Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Constrained Local Enhancement of Semantic Features by Content-Based Sparsity

Semantic features represent images by the outputs of a set of visual concept classifiers and have shown interesting performances in image classification and retrieval. All classifier outputs are usually exploited but it was recently shown that feature sparsification improves both performance and scalability. However, existing approaches consider a fixed sparsity level which disregards the actual content of individual images. In this paper, we propose a method to determine automatically a level of sparsity for the semantic features that is adapted to each image content. This method takes into account the amount of information contained by the image through a modeling of the semantic feature entropy and the confidence of individual dimensions of the feature. We also investigate the use of local regions of the image to further improve the quality of semantic features. Experimental validation is conducted on three benchmarks (Pascal VOC 2007, VOC 2012 and MIT Indoor) for image classification and two of them for image retrieval. Our method obtains competitive results on image classification and achieves state-of-the-art performances on image retrieval.
Sensing and Recog

Sensing surface textures by tou capability for robots. Until recently it w a compliant sensor with high sen resolution. The GelSight sensor is co sensitivity and resolution exceeding fingertips. This opens the possibility recognizing highly detailed surface tex sensor, when pressed against a surfac map. This can be treated as an image, a the tools of visual texture analysis. W simple yet effective texture recognitio local binary patterns, and enhanced multi-scale pyramid and a Hellinger d built a database with 40 classes of ta materials such as fabric, wood, and san can correctly categorize materials from high accuracy. This suggests that the G be useful for material recognition by ro
Measuring style with the authorship ratio: an invariant metric of lexical similarity

Stylometry is the study of the computational and mathematical properties of style. The aim of a stylometrist is to derive stylometrics and models based upon those metrics to quantitatively gauge stylistic propensities. This paper presents a method of formulating a stylistic distance function via a weighted ratio of lexical stylometrics, the higher the ratio the more the styles diverge. The coefficients of the distance function are estimated using Powell’s conjugate gradient method (Powell, 1964) on a 4 million word corpus of 19th Century literature. The distance metric proves accurate over 30,000 binary comparisons and rivals the discernment aptitude of established techniques (Labbe and Labbe, 2001). Previous metrics have suffered from sample-size dependencies, the metric proposed here is resilient to such bias.
Australian labour supply elasticities: Comparison and critical review

Labour supply elasticities measure the responsiveness of individuals' labour supply to changes in variables such as the net wage rate (after consideration of tax and transfers) or net non labour income. Elasticities have been estimated in Australia and internationally using a range of modelling approaches. However, as indicated in previous surveys, caution should be exercised when comparing these estimates, with due consideration of differences in data, methodological approaches and model specifications. When comparing estimates between countries, the institutional framework and state of the labour market in each country also need to be considered. This paper draws on reviews of elasticity estimates in the literature and considers factors affecting their estimation and interpretation. The paper then summarises the published labour supply elasticity estimates from Australia and discusses what can be learnt from them. Comparisons are also made with estimates from labour supply studies from the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand.Elasticity estimates in the reviewed labour supply studies aid our understanding of the labour supply responses of various Australian population groups. Elasticity estimates are particularly useful when disaggregated, as they allow an understanding of the relative responses of different population groups characterised by education levels, part-time or full-time employment status, level of income, or other household characteristics. However, few studies have estimated disaggregated elasticities and this is an area that could benefit from further research. Our understanding of labour supply behaviour could also benefit from an analysis of how elasticities may change over time, and from further improvements in modelling methodologies and specifications. This would help to identify population groups that are responsive to changes in net wages and incomes, and thereby strengthen the basis for policy development.
Cost Behavior and Analysts’ Earnings Forecasts

ABSTRACT: This study examines how firms’ asymmetric cost behavior influences analysts’ earnings forecasts, primarily the accuracy of analysts’ consensus earnings forecasts. Results indicate that firms with stickier cost behavior have less accurate analysts’ earnings forecasts than firms with less sticky cost behavior. Furthermore, findings show that cost stickiness influences analysts’ coverage priorities and investors appear to consider sticky cost behavior in forming their beliefs about the value of firms. This study integrates a typical management accounting research topic, cost behavior, with three standard financial accounting topics (namely, accuracy of analysts’ earnings forecasts, analysts’ coverage, and market response to earnings surprises).
Attribution and evolution of ozone from Asian wild fires using satellite and aircraft measurements during the ARCTAS campaign

Abstract. We use ozone and carbon monoxide measurements from the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES), model estimates of Ozone, CO, and ozone pre-cursors from the Real-time Air Quality Modeling System (RAQMS), and data from the NASA DC8 aircraft to characterize the source and dynamical evolution of ozone and CO in Asian wildfire plumes during the spring ARCTAS campaign 2008. On the 19 April, NASA DC8 O 3 and aerosol Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) observed two biomass burning plumes originating from North-Western Asia (Kazakhstan) and South-Eastern Asia (Thailand) that advected eastward over the Pacific reaching North America in 10 to 12 days. Using both TES observations and RAQMS chemical analyses, we track the wildfire plumes from their source to the ARCTAS DC8 platform. In addition to photochemical production due to ozone pre-cursors, we find that exchange between the stratosphere and the troposphere is a major factor influencing O 3 concentrations for both plumes. For example, the Kazakhstan and Siberian plumes at 55 degrees North is a region of significant springtime stratospheric/tropospheric exchange. Stratospheric air influences the Thailand plume after it is lofted to high altitudes via the Himalayas. Using comparisons of the model to the aircraft and satellite measurements, we estimate that the Kazakhstan plume is responsible for increases of O 3 and CO mixing ratios by approximately 6.4 ppbv and 38 ppbv in the lower troposphere (height of 2 to 6 km), and the Thailand plume is responsible for increases of O 3 and CO mixing ratios of approximately 11 ppbv and 71 ppbv in the upper troposphere (height of 8 to 12 km) respectively. However, there are significant sources of uncertainty in these estimates that point to the need for future improvements in both model and satellite observations. For example, it is challenging to characterize the fraction of air parcels from the stratosphere versus those from the fire because of the low sensitivity of the TES CO estimates used to mark stratospheric air versus air parcels affected by the smoke plume. Model transport uncertainties, such as too much dispersion, results in a broad plume structure from the Kazakhstan fires that is approximately 2 km lower than the plume observed by aircraft. Consequently, the model and TES data do not capture the photochemical production of ozone in the Kazakhstan plume that is apparent in the aircraft in situ data. However, ozone and CO distributions from TES and RAQMS model estimates of the Thailand plume are within the uncertainties of the TES data. Therefore, the RAQMS model is better able to characterize the emissions from this fire, the mixing of ozone from the stratosphere to the plume, and the photochemical production and transport of ozone and ozone pre-cursors as the plume moves across the Pacific.
Hypobolic Discounting and Willingness-to-Wait

Experimental and field research has shown that individuals often exhibit time inconsistent preferences. Often this is in the direction of “hyperbolic” or quasi-hyperbolic discounting. That is, individuals have a steeper discount rate for a given delay length when that delay comes sooner. This paper presents an experiment that tests this hypothesis with a novel choice task. Instead of being asked how much money today makes them indifferent between some amount later, subjects are asked how long they would be willing to wait to be indifferent between some amount sooner and some larger amount later. In this new task, many subjects exhibit “hypobolic” discounting, the opposite of the standard finding. This result does not appear to be a consequence of payout risk. The result suggests that hyperbolic discounting may be subject to the framing of choices, and therefore not purely an aspect of preferences.
Man the Fat Hunter: The Demise of Homo erectus and the Emergence of a New Hominin Lineage in the Middle Pleistocene (ca. 400 kyr) Levant

The worldwide association of H. erectus with elephants is well documented and so is the preference of humans for fat as a source of energy. We show that rather than a matter of preference, H. erectus in the Levant was dependent on both elephants and fat for his survival. The disappearance of elephants from the Levant some 400 kyr ago coincides with the appearance of a new and innovative local cultural complex – the Levantine Acheulo-Yabrudian and, as is evident from teeth recently found in the Acheulo-Yabrudian 400-200 kyr site of Qesem Cave, the replacement of H. erectus by a new hominin. We employ a bio-energetic model to present a hypothesis that the disappearance of the elephants, which created a need to hunt an increased number of smaller and faster animals while maintaining an adequate fat content in the diet, was the evolutionary drive behind the emergence of the lighter, more agile, and cognitively capable hominins. Qesem Cave thus provides a rare opportunity to study the mechanisms that underlie the emergence of our post-erectus ancestors, the fat hunters.
Legitimate Punishment , Immunity , and the Enforcement of Cooperation

In the framework of a finitely repeated public goods game with costly punishment options, we introduce a novel restrictive setup where a principle of legitimacy holds, in the sense that only virtuous behavior (that is, being a high contributor) allows one to gain access to sanctioning opportunities (‘entitlement’) and only wrongful behavior (that is, being a low contributor) makes one a potential target of peer punishment (‘desert’). As a consequence, acting virtuously guarantees that it will not be possible to be punished by less virtuous subjects (‘immunity’). These restrictions, by allowing for ‘legitimate punishment’ only, rule out by construction so called antisocial punishment as well as vengeful behavior. Moreover, we manipulate the amount of information over others’ contributions that subjects receive before making their punishment decisions. Our preliminary results show that restrictions per se do not affect the cooperation levels; by contrast, virtuous restrictions combined with feedback on virtuous peers significantly increase contribution levels and make cooperation sustainable over time. JEL Classification: C72; C91; C92; D23 ; D72.
Comparison of Explicitly Simulated and Downscaled Tropical Cyclone Activity in a High‐Resolution Global Climate Model

The response of tropical cyclone activity to climate change is a matter of great inherent interest and practical importance. Most current global climate models are not, however, capable of adequately resolving tropical cyclones; this has led to the development of downscaling techniques designed to infer tropical cyclone activity from the large‐scale fields produced by climate models. Here we compare the statistics of tropical cyclones simulated explicitly in a very high resolution (∼14 km grid mesh) global climate model to the results of one such downscaling technique driven by the same global model. This is done for a simulation of the current climate and also for a simulation of a climate warmed by the addition of carbon dioxide. The explicitly simulated and downscaled storms are similarly distributed in space, but the intensity distribution of the downscaled events has a somewhat longer high‐intensity tail, owing to the higher resolution of the downscaling model. Both explicitly simulated and downscaled events show large increases in the frequency of events at the high‐intensity ends of their respective intensity distributions, but the downscaled storms also show increases in low‐intensity events, whereas the explicitly simulated weaker events decline in number. On the regional scale, there are large differences in the responses of the explicitly simulated and downscaled events to global warming. In particular, the power dissipation of downscaled events shows a 175% increase in the Atlantic, while the power dissipation of explicitly simulated events declines there.
Modified nearest three virtual space-vector modulation method for improved dc-capacitor voltage control in N-level diode clamped inverters

A major disadvantage of diode clamped inverters (DCI) in practical implementations is capacitor dc voltage fluctuation. A new and very fast space vector modulation scheme for controlling the capacitor dc voltage fluctuation is introduced in this paper. The proposed algorithm accelerates the computation of the nearest three vectors and calculation of corresponding duty cycles without an increase in computational requirements when extended to DCIs with more levels. This new algorithm is appropriate for real time applications with DSP controllers used in industry. Performance of the proposed method has been simulated in MATLAB Simulink for both 3-level and 4-level three-phase DCIs, with experimental verification presented using a TMS320F2812 DSP. Experimental implementations demonstrate that the proposed method has the ability to effectively control dc-capacitor voltage in an N-level DCI where N is the number of levels (including zero volts) in one half cycle of the inverter line-to-line output voltage.
Human Factors and Aging: Identifying and Compensating for Age-related Deficits in Sensory and Cognitive Function

Introduction Human factors is an interdisciplinary field organized around the central endeavor of fitting the designed environment to the individual. The process of achieving optimal person-environment interaction requires knowledge about the broad range of human functional capacity; including-but not limited to-anthropometry, biomechanics, sensory processes and cognitive psychology. It has been said that "theory and practice are the same in theory but different in practice". Nowhere is this predicament more true than in the field of human factors. Although primarily regarded as an applied field of science, those who practice human factors on a daily basis must rely heavily upon theory and principles generated through basic research. This reliance upon sound theoretical constructs is made necessary by the fact that design solutions to person-environment interface problems rarely generalize across situations. Rather, it is the theoretical constructs that explain human behavior and the principles they generate that are transferable across design domains. Thus, human factors as a practice is intimately bound to its theoretical principles. Practice cannot proceed without theory. This chapter attempts to provide the reader with a introduction to the theoretical principles of experimental psychology as they relate to the more specific domain of aging and technology. This survey is limited in its scope in so far as it pertains only to the area of cognitive psychology. As such, it explores the age-related changes in sensory processes, attention and memory that present challenges to an older person's ability to 2 interact with his or her environment. Some opportunities for applying this knowledge toward the optimization of the person-environment interface are presented. Hopefully, the basic research findings and principles reviewed herein-and the accompanying examples and recommendations for improving functional capacity-will inspire the reader to generate innovative approaches toward designing a better fit between the designed environment and persons of all ages. The maximum diameter of the pupil declines with advancing adult age (a condition known as senile miosis). Under low light conditions, the resting diameter of the pupil falls from 7 mm at age 20 to approximately 4 mm at 80 years of age (Lowenfeld, 1979). Although senile miosis reduces the amount of light reaching the retina, there is reason to suspect that smaller pupil diameters may actually benefit visual performance in older adults in many situations by increasing the contrast of the retinal image (see Sloane, Owlsey & Alvarez, 1988). The crystalline lens of the eye becomes increasingly opaque as …
The Etiology of Mathematical and Reading (Dis)ability Covariation in a Sample of Dutch Twins

Abstract The genetic etiology of mathematical and reading (dis)ability has been studied in a number of distinct samples, but the true nature of the relationship between the two remains unclear. Data from the Netherlands Twin Register was used to determine the etiology of the relationship between mathematical and reading (dis)ability in adolescent twins. Ratings of mathematical and reading problems were obtained from parents of over 1500 twin pairs. Results of bivariate structural equation modeling showed a genetic correlation around . 60, which explained over 90% of the phenotypic correlation between mathematical and reading ability. The genetic model was the same for males and females.
Algorithms for ball hulls and ball intersections in strictly convex normed planes

Extending results of Hershberger and Suri for the Euclidean plane, we show that ball hulls and ball intersections of sets of $n$ points in strictly convex normed planes can be constructed in $O(n \log n)$ time. In addition, we confirm that, like in the Euclidean subcase, the $2$-center problem with constrained circles can be solved also for strictly convex normed planes in $O(n^2)$ time. Some ideas for extending these results to more general types of normed planes are also presented.
Addressing Digital Inequality for the Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Through Government Initiatives: Forms of Capital That Affect ICT Utilization

Digital inequality, or unequal access to and use of information and communication technologies (ICT), is a severe problem preventing the socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED) from participating in a digital society. To understand the critical resources that contribute to digital inequality and inform public policy for stimulating initial and continued ICT usage by the SED, we drew on capital theories and conducted a field study to investigate: (1) the forms of capital for using ICT and how they differ across potential adopters who are SED and socioeconomically advantaged (SEA); (2) how these forms of capitals are relatively impacted for the SEA and the SED through public policy for ICT access; and (3) how each form of capital influences the SED's intentions to use initially and to continue to use ICT. The context for our study involved a city in the southeastern United States that offered its citizens free ICT access for Internet connectivity. Our results show that SED potential adopters exhibited lower cultural capital but higher social capital relative to the SEA. Moreover, the SED who participated in the city's initiative realized greater positive gains in cultural capital, social capital, and habitus than the SEA. In addition, we find that the SED's initial intention to use ICT was influenced by intrinsic motivation for habitus, self-efficacy for cultural capital, and important referents' expectations and support from acquaintances for social capital. Cultural capital and social cultural capital also complemented each other in driving the SED's initial use intention. The SED's continued use intention was affected by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for habitus and both knowledge and self-efficacy for cultural capital but was not affected by social capital. We also make several recommendations for future research on digital inequality and ICT acceptance to extend and apply the proposed capital framework.
Terrain/clutter based error calculation in location estimation of wireless nodes by using receive signal strength

This is a research with the main objective to investigate the error rate in the location estimation of a wireless node, by considering the error rate of different terrains/clutters. Radio waves behave differently in different terrains. When the transmitted signal propagates through different terrains, the terrain impairments affect the transmitted signal. Because of the noise addition, the received signal value differs from the transmitted signal value. For location estimation this received signal is used as a primary value for parameters calculation. If we do not consider terrain impairments then it will not give an accurate position of wireless node. Therefore it is required to investigate the signal to noise ratio and the error rate in different terrains. In this research paper, we divide the terrain in twelve different categories based on the error rate of terrains. We use C# program with WiFi (IEEE 802.11 b/g) setup to calculate the receive signal quality from 0 (zero) to 150 meters in different terrains for this experiment. We construct an error rate table (ERT) by comparing the ideal condition data with different terrains data, which helps to minimize the possible location area. This research helps to minimize location estimation error rate by considering the terrain impairments.