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This paper describes possible strategies for the implementation of a feature selection algorithm particularly suited to the realisation of an efficient automatic handwritten signature verification system in which an active feature vector, optimised with respect to an individual signer, is constructed during an enrollment period. A range of configurations based on transputer arrays are considered and the possible implementational approaches evaluated. The paper demonstrates how the inherent parallelism which exists within a generic model for verification can be exploited to provide an optimised general-purpose framework for verification processing.

Automated theorem provers use search strategies. Unfortunately, there is no unique strategy which is uniformly successful on all problems. This motivates us to apply different strategies in parallel, in a competitive manner. In this paper, we discuss properties, problems, and perspectives of strategy parallelism in theorem proving. We develop basic concepts like the complementarity and the overlap value of strategy sets. Some of the problems such as initial strategy selection and run-time strategy exchange are discussed in more detail. The paper also contains the description of an implementation of a strategy parallel theorem prover (p-SETHEO) and an experimental evaluation.

This paper reviews missing person incidents that occurred in older persons with dementia reported in local newspapers from 1 January 1999 to 1 May 2002. Ten relevant incidents, two of which happened to the same person, were found in WiseNews, an electronic database of 21 local newspapers. There were four (44%) males and five (56%) females with a mean age of 77 (standard deviation=5). In six (60%) cases, the missing persons eloped from home and four (40%) outside of home. Nine (90%) of the cases required less than a day to three days to locate the missing person. Six (60%) cases resulted in injuries or death due to falls or traffic accidents. It is not uncommon for dementia patients to get lost. Public awareness and understanding of the phenomenon is very important because the survival of missing persons depends on the implementation of timely and effective search and rescue. This analysis confirms the need for a prospective study to further examine the characteristics of missing older adults and missing incidents, as well as the search strategies adopted by caregivers.

这篇文章旨在回顾由一九九九年一月一日至二零零二年五月一日以来在本地报章上报导过的有关老年痴呆症患者走失的个案。WiseNews是一个包含二十一份本地报章的电子资料库。我们通过WiseNews搜索到十宗有关的报导，其中两宗个案发生在同一个患者身上。走失患者当中有四名男性，五名女性，年龄由七十到八十六岁［平均数：七十七］。在六宗［六成］走失个案当中，患者是从居所走失的，而另外四宗［四成］则发生在居所以外的地方。九宗［九成］个案需要少於一天至三天的时间去寻回走失患者。六宗［六成］个案涉及受伤或死亡。走失现象在老年痴呆症患者当中颇为普遍，走失患者的安危取决於及时和有效率的搜索及拯救策略。因此，大众需要对这现象有更多的了解。本文的分析显示本地需要对此问题作前瞻性的调查，使本地社会及健康服务从业员能掌握走失痴呆症患者的特徵，一般走失的情况及照顾者面对这问题的策略，从而提供合宜的协助。

Given Chesbrough's idea of open innovation, it could be said that external knowledge is an important element in the optimisation of in-house innovation. External knowledge is distributed among various actors and is accessible through many channels. However, we still do not know much about the search strategies that affect innovation performance. Our study therefore explores the relationship between open knowledge search strategies and company-level innovative performance. This study examines the open search strategies of 193 firms on the basis of cross-sectional data from Finnish markets. We identified four specific strategies, namely (1) market-driven, (2) science-driven, (3) intermediary-driven and (4) generic-knowledge-driven. According to the results, all except intermediary-driven strategies positively affect innovation performance.

This study draws on a sample of 49,919 firms from 13 countries to investigate the impact of national culture on the performance of inbound open innovation strategies. The study first validates the curvilinear relationships of external search breadth and depth with innovation performance, as first established by Laursen and Salter (2006) [Laursen, K and A Salter (2006). Open for innovation: The role of openness in explaining innovation performance among U.K. manufacturing firms. Strategic Management Journal, 27(2), 131–150] controlling for a number of country-specific factors including culture and the institutional environment. The study then draws on Hofstede’s cultural framework to theoretically and empirically investigate the influence of a country’s culture on the effectiveness of firms’ search strategies. The results show that cultural factors not only directly impact innovation performance, but also interact with search breadth and depth, thereby moderating the success of inbound open innovation strategies.

Start-ups are an important source of novel knowledge and product ideas for incumbents. We investigate which search strategies are positively related to the successful search for start-ups. We identify search instruments and their various uses: intensive or broad; stand-alone or combinatory. Finding 11 search practices in the literature, we evaluate how these practices were used by 97 respondents from a cross-industry and cross-national sample. Our results show that searching broadly and intensively is positively related to a successful search for start-ups and to firms’ radical innovation capability. Specific tools that are positively related to search success are online contacts, desk research, external scouting partners, and start-up pitch events. Decision tree analysis provides effective combinations of search practices that innovation managers and purchasing managers can use. Employing these search practice combinations, we make incumbents aware of the routines used in distant knowledge search. These practices are dynamic capabilities that help them to remain successful in high-velocity markets. In identifying these search practices, we contribute to the literature on innovation routines and dynamic capability research.

This paper describes possible strategies for the implementation of a feature selection algorithm particularly suited to the realisation of an efficient automatic handwritten signature verification system in which an active feature vector, optimised with respect to an individual signer, is constructed during an enrollment period. A range of configurations based on transputer arrays are considered and the possible implementational approaches evaluated. The paper demonstrates how the inherent parallelism which exists within a generic model for verification can be exploited to provide an optimised general-purpose framework for verification processing.