Constellations and the unsupervised learning of graphs

In this paper, we propose a novel method for the unsupervised clustering of graphs in the context of the constellation approach to object recognition. Such method is an EM central clustering algorithm which builds prototypical graphs on the basis of fast matching with graph transformations. Our experiments, both with random graphs and in realistic situations (visual localization), show that our prototypes improve the set median graphs and also the prototypes derived from our previous incremental method. We also discuss how the method scales with a growing number of images.

Profiling in sport using momentum and perturbations

Examining a team’s performance from a physical point of view their momentum might indicate unexpected turning points in defeat or success. Physicists describe this value as to require some effort to be started, but also that it is relatively easy to keep it going once a sufficient level is reached (Reed and Hughes, 2006). Unlike football, rugby, handball and many more sports, a regular volleyball match is not limited by time but by points that need to be gathered. Every minute more than one point is won by either one team or the other. That means a series of successive points enlarges the gap between the teams making it more and more difficult to catch up with the leading one. This concept of gathering momentum, or the reverse in a performance, can give the coaches, athletes and sports scientists further insights into winning and losing performances. Momentum investigations also contain dependencies between performances or questions if future performances are reliant upon past streaks. Squash and volleyball share the characteristic of being played up to a certain amount of points. Squash was examined according to the momentum of players by Hughes et al. (2006). The initial aim was to expand normative profiles of elite squash players using momentum graphs of winners and errors to explore ‘turning points’ in a performance. Dynamic systems theory has enabled the definition of perturbations in sports exhibiting rhythms (Hughes et al., 2000; McGarry et al., 2002; Murray et al., 2008), and how players and teams cause these disruptions of rhythm can inform on the way they play, these techniques also contribute to profiling methods. Together with the analysis of one’s own performance it is essential to have an understanding of your oppositions’ tactical strengths and weaknesses. By modelling the oppositions’ performance it is possible to predict certain outcomes and patterns, and therefore intervene or change tactics before the critical incident occurs. The modelling of competitive sport is an informative analytic technique as it directs the attention of the modeller to the critical aspects of data that delineate successful performance (McGarry & Franks, 1996). Using tactical performance profiles to pull out and visualise these critical aspects of performance, players can build justified and sophisticated tactical plans. The area is discussed and reviewed, critically appraising the research completed in this element of Performance Analysis.

Inclusive education in Spain: how do skills, resources, and supports affect regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion?

This study examined regular education teachers’ perceptions of inclusion in elementary and secondary schools in Spain and how these perceptions may differ depending on teaching experience, skills, and the availability of resources and supports. Stratified random sampling procedures were used to draw a representative sample of 336 general education teachers (68 kindergarten, 133 elementary, and 135 secondary teachers) from the province of Alicante. The results indicated the acceptance of the principles of inclusion, although teacher skills, time, material resources, and personal supports for inclusion were deemed insufficient. Kindergarten and elementary teachers showed more positive perceptions of inclusion than secondary education teachers, and so did teachers with more personal supports and material resources than those with less supports and resources. The results are discussed in terms of its implications for practice in order to promote more inclusive classrooms in Spain.

FFT Interpolation From Nonuniform Samples Lying in a Regular Grid

This paper presents a method to interpolate a periodic band-limited signal from its samples lying at nonuniform positions in a regular grid, which is based on the FFT and has the same complexity order as this last algorithm. This kind of interpolation is usually termed “the missing samples problem” in the literature, and there exists a wide variety of iterative and direct methods for its solution. The one presented in this paper is a direct method that exploits the properties of the so-called erasure polynomial and provides a significant improvement on the most efficient method in the literature, which seems to be the burst error recovery (BER) technique of Marvasti’s The paper includes numerical assessments of the method’s stability and complexity.

Flora historica : or, The three seasons of the British parterre historically and botanically treated : with observations on planting, to secure a regular succession of flowers from the commencement of spring to the end of autumn /

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