Abstract. The use of active contours for texture segmentation seems rather attractive in the recent research, indicating that such methodologies may provide more accurate results. In this paper, a novel model for texture segmentation is presented, combining advantages of the active contour approach

A snake is an energy-minimizing spline guided by external constraint forces and influenced by image forces that pull it toward features such as lines and edges. Snakes are active contour models: they lock onto nearby edges, localizing them accurately. Scale-space continuation can be used to enlarge

. The external forces that push the curve to the edges are modified to give more stable results. The original snake, when it is not close enough to contours, is not attracted by them and straightens to a line. Our model makes the curve behave like a balloon which is inflated by an additional force. The initial

In this paper, we propose a new model for active contours to detect objects in a given image, based on techniques of curve evolution, Mumford--Shah functional for segmentation and level sets. Our model can detect objects whose boundaries are not necessarily defined by gradient. We minimize

This paper investigates novel LBP-guided active contour approaches to texture segmentation. The Local Binary Pattern (LBP) operator is well suited for texture representation, combining efficiency and effectiveness for a variety of applications. In this light, two LBP-guided active contours have

A practical step-by-step guide to wavelet analysis is given, with examples taken from time series of the El Nio-- Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The guide includes a comparison to the windowed Fourier transform, the choice of an appropriate wavelet basis function, edge effects due to finite

For manytypes of learners one can compute the statistically "optimal" way to select data. We review how these techniques have been used with feedforward neural networks [MacKay, 1992# Cohn, 1994]. We then showhow the same principles may be used to select data for two alternative, statistically-based learning architectures: mixtures of Gaussians and locally weighted regression. While the techniques for neural networks are expensive and approximate, the techniques for mixtures of Gaussians and locally weighted regression are both efficient and accurate.

Growth of distributed systems has attained unstoppable momentum. If we better understood how to think about, analyze, and design distributed systems, we could direct their implementation with more confidence.

This paper provides an elementary, non-technical, survey of auction theory, by introducing and describing some of the critical papers in the subject. (The most important of these are reproduced in a companion book, The Economic Theory of Auctions, Paul Klemperer (ed.), Edward Elgar (pub.), forthcoming.) We begin with the most fundamental concepts, and then introduce the basic analysis of optimal auctions, the revenue equivalence theorem, and marginal revenues. Subsequent sections address risk-aversion, affiliation, asymmetries, entry, collusion, multi-unit auctions, double auctions, royalties, incentive contracts, and other topics. Appendices contain technical details, some simple worked examples, and a bibliography for each section.

In recent years, many new cortical areas have been identified in the macaque monkey. The number of identified connections between areas has increased even more dramatically. We report here on (1) a summary of the layout of cortical areas associated with vision and with other modalities, (2) a computerized database for storing and representing large amounts of information on connectivity patterns, and (3) the application of these data to the analysis of hierarchical organization of the cerebral cortex. Our analysis concentrates on the visual system, which includes 25 neocortical areas that are predominantly or exclusively visual in function, plus an additional 7 areas that we regard as visual-association areas on the basis of their extensive visual inputs. A total of 305 connections among these 32 visual and