Experimental Analysis of Approximation Algorithms for the Vertex Cover and Set Covering Problems

Several approximation algorithms with proven performance guarantees have been proposed to find approximate solutions to classical combinatorial optimization problems. However, theoretical results may not reflect the experimental performance of the proposed algorithms. As a consequence, a question arises: how “far” from the theoretically proved performance are the experimental results? We conduct a controlled empirical study of approximation algorithms for the Vertex Cover and the Set Covering Problems. Many authors have proposed approximation algorithms for those problems. Our main goal is to better understand their strengths, weaknesses, and operation. Although we implement more than one algorithm to find feasible solutions to either problems, this work does not emphasize competition between them. The quality of the solutions related to the theoretical performance guarantees are analyzed instead. The computational experiments showed that the proven performance guarantees of all tested algorithms did not forecast well the empirical performance.     

Multi-View Scene Capture by Surfel Sampling: From Video Streams to Non-Rigid 3D Motion,Shape and Reflectance

In this paper we study the problem of recovering the 3D shape, reflectance, and non-rigid motion properties of a dynamic 3D scene. Because these properties are completely unknown and because the scene's shape and motion may be non-smooth, our approach uses multiple views to build a piecewise-continuous geometric and radiometric representation of the scene's trace in space-time. A basic primitive of this representation is the dynamic surfel, which (1) encodes the instantaneous local shape, reflectance, and motion of a small and bounded region in the scene, and (2) enables accurate prediction of the region's dynamic appearance under known illumination conditions. We show that complete surfel-based reconstructions can be created by repeatedly applying an algorithm called Surfel Sampling that combines sampling and parameter estimation to fit a single surfel to a small, bounded region of space-time. Experimental results with the Phong reflectancemodel and complex real scenes (clothing, shiny objects, skin) illustrate our method's ability to explain pixels and pixel variations in terms of their underlying causes—shape, reflectance, motion, illumination, and visibility.     

Relation of some nutritional supplements and physical performance

Many athletes and active people have consumed a large variety of supplements in order to get a good shape or a better performance in competitions. Due to this, several studies have been carried out to determine if these supplements are in fact ergogenic aids. Creatine seems to be related to the performance enhance in high intensity intermittent exercises. Carnitine might probably improve the aerobic capacity by stimulating lipid oxidation on muscle cells during long term exercise. Bicarbonate is thought to increase blood pH delaying the onset of peripheral fatigue in high intensity exercises of short duration and strength training. Some other supplements like branched-chain amino acids and chromium are also involved in body composition changes as a gain of fat free mass and loss of fat mass. The effects caused by these supplements during physical activity have not been fully described in literature yet as well as their side effects.     

Chemical and microbiological quality of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) slaughtered by different methods

The effect of two slaughter methods (immersion in ice-water slurry and electrical stunning followed by ice slurry asphyxiation) on chemical and microbiological parameters of grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) stored in ice for 20 days was evaluated. No differences in total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), pH, carbohydrate or protein content of mucus were observed between the slaughter methods. Ice-slaughtered fish had lower bacteria counts at the beginning of storage, but higher counts than fish slaughtered by electricity at the end of storage (p < 0.05). However, no significant differences in the shelf life were observed between the slaughter methods evaluated (limit of acceptability – counts > 3 × 10⁶ CFU g⁻¹ – attained after 13–16 days). Results indicated that the chemical parameters evaluated have a limited applicability to assess the shelf life of grass carp stored in ice, since pH limit (6.8) was exceeded after 4 days, while TVB-N limit (30 mg%) was not attained after 20 days of storage.     

Abstraction paradigms for computer graphics

In computer graphics we use techniques from different areas of mathematics. Mathematical models are used to simulate real-world objects, as well as natural phenomena. In order to understand these models and pose relevant problems in each particular field of this area, it is important to create levels of abstraction. These levels encapsulate common properties of the different models and allow us to have a global, conceptual view of the methods and techniques in each field. In this paper we study a paradigm for creating abstraction levels that can also be used to characterize more general problems in computational applied mathematics. We apply this paradigm to different areas of computer graphics: modeling, animation, illumination, color theory, image processing and human-computer interface.     

Performance index for quality response of dynamical systems

The use of performance indices to measure the quality response of dynamical systems is studied in this paper. A definition of a general performance index is proposed which is easy to compute, easy to interpret, and flexible enough to account for different cases commonly presented in practice. The index is tested over several dynamical responses obtained from different systems obtaining good results, in the sense that it is able to rank the behaviors from best to worse, compared with a pattern response.