Skew estimation for scanned documents from "noises"
The vast majority of the published skew estimation methods for scanned document images are for textual documents. These methods are based on the principle that the skew angles can be derived from the presence of the obvious text lines. The non-textual objects, such as line drawings, photographic inserts, scan artifacts including the dark bars around the borders and the center spine of bounded materials, and media contaminations are considered as "noises", thus are subject to elimination. Skew estimators that work in the presence of excessive noises are considered robust. This paper presents a skew estimation method that is based on the straight lines or edges. It uses the Muff Transform with a probe-line mapping scheme for feature identification. Various strategies for optimized line probing are devised. This method is applicable to both textual and graphical documents scanned with ordinary scanners or copiers under normal conditions. Selected images from the University of Washington English document image database I (UWDB-I) are used for its usability evaluation.

title: Chart analysis and recognition in document images
abstract: Hidden Markov models are a probabilistic modeling tool for time series data. It has been successfully applied to many areas, such as speech recognition, hand-written character recognition, etc. In this paper, we present a novel statistical approach using ergodic hidden Markov models to recognize scientific charts. We also present a newly developed feature extraction method for chart images. Unlike traditional primitive-based diagram recognition method, our approach need not recognize the graphic primitives in charts thus bypassing the recognition error problem caused by the inaccurate primitive extraction that is also a major obstacle to the construction of a general chart recognition system.

title: Motion deblurring for optical character recognition
abstract: This paper investigates the problem of blurring caused by motion during image capture of text documents. Motion blurring prevents proper optical character recognition of the document text contents. One area of such applications is to deblur name card images obtained from handheld cameras. In this paper, a complete motion deblurring procedure for document images has been proposed. The method handles both uniform linear motion blur and uniform acceleration motion blur. Experiments on synthetic and real-life blurred images prove the feasibility and reliability of this algorithm provided that the motion is not too irregular. The restoration procedure consumes only small amount of computation time.

title: Improving Pronoun Resolution Using Statistics-Based Semantic Compatibility Information
abstract: In this paper we focus on how to improve pronoun resolution using the statistics-based semantic compatibility information. We investigate two unexplored issues that influence the effectiveness of such information: statistics source and learning framework. Specifically, we for the first time propose to utilize the web and the twin-candidate model, in addition to the previous combination of the corpus and the single-candidate model, to compute and apply the semantic information. Our study shows that the semantic compatibility obtained from the web can be effectively incorporated in the twin-candidate learning model and significantly improve the resolution of neutral pronouns.

title: Document Flattening through Grid Modeling and Regularization
abstract: For document images captured by a digital camera, perspective and geometric distortions make it hard to recognize the document content properly. In this paper, we propose an integrated document restoration technique, which is capable of removing perspective and geometric distortions, and producing a flattened and fronto-parallel text image that is friendly to the generic OCR systems. The proposed document restoration is accomplished through grid modeling, which divides camera images into multiple quadrilateral grids using vertical text directions and the x lines and base lines. The global distortions are then removed through grid regularization that transforms the quadrilateral grids together with the pixel contents to the regular square grids. Experimental results show the proposed method is fast and easy for implementation

title: Correcting document image warping based on regression of curved text lines
abstract: Image warping is a common problem when one scans or photocopies a document page from a thick bound volume, resulting in shading and curved text lines in the spine area of the bound volume. This will not only impair readability, but will also reduce the OCR accuracy. Further to our earlier attempt to correct such images, this paper proposes a simpler connected component analysis and regression technique. Compared to our earlier method, the present system is computationally less expensive and is resolution independent too. The implementation of the new system and improvement of OCR accuracy are presented in this paper.

title: Authenticated Broadcast Encryption Scheme
abstract: With the advancement of wireless networks and mobile access devices such as cell phones and PDAs, multimedia services could be offered through wireless broadcast networks to these mobile devices. Therefore, there is a need to securely deliver multimedia content/data to many users over an insecure channel. Broadcast encryption scheme could provide this solution. The first formal study of broadcast encryption scheme is by Fiat and Noar in 1993. Since then, many broadcast encryption schemes have been proposed to improve the efficiency which is measured by three parameters, that is, length of transmission messages, users' storage and computational overhead at a user device. Some broadcast encryption schemes require less users storage, but the length of transmission messages or computation overhead depends on the number of users. In this paper, we proposed an authenticated broadcast encryption scheme which has an additional property than current proposed broadcast encryption schemes, that is, all users can verify who the sender is. The proposed scheme is proved to be secure against chosen ciphertext attacks based on the decision l-bilinear Diffie-Hellman exponent assumption. Furthermore, the simulation results, transmission messages nearly independent of the number of users and reasonable user storage show that the proposed authenticated broadcast encryption scheme is efficient and suitable for mobile devices.

title: Exploiting Hidden Convexity For Flexible And Robust Resource Allocation In Cellular Networks
abstract: A systematic approach to solve seemingly nonconvex resource allocation problems in wireless cellular networks is studied in this paper. By revealing and exploiting the hidden convexity in the problem formulations, we obtain solutions that can tackle a variety of objective functions, provide robustness to resource allocations such as power, and be obtained often through distributed algorithms. The advantages of such flexibility and robustness are demonstrated through comparisons with the state-of-the-art in recent research literature. First we show how to distributively solve a variety of resource allocation problems in CDMA and interference limited CDMA channels with quality of service constraints, such as meeting minimum queueing delay or energy per bit requirement. Then, for uplink transmission in a CDMA cellular network, we propose an optimal power control scheme with congestion-aware active link protection. In particular, the tradeoff between power expenditure and the protection margin of the SIR-balancing power algorithm is optimized.

title: The use of bigrams to enhance text categorization
abstract: In this paper, we present an efficient text categorization algorithm that generates bigrams selectively by looking for ones that have an especially good chance of being useful. The algorithm uses the information gain metric, combined with various frequency thresholds. The bigrams, along with unigrams, are then given as features to two different classifiers: Naive Bayes and maximum entropy. The experimental results suggest that the bigrams can substantially raise the quality of feature sets, showing increases in the break-even points and F1 measures. The McNemar test shows that in most categories the increases are very significant. Upon close examination of the algorithm, we concluded that the algorithm is most successful in correctly classifying more positive documents, but may cause more negative documents to be classified incorrectly.

title: User Response to Free Trial Restrictions: A Coping Perspective
abstract: Software vendors often provide software for free download but with restrictions (e.g., time and/or functionality restrictions). The question that arises is to what extent the restrictions should be set to induce users to procure the full version. This study seeks to answer this question by looking from two perspectives: expectation-disconfirmation and coping behavior. Building on these perspectives, we present a research model of user's coping reactions toward software restrictions. We seek to understand user reactions (i.e., derivation of coping strategy) when their expectation toward trial restrictions is negatively disconfirmed. It is further posited that situational control could moderate the relationship between expectation disconfirmation and coping responses. We believe this research will contribute to enrich the current IS field and benefit market practitioners.

title: Signature Schemes Based on 3rd Order Shift Registers
abstract: In this paper, we propose two digital signature schemes based on a third order linear feedback shift register. One of them is a normal signature scheme for signing document and the other is with encryption for intended reciever. These two signature schemes are different from most of the signature schemes which are based on discrete logarithm problem, elliptic curves discrete logarithm problem, RSA or quadratic residues. The efficient computational algorithm for computing kth term of a sequence is also presented. The advantage of these two schemes is that the computation is carried out in the ground field and not in an extension field. We also show that the security of these two signature schemes is equivalent to that of Schnorr signature scheme and Signed-ElGamal encryption scheme respectively.