0.3 kpc at 6 cm, and l = 1.8 ± 0.5 kpc at 20 cm. Perturbed spiral galaxies tend to have smaller lengthscales. This is a natural consequence of the enhancement of the magnetic field caused by the interaction. The discrimination between the two cosmic-ray electron transport mechanisms, diffusion, and streaming is based on (i) the convolution kernel (Gaussian or exponential); (ii) the dependence of the smoothing kernel on the local magnetic field, and thus on the local star formation rate; (iii) the ratio between the two smoothing lengthscales via the frequency dependence of the smoothing kernel, and (iv) the dependence of the smoothing kernel on the ratio between the ordered and the turbulent magnetic field. Based on our empirical results, methods (i) and (ii) cannot be used to determine the cosmic ray transport mechanism. Important asymmetric large-scale residuals and a local dependence of the smoothing length on Bord/Bturb are most probably responsible for the failure of methods (i) and (ii), respectively. On the other hand, the classifications based on l6 cm/l20 cm (method iii) and Bord/Bturb (method iv), are well consistent and complementary. We argue that in the six Virgo spiral galaxies, the turbulent magnetic field is globally enhanced in the disk. Therefore, the regions where the magnetic field is independent of the star formation rate are more common. In addition, Bord/Bturb decreases, leading to a diffusion lengthscale that is smaller than the streaming lengthscale. Therefore, cosmic ray electron streaming dominates in most of the Virgo spiral galaxies

Using Sequences of Local Minima/Maxima for on-Line Cursive Letter Recognition

This report presents an introduction to experiments with using sequences of local minima and maxima for the letter recognition

Multi-wavelength study of globular clusters : characterisation of the link between their environment and their properties

L’étude des amas globulaires (AGs) nous offre une opportunité d’appréhender l’histoire de leurs galaxies hôtes et ainsi l’histoire de l’univers. Dans cette thèse, je me suis intéressé aux propriétés des AGs dans différents environnements. Tout d’abord, je me suis concentré sur les AGs de l’amas de la Vierge, un amas de galaxies très dense situé à environ 16,5 Mpc. J’ai utilisé les données observées par le relevé NGVS (Next Generation Virgo Survey) pour définir un échantillon qui contient 1846AGs. J’ai ensuite comparé les couleurs de ces amas avec celles d’autres AGs originaires de la Voie Lactée et j’ai remarqué des différences de couleurs encore jamais observées, dont la nature exacte est encore énigmatique. Pour comprendre ces différences, j’ai ensuite comparé les AGs observés avec des AGs synthétiques basés sur 10 modèles de synthèse de populations stellaires. J’ai aussi étudié les âges et les métallicités ressortant de la confrontation directe des couleurs des AGs à ces modèles. En conclusion, en l’état actuel, les modèles ne rendent pas compte de la diversité identifiée dans ma thèse. Finalement, j’ai effectué une brève étude des propriétés spatiales des AGs autour de M87 pour repérer des marques d’accrétion.Through the study of the globular cluster (GC) properties, it is possible to unravel the history of their host galaxies and by extension the history of the universe. During this thesis, I was interested in the GC properties in different environments. First, I looked at the GCs in the Virgo cluster, a dense galaxy cluster located at 16.5 Mpc. I used data from the survey NGVS (Next Generation Virgo Survey) to define a sample of 1846 GCs. Then, I compared the colors of these GCs with those of Milky Way GCs and I noted color differences never yet observed, which are still enigmatic. In order to understand these differences, I compared the observed GCs with synthetic GCs obtained with 10 stellar population synthesis models. I also studied the age and metallicity predictions of those models. In the end, in their current status, the models do not account for the diversity highlighted in my thesis. Finally, I assessed the spatial properties of the GCs around M87 in order to find any signatures of a recent accretion

First experiments with the "Toolbox"

This report presents the very first approach to the toolbox idea. The "toolboxing" is very coarse grain, the assessment of the handwriting style is based on only one criterion and the combination of results is intuitive and without any real justification. However, this simple model does contain the concepts of the toolbox architecture and provides some base for future work