The development of increasingly complex multimedia applications calls for new methodologies for the organization and retrieval of still images and video sequences. Query and retrieval methods based on image content promise good results, are currently widely investigated and, to some extent, already commercially available. Yet a large number of issues remain unsolved. In this paper we describe s...

In this paper, we study the human action classification problem based on motion features directly extracted from video. In order to implement a fast classification system, we select simple features that can be obtained from non-intensive computation. We also introduce the new SVM 2K classifier that can achieve improved performance over a standard SVM by combining two types of motion feature vec...

The overall objective of these projects is to improve models for fluid velocities in the swash zone. Although runup excursions and cross-shore swashzone velocities owing to random waves on a natural beach are predicted well by a model (Rbreak) based on the vertically-averaged nonlinear shallow water equations with quadratic bottom friction (Kobayashi et al. 1989, Raubenheimer et al. 1995, Raube...

Spatial models are often based on polygons both in 2D and 3D. Many Geo-ICT products support spatial data types, such as the polygon, based on the OpenGIS ‘Simple Features Specification’. OpenGIS and ISO have agreed to harmonize their specifications and standards. In this paper we discuss the relevant aspects related to polygons in these standards and compare several implementations. A quite exh...

Since 1998 a lots of European Internet Service Providers (ISP) started to provide internet access freely. Why does a profit maximizing operator adopts this pricing policy? A consumer who wants to surf on the net needs to buy two services: the access from the ISP and the connection from the Telephone Operator. Since the two services are complements, the price of one service creates a negative ex...

It is hypothesized that interplay of earthquake, soil, foundation and structure (SFS) dynamic characteristic, and their interaction in time domain, control the behavior of SFS system during earthquakes. Moreover, (passive and active) control of spatial and temporal location of seismic energy dissipation (preferably in soil) can improve safety and economy of SFS systems. Such energy dissipation ...

It is a fact that the notion of education has been changing over the last years, mainly owing to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). In this globalized world, we are swamped by information, and the key issue is to surf it and choose the appropriate bit. This wealth of information and the need of being constantly updating knowledge in order to carry out our work in the way we ...

Large numbers of people all over the world read and contribute to various review sites. Many contributors are understandably concerned about privacy in general and, specifically, about linkability of their reviews (and accounts) across multiple review sites. In this paper, we study linkability of community-based reviewing and try to answer the question: to what extent are ”anonymous” reviews li...

Although the importance of advocacy activities by civil society organizations (CSOs) in policy and decision-making procedures has been greatly emphasized in the literature of political science and social policy, we have relatively little understanding of the relevance and impact of the leading actors who structure the diverse networks and discourses through social media; further recognition is ...