Search results for "COMPETITION"
showing 10 items of 1409 documents
Morphological Enhancement and Triangular Matching for Fingerprint Recognition
2008
Among the principal problems for realizing a robust Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) there are the images quality and matching algorithms. In this paper a fingerprint enhancement algorithm based on morphological filter and a triangular matching are introduced. The enhancement phase is based on tree steps: directional decomposition, morphological filter and composition. For the matching phase a global transformation to overcame the effects of rotation, displacement and deformation between acquired and stored fingerprint is performed using the number of similar triangular, having fingerprint minutiae as vertexes. The performance of the proposed approach has been evaluated on…
Resource Allocation for Edge Computing-Based Blockchain: A Game Theoretic Approach
2020
Blockchain has been progressively applied to various Internet of Things (IoT) platforms. As the efficiency of the blockchain depends on its computing capability, how to make sure the acquisition of the computational resources and participation of the devices would be the driving force. In this work, an edge computing-based blockchain network is considered, where the edge service provider (ESP) offers computational resources for the miners. The focus is to investigate an efficient incentive mechanism for the miners to purchase the computational resources. Accordingly, a two-stage Stackelberg game is formulated between the miners and ESP. By exploring the Stackelberg equilibrium of the optima…
Lost in space? The concepts of planetary phenomena held by trainee primary school teachers
1997
The teaching of science in primary education has, at least according to the behaviourist tradition, sought to eliminate pupils’ faulty conceptualisations of scientific phenomena. This paper suggests that such conceptualisations are an integral part of learning and should be encouraged. The paper begins by reporting on an experiment originally developed to elicit information on the various concepts of planetary phenomena held by prospective primary school teachers in Finland. Through examining their conceptions, however, students became aware of their own cognitive processes and the underlying logic and consistency of their thinking. The paper suggests that this awareness and the methodology…
Open-inquiry driven overcoming of epistemological difficulties in engineering undergraduates: A case study in the context of thermal science
2014
This paper addresses the efficacy of an open-inquiry approach that allows students to build on traditionally received knowledge. A sample of thirty engineering undergraduates, having already attended traditional university physics instruction, was selected for this study. The students were involved in a six- week long learning experience of open-inquiry research activities within the highly motivating context of developing a thermodynamically efficient space base on Mars. They designed and carried out their own scientific investigations, which involved gathering information, collecting and analyzing data, providing explanations, and sharing results. A questionnaire containing fifteen open-e…
Long-term competitive dynamics of two cryptic rotifer species: diapause and fluctuating conditions.
2015
Life-history traits may have an important role in promoting species coexistence. However, the complexity of certain life cycles makes it difficult to draw conclusions about the conditions for coexistence or exclusion based on the study of short-term competitive dynamics. Brachionus plicatilis and B. manjavacasare two cryptic rotifer species co-occurring in many lakes on the Iberian Peninsula. They have a complex life cycle in which cyclical parthenogenesis occurs with diapausing stages being the result of sexual reproduction. B. plicatilis and B. manjavacasare identical in morphology and size, their biotic niches are broadly overlapping, and they have similar competitive abilities. However,…
On the obvious positive interspecific relationship between abundance and distribution: a reply to Blackburn and Gaston
2009
Thomas Kuhn described normal science as ‘ … research firmly based upon one or more past scientific achievements … ’, that ‘ … does not aim at novelties of fact or theory and, when successful, finds none’ ([Kuhn 1996][1]). Kuhn divides scientific enterprise into three faces: normal
Explaining a Surge in IPR Filings: Uncertain Design Rights and Learning Their Boundaries in the Finnish Sauna Heater Market
2017
We present a case study of a surge in design right filings in an industry transforming from technology-based to design-based competition. The motives for and outcomes of filing, and how these changed over time are discussed. We go on to explore the events, which offered the agents opportunities to update their beliefs about the scope of design right protection. We find that filing motives change from specific protection goals to freedom to operate over time. We also find that the actors faced several, but sometimes contradictory, learning opportunities. Finally, we argue that uncertain design rights may have fostered entrepreneurial optimism. Policy makers could level the playing field and …
The effects of recreational Paracentrotus lividus fishing on distribution patterns of sea urchins at Ustica Island MPA (Western Mediterranean, Italy)
2006
This study evaluated the effects of recreational Paracentrotus lividus fishing on average density and size of this edible sea urchin, and its indirect effects on Arbacia lixula on barren substrates of Ustica Island MPA (SW Italy, Mediterranean Sea). Size, single and pooled species densities, density of large individuals (>40 mm long) and small individuals (<20 mm long) of the two species were estimated by scuba diving in autumn 2003, spring and summer 2004 at two sites impacted by P. lividus fishing (Punta Cavazzi and Pagliaro, take zone C) and one control (Cala Sidoti, no take zone). Two samplings were performed in each season. We found that reduced densities of P. lividus and A. lixula oc…
Informal employment in developing countries
2012
There is an ongoing debate among researchers and policy makers, whether informal sector employment is a result of competitive market forces or labor market segmentation. More recently it has been argued that none of the two theories sufficiently explains informal employment, but that the informal sector shows a heterogenous structure. For some workers the informal sector is an attractive employment opportunity, whereas for others – rationed out of the formal sector – the informal sector is a strategy of last resort. To test the empirical relevance of this hypothesis we formulate an econometric model which allows for several unobserved segments within the informal sector and apply it to the …
Analysis of a parabolic cross-diffusion population model without self-diffusion
2006
Abstract The global existence of non-negative weak solutions to a strongly coupled parabolic system arising in population dynamics is shown. The cross-diffusion terms are allowed to be arbitrarily large, whereas the self-diffusion terms are assumed to disappear. The last assumption complicates the analysis since these terms usually provide H 1 estimates of the solutions. The existence proof is based on a positivity-preserving backward Euler–Galerkin approximation, discrete entropy estimates, and L 1 weak compactness arguments. Furthermore, employing the entropy–entropy production method, we show for special stationary solutions that the transient solution converges exponentially fast to its…