Based on the Lyapunov functional stability analysis for differential equations and the linear matrix inequality (LMI) optimization approach, A novel criterion for the global asymptotic stability of cellular neural networks with time-varying discrete and distributed delays is derived to guarantee global asymptotic stability. The criterion is expressed in terms of LMIs, which can be solved easily...

this paper reports a survey and case study research outcomes on the application of data envelopment analysis (dea) to the ranking method of european foundation for quality management (efqm) business excellence model in iran’s automotive industry and improving benchmarking process after assessment. following the global trend, the iranian industry leaders have introduced the efqm practice to thei...

concrete is one of the most utilized construction materials in the world. nowadays, nano silicate usage due to its special property attracted considerable attention. on this basis, studying its environmental functions is an essential issue. accordingly, the behavior of normal concrete and the one with nano silicate were compared via taking advantage of life cycle assessment (lca) method in this...

This paper presents an original practical criterion of global stability analysis of nonlinear polynomial systems. This criterion derived from the application of the Lyapunov direct method with a quadratic function generalizes the famous Lyapunov stability condition for linear systems. Useful mathematical transformations have allowed the formulation of the obtained conditions as an LMI (Linear M...

A method of training multilayer perceptrons (MLPs) to reach a global or nearly global minimum of the standard mean squared error (MSE) criterion is proposed. It has been found that the region in the weight space that does not have a local minimum of the normalized riskaverting error (NRAE) criterion expands strictly to the entire weight space as the risk-sensitivity index increases to infinity....

We evaluate the performance of a numerical method for global optimization of expensive functions. The method is using a response surface to guide the search for the global optimum. This metamodel could be based on radial basis functions, kriging, or a combination of different models. We discuss how to set the cyclic parameters of the optimization method to get a balance between local and global...

A novel and general criterion for image similarity validation is introduced using the so-called a contrario decision framework. It is mathematically proved that it is possible to compute a fully automatic detection criterion to decide that two images have a common cause, which can be taken as a de nition of similarity. Analytical estimates of the necessary and su cient number of sample points a...

We evaluate the performance of a numerical method for global optimization of expensive functions. The method is using a response surface to guide the search for the global optimum. This metamodel could be based on radial basis functions, kriging, or a combination of different models. We discuss how to set the cyclic parameters of the optimization method to get a balance between local and global...

We study the evolution of a single crack in an elastic body and assume that the crack path is known in advance. The motion of the crack tip is modeled as a rate-independent process on the basis of Griffith’s local energy release rate criterion. According to this criterion, the system may stay in a local minimum before it performs a jump. The goal of this paper is to prove existence of such an e...