Automatic grain texture analysis using integral transforms

Tonewood for musical instruments is quarter-sawn and frequently quality-graded based on visual appearance, mechanical and acoustic properties. The assessment uses simple human (subjective) observation, and two ‘‘experts’’ can rate the same sample differently. This paper describes the application of integral transforms (Fourier and Radon) for automatic (objective) assessment of the visual appearance of 10 Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) sample images. This work considers surface classification on the basis of grain orientation, count, spacing, and evenness or uniformity.

Integral approach and numerical improvement to calculate carbon concentration profiles in carburising

The carbon diffusion in steel, where the carbon diffusivity varies with the carbon content, was solved with the integral methods under the third boundary condition. The variation of carbon diffusivity in steel with the carbon content was described with two different functions, linear dependence and exponential dependence. The integral approximation for both cases was improved with the numerical computation to more accurately predict the carbon profiles. The integral solution is more accurate than the formulation based on the assumption of a constant diffusivity or those based on the assumption of a constant diffusivity and/or constant carbon content at part surface. It is also more easily used in practice than the numerical method to describe the carburising process and predict the carbon content at steel surface and carbon profiles in treated layer.

The integral child

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A fuzzy decision support method for customer preferences analysis based on Choquet integral

The explosion of the Web 2:0 platforms, with massive volume of user generated data, has presented many new opportunities as well as challenges for organizations in understanding consumer's behavior to support for business planning process. Feature based sentiment mining has been an emerging area in providing tools for automated opinion discovery and summarization to help business managers with achieving such goals. However, the current feature based sentiment mining systems were only able to provide some forms of sentiments summary with respect to product features, but impossible to provide insight into the decision making process of consumers. In this paper, we will present a relatively new decision support method based on Choquet Integral aggregation function, Shapley value and Interaction Index which is able to address such requirements of business managers. Using a study case of Hotel industry, we will demonstrate how this technique can be applied to effectively model the user's preference of (hotel) features. The presented method has potential to extend the practical capability of sentiment mining area, while, research findings and analysis are useful in helping business managers to define new target customers and to plan more effective marketing strategies.

A fractional cointegration approach to testing the Ohlson accounting based valuation model

We examine the long-run relationship between market value, book value, and residual income in the Ohlson (Contemp Acc Res 11(2):661-687, 1995) model. In particular, we test if market value is cointegrated with book value and residual income in light of their non-stationary behaviors. We find that cointegration applies to only 51 % of the sample firms, casting doubt that book value and residual income alone are adequate in tracking variations in market value, yet we find that market value is fractional cointegrated with book value and residual income for 89 % of the sample firms. This implies that the long-run relationship follows a slow but mean-reverting process. Our results therefore support the Ohlson model. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Blind extraction using fractional lower-order statistics

In traditional method to blindly extract interesting source signals sequentially, the second-order or higher-order statistics of signals are often utilized. However, for impulsive sources, both of the second-order and higher-order statistics may degenerate. Therefore, it is necessary to exploit new method for the blind extraction of impulsive sources. Based on the best compression-reconstruction principle, a novel model is proposed in this work, together with the corresponding algorithm. The proposed method can be used for blind extraction of sources which are distributed from alpha stable process. Simulations are given to illustrate availability and robustness of our algorithm.

Discovering implicit criteria preferences reflected in tourism journal ranking lists using the Choquet Integral

Variations between journal rankings may cause confusion. As such, prior attempts were made to compare and evaluate journal ranking criteria for obtaining insightful knowledge on how different research communities have ranked journals. However, existing approaches are unable to model the journal ranking process closely enough as they are incapable of considering the relationship between multiple criteria simultaneously. In this paper, we address the challenges by introducing the Choquet Integral (CI) for evaluating journal ranking criteria. The new approach is able to account for interactions between criteria in relation to overall ranking score, using a fuzzy measure in its computation. Its properties, the Shapley value and the Interaction index, allow for good representations of importance and interactions between criteria. We demonstrate the efficiency of the CI through a case study of journal ranking lists in tourism and service journals.

FracSym: automated symbolic computation of Lie symmetries of fractional differential equations

In this paper, we present an algorithm for the systematic calculation of Lie point symmetries for fractional order differential equations (FDEs) using the method as described by Buckwar & Luchko (1998) and Gazizov, Kasatkin & Lukashchuk (2007, 2009, 2011). The method has been generalised here to allow for the determination of symmetries for FDEs with n independent variables and for systems of partial FDEs. The algorithm has been implemented in the new MAPLE package FracSym (Jefferson and Carminati 2013) which uses routines from the MAPLE symmetry packages DESOLVII (Vu, Jefferson and Carminati, 2012) and ASP (Jefferson and Carminati, 2013). We introduce FracSym by investigating the symmetries of a number of FDEs; specific forms of any arbitrary functions, which may extend the symmetry algebras, are also determined. For each of the FDEs discussed, selected invariant solutions are then presented. © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

O sintoma dor: prevalência em um centro de atenção integral à saúde da mulher

Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, transversal na vertente quantitativa para a avaliação da prevalência da dor na mulher em um centro de atenção à saúde integral da mulher de um município de São Paulo. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de um questionário estruturado com questões fechadas para caracterização da população e da dor, bem como, por instrumentos específicos para avaliação do impacto da dor nas atividades de vida diária. A dor demonstrou-se prevalente na população estudada e gerou novos parâmetros para a implementação de estratégias no manejo e alivio da dor, por meio, da Sistematização da Assistência de Enfermagem.

O sintoma dor: prevalência em um centro de atenção integral à saúde da mulher

Trata-se de uma pesquisa descritiva, transversal na vertente quantitativa para a avaliação da prevalência da dor na mulher em um centro de atenção à saúde integral da mulher de um município de São Paulo. A coleta de dados se deu por meio de um questionário estruturado com questões fechadas para caracterização da população e da dor, bem como, por instrumentos específicos para avaliação do impacto da dor nas atividades de vida diária. A dor demonstrou-se prevalente na população estudada e gerou novos parâmetros para a implementação de estratégias no manejo e alivio da dor, por meio, da Sistematização da Assistência de Enfermagem.