This book is aimed at the approximation of set-valued functions with compact sets in an Euclidean space as values. The interest in set-valued functions is rather new. Such functions arise in various modern areas such as control theory, dynamical systems and optimization. The authors' motivation also comes from the newer field of geometric modeling, in particular from the problem of reconstruction of 3D objects from 2D cross-sections. This is reflected in the focus of this book, which is the approximation of set-valued functions with general (not necessarily convex) sets as values, while previous results on this topic are mainly confined to the convex case. The approach taken in this book is to adapt classical approximation operators and to provide error estimates in terms of the regularity properties of the approximated set-valued functions. Specialized results are given for functions with 1D sets as values.

This book is aimed at the approximation of set-valued functions with compact sets in an Euclidean space as values. The interest in set-valued functions is rather new. Such functions arise in various modern areas such as control theory, dynamical systems and optimization. The authors' motivation also comes from the newer field of geometric modeling, in particular from the problem of reconstruction of 3D objects from 2D cross-sections. This is reflected in the focus of this book, which is the approximation of set-valued functions with general (not necessarily convex) sets as values, while previous results on this topic are mainly confined to the convex case. The approach taken in this book is to adapt classical approximation operators and to provide error estimates in terms of the regularity properties of the approximated set-valued functions. Specialized results are given for functions with 1D sets as values.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Image Analysis and Processing, ICIAP 2009, held in Vietri sul Mare, Italy, in September 2009. The 107 revised full papers presented together with 3 invited papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 168 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on computer graphics and image processing, low and middle level processing, 2D and 3D segmentation, feature extraction and image analysis, object detection and recognition, video analysis and processing, pattern analysis and classification, learning, graphs and trees, applications, shape analysis, face analysis, medical imaging, and image analysis and pattern recognition.

This down-to-earth introduction to computation makes use of the broad array of techniques available in the modern computing environment. A self-contained guide for engineers and other users of computational methods, it has been successfully adopted as a text in teaching the next generation of mathematicians and computer graphics majors.

Written by an expert on the topic and experienced lecturer, this textbook provides an elegant, self-contained introduction to functional analysis, including several advanced topics and applications to harmonic analysis. Starting from basic topics before proceeding to more advanced material, the book covers measure and integration theory, classical Banach and Hilbert space theory, spectral theory for bounded operators, fixed point theory, Schauder bases, the Riesz-Thorin interpolation theorem for operators, as well as topics in duality and convexity theory. Aimed at advanced undergraduate and graduate students, this book is suitable for both introductory and more advanced courses in functional analysis. Including over 1500 exercises of varying difficulty and various motivational and historical remarks, the book can be used for self-study and alongside lecture courses.