PDE-Based Medial Axis Extraction and Shape Manipulation of Arbitrary Meshes

Shape skeletonization （i.e., medial axis extraction） is powerful in many visual computing applications, such as pattern recognition, object segmentation, registration, and animation. In this paper, the authors expand the use of diffusion equations combined with distance field information to approximate medial axes of arbitrary 3D differential properties. It offers an alternative solids represented by polygonal meshes based on their but natural way for medial axis extraction for commonly used 3D polygonal models. By solving the PDE along time axis, this system can not only quickly extract diffusion-based medial axes of input meshes, but also allow users to visualize the extraction process at each time step. In addition, the proposed model provides users a set of manipulation toolkits to sculpt extracted medial axes, then use diffusion-based techniques to recover corresponding deformed shapes according to the original input datasets. This skeleton-based shape manipulation offers a fast and easy way for animation and deformation of complicated mesh objects.     

Systemic Intervention in a University Department: Reflections on Arrested Action Research

This paper reflects on my experience as an insider researcher attempting to use critical systems ideas and practices to promote quality improvement in a university engineering department. Reflection is a key part of learning. This paper is intended to contribute to critically, self-reflective learning for the community of systems practitioners. These reflections on my questions about participation, ethics, politics of process, and the choices and actions resulting from them may help others to formulate their own. The complexity of systems practice places substantial demands on the researcher, particularly in the case of insider, practitioner research. Nevertheless, the exploration of critical systems approaches to critique boundaries and structure ‘problems’ in the core aspects of higher education in locally meaningful ways should continue. While demanding, it still can work to promote learning about authentic quality.     

BAN逻辑与串空间的比较

研究了2种安全协议的分析方法,即BAN逻辑和串空间.利用这2种方法分别分析了Needham-Schroeder公钥协议,指出了这2种方法各自的优点和缺点.在对这2种方法进行了比较后,指出了这2种方法有2种结合方式.1种是利用串空间给出BAN逻辑的语义,另外1种结合方式是串行,即对于需要分析的协议,先利用BAN逻辑进行分析,然后再利用串空间进行分析,使分析出的结果更加可靠.     

PEAK COVARIANCE STABILITY OF A RANDOM RICCATI EQUATION ARISING FROM KALMAN FILTERING WITH OBSERVATION LOSSES

We consider the stability of a random Riccati equation with a Markovian binary jump coefficient. More specifically, we are concerned with the boundedness of the solution of a random Riccati difference equation arising from Kalman filtering with measurement losses. A sufficient condition for the peak covariance stability is obtained which has a simpler form and is shown to be less conservative in some cases than a very recent result in existing literature. Furthermore, we show that a known sufficient condition is also necessary when the observability index equals one.     

CONSTRUCTIVE KISSING NUMBERS IN HIGH-DIMENSIONAL SPACES

In the present paper, we focus on constructive spherical codes. By employing algebraic geometry codes, we give an explicit construction of spherical code sequences. By making use of the idea involved in the proof of the Gilbert-Varshamov bound in coding theory, we construct a spherical code sequence in exponential time which meets the best-known asymptotic bound by Shamsiev and Wyner.     

Philosophy of chemistry and the image of science

The philosophical analysis of chemistry has advanced at such a pace during the last dozen years that the existence of philosophy of chemistry as an autonomous discipline cannot be doubted any more. The present paper will attempt to analyse the experience of philosophy of chemistry at the, so to say, meta-level. Philosophers of chemistry have especially stressed that all sciences need not be similar to physics. They have tried to argue for chemistry as its own type of science and for a pluralistic understanding of science in general. However, when stressing the specific character of chemistry, philosophers do not always analyse the question ‘What is science?’ theoretically. It is obvious that a ‘monistic’ understanding of science should not be based simply on physics as the epitome of science, regarding it as a historical accident that physics has obtained this status. The author’s point is that the philosophical and methodological image of science should not be chosen arbitrarily; instead, it should be theoretically elaborated as an idealization (theoretical model) substantiated on the historical practice of science. It is argued that although physics has, in a sense, justifiably obtained the status of a paradigm of science, chemistry, which is not simply a physical science, but a discipline with a dual character, is also relevant for elaborating a theoretical model of science. The theoretical model of science is a good tool for examining various issues in philosophy of chemistry as well as in philosophy of science or science studies generally.     

Global Optimization in Any Minkowski Metric: A Permutation-Translation Simulated Annealing Algorithm for Multidimensional Scaling

It is well known that considering a non-Euclidean Minkowski metric in Multidimensional Scaling, either for the distance model or for the loss function, increases the computational problem of local minima considerably. In this paper, we propose an algorithm in which both the loss function and the composition rule can be considered in any Minkowski metric, using a multivariate randomly alternating Simulated Annealing procedure with permutation and translation phases. The algorithm has been implemented in Fortran and tested over classical and simulated data matrices with sizes up to 200 objects. A study has been carried out with some of the common loss functions to determine the most suitable values for the main parameters. The experimental results confirm the theoretical expectation that Simulated Annealing is a suitable strategy to deal by itself with the optimization problems in Multidimensional Scaling, in particular for City-Block, Euclidean and Infinity metrics.     

A non-commutative time-frequency tomography

The characterization of non-stationary signal requires joint time and frequency information. However, time and frequency are a pair of non-commuting variables that cannot constitute a joint probability density in the time-frequency plane. The time-frequency distributions have difficult interpretation problems arising from negative and complex values or spurious components. In this paper, we get time-frequency information from the marginal distributions in rotated directions in the time-frequency plane. The rigorous probability interpretation of the marginal distributions is without any ambiguities. This time-frequency transformation is similar to the computerized axial tomography (CT or CAT) and is applied to signal analysis and signal detection and reveals a lot of advantages especially in the signal detection of the low signal/noise (S/N).