We present an integrated virtual learning based approach to support undergraduate students in developing their mathematical knowledge and skills. The approach consists of three elements. First, a pre-study web-based mathematics training course for pre-assessment and self-study. Secondly, the traditional classroom lecture that is supplemented with specific examples from application fields involving dedicated literature and case examples from other courses (e.g., physical chemistry). Finally, lectures have been recorded using an easy-to-use system to provide the students with after-class self-learning material. The latter proves especially useful for extra-occupational students. The approach has been developed and implemented for chemistry undergraduate courses but can be easily adapted for any kind of engineering study course.

Recently, we presented a new OCR-concept [1] for historic prints.The core part is the glyph recognition based on pattern matching with patterns that are derived from computer font glyphs and are generated on-the-fly.The classification of a sample is organized as a search process for the most similar glyph pattern.In this paper, we investigate several similarity measures which are of vital importance for this concept.

We explore the potential of image-dependent gamut mapping as a constrained optimization problem. The performance of our new approach is compared to standard reference gamut mapping algorithms in psycho-visual tests.

Our topic is the potential of combining global gamut mapping with spatial methods to retain the percepted local image information in gamut mapping algorithms. The main goal is to recover the original local contrast between neighboring pixels in addition to the usual optimization of preserving lightness, saturation, and global contrast. Special emphasis is placed on avoiding artifacts introduced by the gamut mapping algorithm itself. We present an unsharp masking technique based on an edge-preserving smoothing algorithm allowing to avoid halo artifacts. The good performance of the presented approach is verified by a psycho-visual experiment using newspaper printing as a representative of a small destination gamut application. Furthermore, the improved mapping properties are documented with local mapping histograms.

This paper deals with q-series arising from the study of the transitive closure problem in random acyclic digraphs. In particular, it presents an identity involving divisor generating functions which allows us to determine the asymptotic behavior of polynomials defined by a general class of recursive equations, including the polynomials for the mean and the variance of the size of the transitive closure in random acyclic digraphs.

The recognition of threshold graphs, those graphs with threshold dimension one, is well understood and some linear time algorithms are known for this problem. On the other hand, Yannakakis proved that determining if the threshold dimension of a graph is less than or equal to k is NP-complete for all fixed k 3. Chv' atal and Hammer conjectured that the threshold dimension of a graph G = (V; E) equals the chromatic number of its derivated edge graph G = (V ; E ) where V = E and two edges ab and cd of G are adjacent in G if and only if ac; bd 62 E for distinct vertices a; b; c; d. Cozzens and Leibowitz disproved this conjecture for graphs whose chromatic number of G is greater or equal to four. In this paper we show that Chv' atal and Hammer's conjecture is true in case of G bipartite. We also present an O(jEj 2 ) algorithm which either computes an edge cover consisting of the edges of two threshold graphs or decides that such a cover does not exist. In partic...