Abstract: Median graphs have been presented as a useful tool for capturing the essential information of a set of graphs. Nevertheless, computation of optimal solutions is a very hard problem. In this work we present a new and more efficient optimal algorithm for the median graph computation. With the use of a particular cost function that permits the definition of the graph edit distance in terms of the maximum common subgraph, and a prediction function in the backtracking algorithm, we reduce the size of the search space, avoiding the evaluation of a great amount of states and still obtaining the exact median. We present a set of experiments comparing our new algorithm against the previous existing exact algorithm using synthetic data. In addition, we present the first application of the exact median graph computation to real data and we compare the results against an approximate algorithm based on genetic search. These experimental results show that our algorithm outperforms the previous existing exact algorithm and in addition show the potential applicability of the exact solutions to real problems.

Abstract: In this paper we evaluate four graph distance measures. The analysis is performed for document retrieval tasks. For this aim, different kind of documents are used including line drawings (symbols), ancient documents (ornamental letters), shapes and trademark-logos. The experimental results show that the performance of each graph distance measure depends on the kind of data and the graph representation technique.

Abstract: The assessment of Myocardial Blush Grade after primary angioplasty is a precious diagnostic tool to understand if the patient needs further medication or the use of specifics drugs. Unfortunately, the assessment of MBG is difficult for non highly specialized staff. Experimental data show that there is poor correlation between MBG assessment of low and high specialized staff, thus reducing its applicability. This paper proposes a method able to achieve an objective measure of MBG, or a set of parameters that correlates with the MBG. The method tracks the blush area starting from just one single frame tagged by the physician. As a consequence, the blush area is kept isolated from contaminating phenomena such as diaphragm and arteries movements. We also present a method to extract four parameters that are expected to correlate with the MBG. Preliminary results show that the method is capable of extracting interesting information regarding the behavior of the myocardial perfusion.

Abstract: The median graph has been shown to be a good choice to infer a representative of a set of graphs. It has been successfully applied to graph-based classification and clustering. Nevertheless, its computation is extremely complex. Several approaches have been presented up to now based on different strategies. In this paper we present a new approximate recursive algorithm for median graph computation based on graph embedding into vector spaces. Preliminary experiments on three databases show that this new approach is able to obtain better medians than the previous existing approaches.

Abstract: Document classification is an important task in all the processes related to document storage and retrieval. In the case of complex documents, structural features are needed to achieve a correct classification. Unfortunately, physical layout analysis is error prone. In this paper we present a pre-segmentation step based on a divide & conquer strategy that can be used to improve the page segmentation results, independently of the segmentation algorithm used. This pre-segmentation step is evaluated in classification and retrieval using the selective CRLA algorithm for layout segmentation together with a clustering based on the voronoi area diagram, and tested on two different databases, MARG and Girona Archives.

Abstract: Multi-class binary symbol classification requires the use of rich descriptors and robust classifiers. Shape representation is a difficult task because of several symbol distortions, such as occlusions, elastic deformations, gaps or noise. In this paper, we present the Circular Blurred Shape Model descriptor. This descriptor encodes the arrangement information of object parts in a correlogram structure. A prior blurring degree defines the level of distortion allowed to the symbol. Moreover, we learn the new feature space using a set of Adaboost classifiers, which are combined in the Error-Correcting Output Codes framework to deal with the multi-class categorization problem. The presented work has been validated over different multi-class data sets, and compared to the state-of-the-art descriptors, showing significant performance improvements.

Abstract: One of the most widely applied techniques to deal with multi- class categorization problems is the pairwise voting procedure. Recently, this classical approach has been embedded in the Error-Correcting Output Codes framework (ECOC). This framework is based on a coding step, where a set of binary problems are learnt and coded in a matrix, and a decoding step, where a new sample is tested and classified according to a comparison with the positions of the coded matrix. In this paper, we present a novel approach to redefine without retraining, in a problem-dependent way, the one-versus-one coding matrix so that the new coded information increases the generalization capability of the system. Moreover, the final classification can be tuned with the inclusion of a weighting matrix in the decoding step. The approach has been validated over several UCI Machine Learning repository data sets and two real multi-class problems: traffic sign and face categorization. The results show that performance improvements are obtained when comparing the new approach to one of the best ECOC designs (one-versus-one). Furthermore, the novel methodology obtains at least the same performance than the one-versus-one ECOC design.

Abstract: In this work the feasibility of building a socially aware badge that learns from user activities is explored. A wearable multisensor device has been prototyped for collecting data about user movements and photos of the environment where the user acts. Using motion data, speaking and other activities have been classified. Images have been analysed in order to complement motion data and help for the detection of social behaviours. A face detector and an activity classifier are both used for detecting if users have a social activity in the time they worn the device. Good results encourage the improvement of the system at both hardware and software level