Information-Theoretic Channel for Multi-exposure Image Fusion

Multi-exposure image fusion has emerged as an increasingly important and interesting research topic in information fusion. It aims at producing an image with high quality by fusing a set of differently exposed images. In this article, we present a pixel-level method for multi-exposure image fusion based on an information-theoretic approach. In our scheme, an information channel between two source images is used to compute the Rényi entropy associated with each pixel in one image with respect to the other image and hence to produce the weight maps for the source images. Since direct weight-averaging of the source images introduce unpleasing artifacts, we employ Laplacian multi-scale fusion. Based on this pyramid scheme, images at every scale are fused by weight maps, and a final fused image is inversely reconstructed. Multi-exposure image fusion with the proposed method is easy to construct and implement and can deliver, in less than a second for a set of three input images of size 512$\times $340, competitive and compelling results versus state-of-art methods through visual comparison and objective evaluation.

Financial instrument of the new economy or a pyramid scheme: The issues of cryptocurrency security

Subject. This article discusses cryptocurrency as a new financial instrument in the global financial system. Objectives. The article aims to consider the current situation of cryptocurrencies and justify the advantages and risks of their use. Methods. For the study of cryptocurrency, Blockchain technology, and Bitcoin and the US dollar relationship, we used a comprehensive approach based on systems, functional and structural, and correlation analyses. Results. Based on the analysis of the trends in the cryptocurrency market formation, the problematic aspects of their legal regulation, the investment aspect, and the changes in the cryptocurrency exchange rate against the US dollar, the article identifies some shortcomings of this financial instrument from the point of view of supervisory bodies. Conclusions. Cryptocurrency really has significant prospects to become a valuable financial tool in the world economy, despite the rather critical problems of their regulation. Cryptocurrency can be a substitute for the US dollar in international settlements due to its advantages in the form of transparency and decentralization, especially given the fact that in 2019–2020, the governments of a number of countries (EU, Russia) began to actively develop legislation to regulate this area.

PYRAMID SCHEME FOR CONSTRUCTING BIORTHOGONAL WAVELET CODES OVER FINITE FIELDS

The existence of a biorthogonal decomposition of the space V of dimension n over the field GF(q) is constructively proved, namely, two representations of it are obtained as direct sums of subspaces V = W0⊕W1⊕. . .⊕WJ⊕VJ and V = W˜0⊕W˜1⊕. . .⊕W˜J⊕V˜J ,such that at the j-th level of the decomposition, for 0 < j 6 J, Vj−1 = Vj⊕Wj , V˜j−1 == V˜j ⊕ W˜j , the subspace Vj is orthogonal to W˜j , and the subspace Wj is orthogonal to V˜j . The partition of the space at the j-th level is made with the help of pairs of level filters (hj, gj) and (h˜j, g˜j), for the construction of which the corresponding algorithms have been developed and theoretically proved. A new family of biorthogonal wavelet codes is built on the basis of the multilevel wavelet decomposition scheme with coding rate 2−L, where L is the number of used decomposition levels, and examples of such codes are given.

Fraudulent Schemes in the Financial Market (Financial Pyramids) – Detection and Prevention

This contribution deals with fraudulent schemes in the financial market. The main aim of the contribution is to provide main identifying features of fraudulent practices that prove to be a financial pyramid. The author summarizes in one place numerous features that indicate the financial pyramid (Ponzi scheme), especially operating on the financial or capital market. He concludes, the state of play of legislation regarding the features is insufficient. The hypothesis to confirm or disprove is there is no uniform legal provision covering all features of the pyramid scheme in Slovakia, the relevant legislation is limited to the prohibition of certain practices, which a priori may not constitute a pyramid scheme.