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In these four pages, this paper can be neither a complete introduction nor a complete survey of the role of computer graphics in simulation. However, these examples drawn from the experience of the Naval Post graduate School computer laboratory will illustrate a wide class of applications which may suggest uses in other fields. The interested reader should refer to the January 1971 issue of SIMULATION (which was devoted entirely to computer graphics applications in simulation) and to the supplementary reading list at the end of this paper.

Handwriting Recognition Technology has been improving much under the purview of pattern recognition and image processing since a few decades. This paper focuses on the comprehensive survey on on-line handwriting recognition system along with the real application by taking Nepali natural handwriting (a real example of one of the cursive handwritings). The survey mainly includes pre-processing, feature vector and similarity measures in between the non-linear 2D sequences of coordinates, and their effective applications. A very highlighting topic "Dynamic Time Warping Algorithm'' (DTW) is introduced, which has been popular in determining the distance between two non-linear sequences ranging from handwriting to speech recognition. Besides these contemporary research issues/areas, stroke number and order free Nepalese natural handwritten recognition system is presented in the second step. Writing one's own style brings unevenness in writing units, which is the most difficult part to classify. Writing units reveal number, shape, size, order of stroke, and speed in writing. Variation in the number of strokes, their order, shapes and sizes, tilting angles and similarities among characters from one another are the important factors, which are to be considered in classification for Nepali. This paper utilizes structural properties of those alphanumeric characters, which have variable writing units. It uses a string of pen tip's positions and tangent angles of every consecutive point as a feature vector sequence of a stroke. We constructed a prototype recognizer that uses the DTW algorithm to align handwritten strokes with stored strokes' templates and determine their similarity. Separate system is trained for original and preprocessed writing samples and achieved recognition rates of 85.87% and 88.59% respectively. This introduces novel real time handwriting recognition on Nepalese alphanumeric characters, which are independent of number of strokes, as well as their order. Key Words: Handwriting Recognition System; Pre-processing; Feature Vector; Dynamic Time Warping; Agglomerating Hierarchical Clustering; Nepali. DOI: 10.3126/kuset.v5i1.2845 Kathmandu University Journal of Science, Engineering and Technology Vol.5, No.1, January 2009, pp 31-55

An important part of the work of an actuary consists in making and testing graduations of mortality statistics. Much space has been devoted in the Journal to methods of graduation, but for many years, apart from the recent paper by H. L. Seal (J.I.A. Vol. lxxi, p. 5), little attention seems to have been paid to the testing of graduations. Although statistical methods are usually employed in making the tests, consideration has not often been given to ascertaining whether mortality statistics fulfil the conditions necessary for the tests to be strictly applicable. It is the purpose of this paper to set out some investigations into this question. Such matters may be thought to be of only theoretical interest, since, in practice, the tests work satisfactorily as a general rule; but actuaries should not employ their tools in a mechanical fashion without realizing fully their limitations and implications, and the question therefore takes on a practical as well as a theoretical aspect. It is hoped that this paper will show how far the tests of a graduation are satisfactory in theory and practice and indicate where modifications are required.

GASP IV is a FORTRAN-based simulation language which provides the framework for modeling systems involving both continuous and discrete phenomena. A general ization of the definition of "event" allows for time to be advanced in a next-event fashion while permit ting a step-wise evaluation of system state variables described by difference or differential equations. Subprograms are included in GASP IV to handle the details of state and event control (including state- variable integration when necessary), information storage and retrieval, collection and analysis of data on system performance, and generation of reports and plots. In this paper, the GASP IV philosophy and modeling approach are described. Descriptions of the subpro grams included in GASP IV and the required user- written subprograms are given. The types of applica tions that have utilized GASP IV are listed. A com panion paper (beginning on p. 71) presents a detailed example of the use of GASP IV for simulating a continuous reaction process involving discrete startups and shutdowns.

This paper is concerned with attempts that have been made to incorporate measures of risk in the selection of financial investments. The methodology that is developed here has been primarily aimed at the evaluation of capital investment projects, but the concepts and ideas are also relevant in the financial investment field. Implicit in all this discussion is the fact that when information is obtained in order to calculate an internal rate of return or a net present value, the figures put into the calculation are estimates rather than precise and exact quantities. In some instances the estimates may be felt to be very good, whilst in other cases it may be felt that there is a wide range of possible deviations. Hence the evaluation of any project or projects should, correctly, be described not by a single criterion but by a range of possible values, some of which are judged to be more likely than others. Having said this, there now comes the need to decide upon the method by which choice is to be exercised. Should it be by the choice of the highest average value of the criterion, or by choosing some more conservative rule?

Iterative techniques for function optimization have been considered extensivezy for use in all-digital computation. Relatively little has been done to take advantage of the much higher integration speed of hybrid computation systems. This paper demonstrates application of one simple procedure in a hybrid envi ronment and compares the results to those obtained by an efficient digital procedure. Even though a much more efficient procedure was used on the digital, time-saving factors between 8 and 2 were obtained via the simpler hybrid implementation. Since the dollar cost of the hybrid is much less than that of the digital, the hybrid has a large advantage per solution.

No mortality curve appears yet to have been devised which both fits the national statistics at all ages, and also has a simple philosophical explanation. The object of this paper may be stated as being the building up of a new mortality curve from its component parts, as many as possible of these parts having a philosophical background, and the whole being applicable to the national data.

In earlier work we have reported on CELIA, a program for simulating the behavior of linear iterative arrays of cells. The action of a cell is influenced by both its neighbors. Our main application area was biology, where the program can be used to test hypotheses about the developmental rules for organisms. More recently we have been applying our program to test proposed solutions to some fairly complicated biozogically-based problems. We have investigated whether one can achieve regulative global polarity in organisms without polarity in individual cells, by solving the French flag problem of Wolpert, using only symmetric elements. In our attempted simulation of pigmentation patterns on the shells of sea-snails, we have found it necessary to find a solution to a generalized version of the firing squad synchronization problem, in which the firing squad is growing while it is trying to synchronize itself. We found that our original program CELIA was some what awkward for simulating such complicated situa tions. A new program has been devised in which the state of the individual ceZZs is described by a set of attributes and each attribute itself may be a list structure. The present paper reports on these changes and ex plains how they turn out to be useful in the appli cations mentioned above.

Most of the activity of actuaries with computers to date has been concerned with putting actuarial work on to computers, or—at one stage further back—putting life office data on to a computer data-processing system. This paper attempts to contemplate the next stage, the effect of computer knowledge and familiarity on the profession and its techniques.

In a paper read before the Institute in January 1936, E. W. Phillips discussed developments in computing machines and made the following prediction : If it [the light-ray machine] is provided with all the necessary material on the morning of 1st January, the whole of the valuation will be completed within 15 minutes or so. Indeed when the actuary arrives there will still be time to complete the valuation over again on eight or nine other bases before he goes out to lunch, and yet have ready the figures necessary for the Annual General Meeting in the afternoon.

This paper presents the development of an algorithm for control of the sampling interval in discrete systems. The proposed strategy is based on the use of a sensitivity function which reflects the influence of discrete changes in hold circuit output on system response. The actual algorithm is hybrid, including both continuous computation and logical decisions. The method is illustrated by examples with a linear and a nonlinear sampled-data control system. The adaptive systems, where the sampling interval is variable, are shown to lead to significant reductions in the total number of samples required in an interval, as compared to equivalent systems with a fixed sampling rate.

International audience; This paper presents a method for animating human characters, especially dedicated to walk planning problems. The method is integrated in a randomized motion planning scheme, including a steering method dedicated to human walk. This steering method integrates a character motion controller assuming realistic animations. The navigation of the character through a virtual environment is modeled as a composition of Bézier curves. The controller is based on motion capture data editing techniques. This approach satisfies some essential computer graphics criteria: a realistic result, a low response time, a collision-free motion in possibly constrained 3D environments. The approach has been implemented and successfully demonstrated on several examples.

This paper describes a procedure for simulation of digital control systems on an analog computer with digital logic. The digital elements are only those normally provided in the digital panel now available as an optional accessory from most analog computer manufacturers. When used in conjunction with the conventional analog amplifiers and integrators connected as track-hold devices, it is possible to simulate complete systems which include not only the straightforward single-rate system but also those having two or more sampling rates or subsystems, and those having delayed or skip sampling characteristics. The digital logic connections for some simple but typical problems are given and are suggestive of those required for more sophisticated applications. A couple of oscilloscope photographs are included which show the informative presentation which can be obtained with this simulation technique.

The fitting of mathematical models to physiological sys tems can be tedious and difficult, whether one uses analog or digital computer methods. Both methods have their pros and cons depending on the available hardware and software and on the type of modeling. In recent years many digital simulation languages have been written com bining analog-like and digital features to facilitate model ing, but, for a variety of reasons, none of these was suit able for our applications. We, therefore, designed a new digital simulation control system, SIMCON, which is de scribed in this paper. The primary objectives were to provide: (1) Maximum man-machine interaction at run-time, in cluding visual displays, digital control, and both con tinuous analog and digital parameter adjustment (2) The ability to generate solutions and to fit them to experimental data or other theoretical curves with a minimum of computer memory (3) The option to use a mathematically oriented language, FORTRAN, and block operators with variable input/ output. The result is a relatively general and simple simulation system which is easy to use and has wide versatility.

This letter presents the necessary modifications in a method of synthesis of phase equalisers, which has been described in a companion paper, in order to make it suitable for automatic computation of phase equalisers of minimum complexity that will correct the assigned delay characteristic to within a prescribed error. The flow diagram for the program organisation is also given.