Perception of Motion and Architectural Form: Computational Relationships between Optical Flow and Perspective

Perceptual geometry refers to the interdisciplinary research whose objectives focuses on study of geometry from the perspective of visual perception, and in turn, applies such geometric findings to the ecological study of vision. Perceptual geometry attempts to answer fundamental questions in perception of form and representation of space through synthesis of cognitive and biological theories of visual perception with geometric theories of the physical world. Perception of form, space and motion are among fundamental problems in vision science. In cognitive and computational models of human perception, the theories for modeling motion are treated separately from models for perception of form.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figures, submitted and accepted in DoCEIS'2012 Conference: http://www.uninova.pt/doceis/doceis12/home/home.ph

Mathematical Analysis and Computational Integration of Massive Heterogeneous Data from the Human Retina

Modern epidemiology integrates knowledge from heterogeneous collections of data consisting of numerical, descriptive and imaging. Large-scale epidemiological studies use sophisticated statistical analysis, mathematical models using differential equations and versatile analytic tools that handle numerical data. In contrast, knowledge extraction from images and descriptive information in the form of text and diagrams remain a challenge for most fields, in particular, for diseases of the eye. In this article we provide a roadmap towards extraction of knowledge from text and images with focus on forthcoming applications to epidemiological investigation of retinal diseases, especially from existing massive heterogeneous collections of data distributed around the globe.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, submitted and accepted in Damor2012 conference: http://www.uninova.pt/damor2012/index.php?page=author

Energy Strategies towards Sustainability : a comparative analysis of community energy plans from Sweden and Canada

This thesis examines community energy planning in Sweden and Canada with the aim of revealing strategies that move communities towards energy sustainability. Unsustainable energy activities are identified as major threats on both local and global levels. The challenges for energy systems are discussed and a possible scenario of a future community with sustainable energy production and consumption is presented. The literature review examines community energy planning guidebooks and key theoretical and methodological concepts including ingenuity, soft energy paths and backcasting from socio-ecological principles of sustainability. Following an analysis of energy supply and demand in a broad systems context, and a review of policies and programs supporting or hindering community energy planning, energy plans from eleven Swedish and eleven Canadian communities are evaluated. Characteristics of progressive energy planning as uncovered in the literature review form a framework for evaluating the visions, strategies and actions described in the plans. Sweden is recognized as an early player in community energy planning. Although Swedish energy plans do not contain all of the identified progressive strategies, national leadership and funding have played a role in Sweden’s successes. More recent Canadian plans are found to be highly progressive, suggesting that Canadian communities who follow their plans can too be successful in transforming their energy systems towards sustainability.Kerly Acosta, email: [email protected] Arash Sangari, email: [email protected] Jessica Webster, email: [email protected]</p

Energy Strategies towards Sustainability : a comparative analysis of community energy plans from Sweden and Canada

This thesis examines community energy planning in Sweden and Canada with the aim of revealing strategies that move communities towards energy sustainability. Unsustainable energy activities are identified as major threats on both local and global levels. The challenges for energy systems are discussed and a possible scenario of a future community with sustainable energy production and consumption is presented. The literature review examines community energy planning guidebooks and key theoretical and methodological concepts including ingenuity, soft energy paths and backcasting from socio-ecological principles of sustainability. Following an analysis of energy supply and demand in a broad systems context, and a review of policies and programs supporting or hindering community energy planning, energy plans from eleven Swedish and eleven Canadian communities are evaluated. Characteristics of progressive energy planning as uncovered in the literature review form a framework for evaluating the visions, strategies and actions described in the plans. Sweden is recognized as an early player in community energy planning. Although Swedish energy plans do not contain all of the identified progressive strategies, national leadership and funding have played a role in Sweden’s successes. More recent Canadian plans are found to be highly progressive, suggesting that Canadian communities who follow their plans can too be successful in transforming their energy systems towards sustainability.Kerly Acosta, email: [email protected] Arash Sangari, email: [email protected] Jessica Webster, email: [email protected]</p

Why a few social networking sites succeed while many fail

The purpose of this research is to study why a few social networking sites (SNSs) succeed, while many others fail. Collecting data from 89 Facebook users reveals that electronic word of mouth (EWOM), ease of use, source credibility, information usefulness, and user participation contribute to the success of SNSs.Godkänd; 2011; 20110816 (ysko