The past decades have seen significant improvements in 3D imaging where the related techniques and technologies have advanced to a mature state. These exciting developments have sparked increasing interest in the challenges and opportunities afforded by 3D sensing. As a consequence, the emerging area of safety and security related imaging incorporates these important new technologies beyond the limitations of 2D image processing.This book presents the thoroughly revised versions of lectures given by leading researchers during the Workshop on Advanced 3D Imaging for Safety and Security in conjunction with the International Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition CVPR 2005, held in San Diego, CA, USA in June 2005.It covers the current state of the art in 3D imaging for safety and security.

This book provides an ample coverage of theoretical and experimental state-of-the-art work as well as new trends and directions in the biometrics field. It offers students and software engineers a thorough understanding of how some core low-level building blocks of a multi-biometric system are implemented. While this book covers a range of biometric traits including facial geometry, 3D ear form, fingerprints, vein structure, voice, and gait, its main emphasis is placed on multi-sensory and multi-modal face biometrics algorithms and systems. "Multi-sensory" refers to combining data from two or more biometric sensors, such as synchronized reflectance-based and temperature-based face images. "Multi-modal" biometrics means fusing two or more biometric modalities, like face images and voice timber. This practical reference contains four distinctive parts and a brief introduction chapter. The first part addresses new and emerging face biometrics. Emphasis is placed on biometric systems where single sensor and single modality are employed in challenging imaging conditions. The second part on multi-sensory face biometrics deals with the personal identification task in challenging variable illuminations and outdoor operating scenarios by employing visible and thermal sensors. The third part of the book focuses on multi-modal face biometrics by integrating voice, ear, and gait modalities with facial data. The last part presents generic chapters on multi-biometrics fusion methodologies and performance prediction techniques.

"Optimal Design of Distributed Control and Embedded Systems "focuses on the design of special control and scheduling algorithms based on system structural properties as well as on analysis of the influence of induced time-delay on systems performances. It treats the optimal design of distributed and embedded control systems (DCESs) with respect to communication and calculation-resource constraints, quantization aspects, and potential time-delays induced by the associated communication and calculation model.

Particular emphasis is put on optimal control signal scheduling based on the system state. In order to render this complex optimization problem feasible in real time, a time decomposition is based on periodicity induced by the static scheduling is operated. The authors present a co-design approach which subsumes the synthesis of the optimal control laws and the generation of an optimal schedule of control signals on real-time networks as well as the execution of control tasks on a single processor. The authors also operate a control structure modification or a control switching based on a thorough analysis of the influence of the induced time-delay system influence on stability and system performance in order to optimize DCES performance in case of calculation and communication resource limitations. Although the richness and variety of classes of DCES preclude a completely comprehensive treatment or a single best method of approaching them all, this co-design approach has the best chance of rendering this problem feasible and finding the optimal or some sub-optimal solution. The text is rounded out with references to such applications as car suspension and unmanned vehicles.

"Optimal Design of Distributed Control and Embedded Systems" will be of most interest to academic researchers working on the mathematical theory of DCES but the wide range of environments in which they are used also promotes the relevance of the text for control practitioners working in the avionics, automotive, energy-production, space exploration and many other industries."

This volume assesses the current state of play for Middle East and North African countries, in the light of wider work on inflation targeting, and provides lessons from the evolution of monetary policy in Europe.

This book presents practical optimization techniques used in image processing and computer vision problems. Ill-posed problems are introduced and used as examples to show how each type of problem is related to typical image processing and computer vision problems. Unconstrained optimization gives the best solution based on numerical minimization of a single, scalar-valued objective function or cost function. Unconstrained optimization problems have been intensively studied, and many algorithms and tools have been developed to solve them. Most practical optimization problems, however, arise with a set of constraints. Typical examples of constraints include: (i) pre-specified pixel intensity range, (ii) smoothness or correlation with neighboring information, (iii) existence on a certain contour of lines or curves, and (iv) given statistical or spectral characteristics of the solution. Regularized optimization is a special method used to solve a class of constrained optimization problems. The term regularization refers to the transformation of an objective function with constraints into a different objective function, automatically reflecting constraints in the unconstrained minimization process. Because of its simplicity and efficiency, regularized optimization has many application areas, such as image restoration, image reconstruction, optical flow estimation, etc. Optimization plays a major role in a wide variety of theories for image processing and computer vision. Various optimization techniques are used at different levels for these problems, and this volume summarizes and explains these techniques as applied to image processing and computer vision.

Optimal Design of Distributed Control and Embedded Systems focuses on the design of special control and scheduling algorithms based on system structural properties as well as on analysis of the influence of induced time-delay on systems performances. It treats the optimal design of distributed and embedded control systems (DCESs) with respect to communication and calculation-resource constraints, quantization aspects, and potential time-delays induced by the associated communication and calculation model. Particular emphasis is put on optimal control signal scheduling based on the system state. In order to render this complex optimization problem feasible in real time, a time decomposition is based on periodicity induced by the static scheduling is operated. The authors present a co-design approach which subsumes the synthesis of the optimal control laws and the generation of an optimal schedule of control signals on real-time networks as well as the execution of control tasks on a single processor. The authors also operate a control structure modification or a control switching based on a thorough analysis of the influence of the induced time-delay system influence on stability and system performance in order to optimize DCES performance in case of calculation and communication resource limitations. Although the richness and variety of classes of DCES preclude a completely comprehensive treatment or a single “best� method of approaching them all, this co-design approach has the best chance of rendering this problem feasible and finding the optimal or some sub-optimal solution. The text is rounded out with references to such applications as car suspension and unmanned vehicles. Optimal Design of Distributed Control and Embedded Systems will be of most interest to academic researchers working on the mathematical theory of DCES but the wide range of environments in which they are used also promotes the relevance of the text for control practitioners working in the avionics, automotive, energy-production, space exploration and many other industries.

This book presents the thoroughly revised versions of lectures given by leading researchers during the Workshop on Advanced 3D Imaging for Safety and Security in conjunction with the International Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition CVPR 2005, held in San Diego, CA, USA in June 2005. It covers the current state of the art in 3D imaging for safety and security.

This book presents practical optimization techniques used in image processing and computer vision problems. Ill-posed problems are introduced and used as examples to show how each type of problem is related to typical image processing and computer vision problems. Unconstrained optimization gives the best solution based on numerical minimization of a single, scalar-valued objective function or cost function. Unconstrained optimization problems have been intensively studied, and many algorithms and tools have been developed to solve them. Most practical optimization problems, however, arise with a set of constraints. Typical examples of constraints include: (i) pre-specified pixel intensity range, (ii) smoothness or correlation with neighboring information, (iii) existence on a certain contour of lines or curves, and (iv) given statistical or spectral characteristics of the solution. Regularized optimization is a special method used to solve a class of constrained optimization problems. The term regularization refers to the transformation of an objective function with constraints into a different objective function, automatically reflecting constraints in the unconstrained minimization process. Because of its simplicity and efficiency, regularized optimization has many application areas, such as image restoration, image reconstruction, optical flow estimation, etc. Optimization plays a major role in a wide variety of theories for image processing and computer vision. Various optimization techniques are used at different levels for these problems, and this volume summarizes and explains these techniques as applied to image processing and computer vision.

This book provides ample coverage of theoretical and experimental state-of-the-art work as well as new trends and directions in the biometrics field. It offers students and software engineers a thorough understanding of how some core low-level building blocks of a multi-biometric system are implemented. While this book covers a range of biometric traits, its main emphasis is placed on multi-sensory and multi-modal face biometrics algorithms and systems.

This volume assesses the current state of play for Middle East and North African countries, in the light of wider work on inflation targeting, and provides lessons from the evolution of monetary policy in Europe.

The Tunisian Labor Market in an Era of Transition is a comprehensive examination of the central labor market issues facing this key Arab country. It includes contributions on the size, structure, and evolution of the labor force, the characteristics of labor demand, employment policies and regulations, and unemployment. Further chapters explore the wage formation process, gender differences in the labor market, the returns to education, child labor and schooling, and the trends and patterns of international migration from Tunisia. The Tunisian Labor Market in an Era of Transition is an essential reference on how youth employment, gender disparities, and informality contributed to political and social unrest in North African societies, and on the effect of migration flows from North Africa to Europe.

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification: ++++ Discours Sur Le President Jeannin De Mongis E. Jobard, 1856