Prediction of Individual Non-Linear Aging Trajectories of Faces

Represented in a Morphable Model, 3D faces follow curved trajectories in face space as they age. We present a novel algorithm that computes the individual aging trajectories for given faces, based on a non-linear function that assigns an age to each face vector. This function is learned from a database of 3D scans of teenagers and adults using support vector regression. To apply the aging prediction to images of faces, we reconstruct a 3D model from the input image, apply the aging transformation on both shape and texture, and then render the face back into the same image or into images of other individuals at the appropriate ages, for example images of older children. Among other applications, our system can help to find missing children.     

Smart Antennas with Two-Dimensional Array Configurations for Performance Enhancement of a Joint Detection CDMA Mobile Radio System

Smart antennas for base stations of cellular mobile radio systems offer the potential of system performance enhancement by taking advantage of the directionally inhomogeneous signal reception at the receiver. In this paper, two-dimensional array configurations employed at the uplink receiver of a joint detection CDMA (JD-CDMA) mobile radio system are investigated. This smart antenna concept can be split up into a novel channel estimator and data detector which incorporate explicitely the information of the direction-of-arrival (DOA) of signals emerging from users assigned to the considered base station. Proceeding from channel models that model the directional inhomogeneity of the mobile radio channel with single DOAs, the link level performance of a JD-CDMA mobile radio system using this smart antenna concept is evaluated for the rural propagation environment. The performance evaluation is based on Monte Carlo simulations of data transmission and average bit error rates versus the average signal to noise ratio per net information bit are presented for different array configurations. Although these results should be considered as upper bounds for the link level performance, they reveal the advantages of implementing two-dimensional array configurations at the uplink receiver of a JD-CDMA mobile radio system.     

Joint detection with coherent receiver antenna diversity in CDMAmobile radio systems

In code division multiple access (CDMA) mobile radio systems, both intersymbol interference and multiple access interference arise which can be combated by using either elaborate optimum or favorable suboptimum joint detection (JD) techniques. Furthermore, the time variation of the radio channels leads to degradations of the receiver performance. These degradations can be reduced by applying diversity techniques. Using coherent receiver antenna diversity (CRAD) is especially attractive because only the signal processing at the receiver must be modified. In the present paper, the application of CRAD to the more critical uplink of CDMA mobile radio systems with suboptimum JD techniques is investigated for maximal-ratio combining. The authors study six different suboptimum JD techniques based on decorrelating matched filtering, Gauss-Markov estimation, and minimum mean square error estimation with and without decision feedback. These six suboptimum JD techniques which are well-known for single antenna receivers are extended for the application to CRAD. A main concern of the paper is the determining of the SNR performance of the presented JD techniques for CRAD and the achievable average uncoded bit error probabilities for the transmission over rural area, typical urban and bad urban mobile radio channels are determined     

Performance of a cellular hybrid C/TDMA mobile radio systemapplying joint detection and coherent receiver antenna diversity

For future mobile radio systems, an appropriately chosen multiple access technique is a critical issue. Multiple access techniques presently under discussion are code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and hybrids of both. In the paper, a hybrid C/TDMA system using joint detection (JD-C/TDMA) with coherent receiver antenna diversity (CRAD) at the base station (BS) receiver is proposed. Some attractive features of the JD-C/TDMA system are the possibility to flexibly offer voice and data services with different bit rates, soft capacity, inherent frequency and interferer diversity, and high system capacity due to JD. Furthermore, due to JD, a cluster size equal to 1 can be realized without needing soft handover. The single cell E_b/N₀ performance and the interference situation in a cellular environment of the uplink of a JD-C/TDMA mobile radio system with CRAD is investigated in detail. It is shown that the cellular spectrum efficiency is remarkably high, taking values up to 0.2 bit/s/Hz/BS in the uplink, depending on the actual transmission conditions     

Face recognition based on fitting a 3D morphable model

This paper presents a method for face recognition across variations in pose, ranging from frontal to profile views, and across a wide range of illuminations, including cast shadows and specular reflections. To account for these variations, the algorithm simulates the process of image formation in 3D space, using computer graphics, and it estimates 3D shape and texture of faces from single images. The estimate is achieved by fitting a statistical, morphable model of 3D faces to images. The model is learned from a set of textured 3D scans of heads. We describe the construction of the morphable model, an algorithm to fit the model to images, and a framework for face identification. In this framework, faces are represented by model parameters for 3D shape and texture. We present results obtained with 4,488 images from the publicly available CMU-PIE database and 1,940 images from the FERET database.     

IDDM is a risk factor for adolescent psychiatric disorders

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the rate of psychiatric disorders increases in children and adolescents with IDDM. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: The rate of psychiatric disorders was assessed by highly structured interviews in a group of 93 IDDM adolescents 17-19 yr of age and compared with a healthy (nondiabetic) age-, sex-, and socioeconomic status-matched control group. RESULTS: The rate of psychiatric disorders was 33.3% in the diabetic group, more than threefold higher than in the control group (9.7%). With regard to the rate of psychiatric disorders, no sex-specific differences between the two groups were found. The diabetic adolescents suffered from significantly more introversive symptoms than their healthy counterparts, especially somatic symptoms, sleeping disturbances, compulsions, and depressive moods. In spite of the elevated rate of psychiatric disorders, the rates of life events and familial adversities did not increase in the diabetic group. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the notion that IDDM adolescents should be seen as a high-risk group for psychiatric disorders.