We propose a new model for active contours to detect objects in a given image, based on techniques of curve evolution, Mumford-Shah (1989) functional for segmentation and level sets. Our model can detect objects whose boundaries are not necessarily defined by the gradient. We minimize an energy which can be seen as a particular case of the minimal partition problem. In the level set formulation...

To counteract the sterile look of computer-generated worlds, we introduce a procedural model for worn edges that can be seen in buildings and stones: edges that have suffered minor damage at multiple points, resulting in material being chipped off. Employing data gathered from photographs, the method adds minute detail along exposed edges. The deformed geometry may be simulated with normal maps...

We present a new approach to model edges in monochrome images. The method is divided in two parts: the localization of possible edge points and their valuation. The first part is based on the theory of minimal paths, where the selection of an energy and a set of sources determines a partition of the domain. Then, the valuation is obtained by the creation of a contrast driven hierarchy of partit...

In this thesis, I investigate the question of how the units of a linguistic expression are linearly ordered in syntax. In particular, I examine interactions between locality conditions on movement and the mapping between syntax and phonology. I show that Cyclic Linearization of syntactic structure and constraints on domain-internal movement of multiple specifiers predict unique ordering restric...

We consider the problem of testing whether two variables should be adjacent (either due to a direct effect between them, or due to a hidden common cause) given an observational distribution, and a set of causal assumptions encoded as a causal diagram. In other words, given a set of edges in the diagram known to be true, we are interested in testing whether another edge ought to be in the diagra...