Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An Experimental Evaluation of Local Features for Pedestrian Classification

The ability to detect pedestrians is a first important step in many computer vision applications such as video surveillance. This paper presents an experimental study on pedestrian detection using state-of-the-art local feature extraction and support vector machine (SVM) classifiers. The performance of pedestrian detection using region covariance, histogram of oriented gradients (HOG) and local receptive fields (LRF) feature descriptors is experimentally evaluated. The experiments are performed on both the benchmarking dataset used in [1] and the MIT CBCL dataset. Both can be publicly accessed. The experimental results show that region covariance features with radial basis function (RBF) kernel SVM and HOG features with quadratic kernel SVM outperform the combination of LRF features with quadratic kernel SVM reported in [1].
Birth Weight Reference Percentiles for Chinese

Objective To develop a reference of population-based gestational age-specific birth weight percentiles for contemporary Chinese. Methods Birth weight data was collected by the China National Population-based Birth Defects Surveillance System. A total of 1,105,214 live singleton births aged ≥28 weeks of gestation without birth defects during 2006–2010 were included. The lambda-mu-sigma method was utilized to generate percentiles and curves. Results Gestational age-specific birth weight percentiles for male and female infants were constructed separately. Significant differences were observed between the current reference and other references developed for Chinese or non-Chinese infants. Conclusion There have been moderate increases in birth weight percentiles for Chinese infants of both sexes and most gestational ages since 1980s, suggesting the importance of utilizing an updated national reference for both clinical and research purposes.
Syllable structure development of toddlers with expressive specific language impairment

A total of 35 children – 20 with expressive specific language impairment (SLI-E) and 15 typically developing (TD) peers – were compared longitudinally from 24 to 36 months with respect to their production of syllable shapes in 10-minute spontaneous speech samples. SLI-E 24-month-olds predominantly produced earlier developing syllable shapes containing vowels, liquids, and glides. TD 24-month-olds and SLI-E 36-month-olds produced approximately the same proportion of syllable types, with the exception of consonant clusters, where TD 24-month-olds produced more than SLI-E 36-month-olds. TD children at 36 months showed the greatest use of syllable shapes containing two different consonants and consonant clusters. Detailed analyses revealed that SLI-E children produced fewer syllable shapes containing final consonants, more than one consonant type, and consonant clusters. Furthermore, the children with SLI-E were found to vocalize less often than their TD peers. The possible relationships between these findings, SLI-E children's concomitant deficits in morphology and syntax, and the implications for diagnosis and remediation are discussed.
Talking about Literature in University Book Club and Seminar Settings

This study explores ways in which adults discuss literature (Cisneros’s The House on Mango Street) in two different settings, a traditional English seminar and an English education course designed to function as a book club. The differences described suggest tensions between the theoretical orientations and pedagogical practices of university departments of English and English education.
High Quality Binocular Facial Performance Capture from Partially Blurred Image Sequence

Existing methods on passive facial performance capture assume that the input images are well captured. They merely consider how to deal with motion blurred images in the input sequence, which is very common in the image capture process. This paper presents a collection of novel algorithms and a thereby resulting system to reconstruct high quality facial dynamic geometry even from a partially blurred image sequence. In our method, we adopt binocular cameras to capture a stereo sequence. With this sequence, we first estimate depth map for each frame using a state-of-the-art stereo matching method. Then, based on the estimated depth map sequence, we track facial motion by leveraging constraints of both optical flow and geometry. In this step, a blur detection and regularization algorithm are devised to adaptively keep both shape and details. Finally, we synthesize temporal mesoscopic geometry on the blurred region from clear image texture of neighboring frames. We conduct extensive experiments on several sequences containing facial performance with blurred region, and the results demonstrate the effectiveness and robustness of our algorithms.
Combining linguistic knowledge and machine learning for anaphora resolution

This thesis focuses on attempting to incorporate linguistically contextual clues into machine learning-based approaches for anaphora resolution, which is the process of identifying whether or not an expression refers to another expression. As the state-ofthe-art of morpho-syntactic analysis and named entity recognition grows more increasingly sophisticated, research focus in natural language processing (NLP) has shifted to more semantically motivated tasks such as anaphora resolution. These tasks are particularly important as they often provide a critical bridge between basic NLP techniques and end-level applications. Conventional approaches to anaphora resolution have been roughly evolving in two different but complementary directions. One is theory-oriented rule-based approaches and the other is empirical corpus-based approaches. In rule-based approaches, efforts have been directed toward the manual encoding of various linguistic cues into a set of rules, however it is extremely dif cult to manually encode linguistic ndings into rules while considering widely ranging aspects from lexical to discourse factors. In contrast, empirical corpus-based approaches have been mainly developed with shallow morpho-syntactic information such as part-of-speech and gender/number information as features, while having achieved a performance comparable to the best-performing rule-based system. Given this background, this thesis deals with effectively combining machine learning and linguistic knowledge mainly used in discourse theory for anaphora resolution. First of all, we discuss how to annotate predicate-argument relations including zero-anaphoric relations and coreference relations. In order to develop a trainable ∗Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Information Processing, Graduate School of Information Science, Nara Institute of Science and Technology, NAIST-IS-DD0461004, March 23, 2007.
“Yes/No/Not Right Now”: Yes/No Response Formats Can Increase Response Rates Even in Non-Forced-Choice Settings

Although yes/no response formats have been used to increase enrollment rates in several different types of programs, their effectiveness has generally been tested in forced-choice settings. The effects on postchoice engagement have not been measured. Across two field experiments in an e-mail context in which choice is not forced, the authors demonstrate a substantial advantage in click-through rates for a yes/no response format over traditional opt-in response formats. The increase in click-through rate does, under certain conditions, also persist through downstream program enrollment and participation. Finally, though noting that the yes/no format advantage is probably multidetermined, the authors discuss several potential psychological mechanisms, which are particularly relevant in non-forced-choice settings. The authors also discuss how the yes/no response format might operate in other settings, such as the implementation of mandated choice for organ donation.
A human-assisting manipulator teleoperated by EMG signals and arm motions

This paper proposes a human-assisting manipulator teleoperated by electromyographic (EMG) signals and arm motions. The proposed method can realize a new master-slave manipulator system that uses no mechanical master controller. A person whose forearm has been amputated can use this manipulator as a personal assistant for desktop work. The control system consists of a hand and wrist control part and an arm control part. The hand and wrist control part selects an active joint in the manipulator's end-effector and controls it based on EMG pattern discrimination. The arm control part measures the position of the operator's wrist joint or the amputated part using a three-dimensional position sensor, and the joint angles of the manipulator's arm, except for the end-effector part, are controlled according to this position, which, in turn, corresponds to the position of the manipulator's joint. These control parts enable the operator to control the manipulator intuitively. The distinctive feature of our system is to use a novel statistical neural network for EMG pattern discrimination. The system can adapt itself to changes of the EMG patterns according to the differences among individuals, different locations of the electrodes, and time variation caused by fatigue or sweat. Our experiments have shown that the developed system could learn and estimate the operator's intended motions with a high degree of accuracy using the EMG signals, and that the manipulator could be controlled smoothly. We also confirmed that our system could assist the amputee in performing desktop work.
Exploring alternatives to rational choice in models of behaviour : an investigation using travel mode choice

The car is the most popular travel mode in the UK, but reliance on the car has numerous negative effects on health, the economy, and the environment. Encouraging sustainable travel mode choices (modal choice) can minimise these problems. To promote behaviour change, psychologists have an interest in understanding modal choice. Historically, modal choice has been understood as a reasoned and rational decision that requires a conscious assessment of thoughts and attitudes: but evidence suggests this approach has limitations when promoting behaviour change. Alternatively, processes that are automatically enacted, without conscious effort, can have an influence on thought and behaviour. Two automatic processes in particular have been proposed as useful factors when considering modal choice: habit and affect. Habits are behaviours that are learned over time in stable contexts, have become automatic, and moderate the link between intentions and behaviour. Affect is an automatically positive or negative sensation, which can influence consciously accessed attitudes and perceptions. This thesis explores these two automatic concepts in travel mode choice, with the aim of applying the concepts to promote sustainable travel. Using a mixed-methods approach, initial exploratory work used qualitative and quantitative methods to define how people construct affective responses to modal choice, and whether certain travel modes are more automatic than others. The exploratory work inspired three investigations: modelling the influence of automatic and reasoned decisions to use a travel mode, measuring automatic and implicit environmental preferences, and illustrating how changing the context of routines can increase use of available information. Exploratory and investigative results are then applied in the creation of the UK’s first Walking Network, a series of walking routes designed to deliver targeted information and knowledge to promote walking. This thesis concludes that automatic influences are beneficial factors when considering modal change interventions.
A language profile of sources cited in the journal Kineziologija/Kinesiology from 1971 to 2010

The goal of this paper was to provide a diachronic survey of the language of sources cited in the journal Kineziologija/Kinesiology from 1971 to 2010. Also, interactions were sought between various variables regarding various aspects of article publication – publication year, language of sources cited, number of sources cited, author’s country of origin and gender. The population was comprised of 760 articles published in the journal Kineziologija/Kinesiology throughout forty years of its publication. Results of the analyses were expressed in frequencies and by interaction plots of the analysed variables. The allocation of the total number of sources cited showed that the largest number of papers cited between 10 and 19 sources. The highest average number of sources cited per paper was in English, followed by the average number of sources in Croatian. The number of all sources cited per article significantly increased in the last decade of the journal’s publication as did the number of sources in the English language. Most papers were authored by researchers from the Slavic language-speaking countries. The number of non-English sources used by the authors from Slavic language-speaking countries was larger than the number of non-English sources used by the authors from countries in which languages other than English, German, Romance and Slavic languages are spoken. Most of the 760 papers were written by men, followed by the number of papers written in coauthorship of men and women. The number of papers written exclusively by women was the lowest. This type of analysis could be regarded not only as a mirror of the journal’s development, but also as a mirror of the development of a society.
Beyond the Design of Automated Writing Evaluation: Pedagogical Practices and Perceived Learning Effectiveness in EFL Writing Classes.

Automated writing evaluation (AWE) software is designed to provide instant computergenerated scores for a submitted essay along with diagnostic feedback. Most studies on AWE have been conducted on psychometric evaluations of its validity; however, studies on how effectively AWE is used in writing classes as a pedagogical tool are limited. This study employs a naturalistic classroom-based approach to explore the interaction between how an AWE program, MY Access! , was implemented in three different ways in three EFL college writing classes in Taiwan and how students perceived its effectiveness in improving writing. The findings show that, although the implementation of AWE was not in general perceived very positively by the three classes, it was perceived comparatively more favorably when the program was used to facilitate students’ early drafting and revising process, followed by human feedback from both the teacher and peers during the later process. This study also reveals that the autonomous use of AWE as a surrogate writing coach with minimal human facilitation caused frustration to students and limited their learning of writing. In addition, teachers’ attitudes toward AWE use and their technology-use skills, as well as students’ learner characteristics and goals for learning to write, may also play vital roles in determining the effectiveness of AWE. With limitations inherent in the design of AWE technology, language teachers need to be more critically aware that the implementation of AWE requires well thought-out pedagogical designs and thorough considerations for its relevance to the objectives of the learning of writing.
Are Oligotypes Meaningful Ecological and Phylogenetic Units? A Case Study of Microcystis in Freshwater Lakes

Oligotyping is a computational method used to increase the resolution of marker gene microbiome studies. Although oligotyping can distinguish highly similar sequence variants, the resulting units are not necessarily phylogenetically and ecologically informative due to limitations of the selected marker gene. In this perspective, we examine how oligotyping data is interpreted in recent literature, and we illustrate some of the method’s constraints with a case study of the harmful bloom-forming cyanobacterium Microcystis. We identified three Microcystis oligotypes from a western Lake Erie bacterial community 16S rRNA gene (V4 region) survey that had previously clustered into one OTU. We found the same three oligotypes and two additional sequence variants in 46 Microcystis cultures isolated from Michigan inland lakes spanning a trophic gradient. In Lake Erie, shifts in Microcystis oligotypes corresponded to spatial nutrient gradients and temporal transitions in bloom toxicity. In the cultures, Microcystis oligotypes showed preferential distributions for different trophic states, but genomic data revealed that the oligotypes identified in Lake Erie did not correspond to toxin gene presence. Thus, oligotypes could not be used for inferring toxic ecotypes. Most strikingly, Microcystis oligotypes were not monophyletic. Our study supports the utility of oligotyping for distinguishing sequence types along certain ecological features, while it stresses that 16S rRNA gene sequence types may not reflect ecologically or phylogenetically cohesive populations. Therefore, we recommend that studies employing oligotyping or related tools consider these caveats during data interpretation.
Statistical Properties of Probabilistic Context-Free Grammars

We prove a number of useful results about probabilistic context-free grammars (PCFGs) and their Gibbs representations. We present a method, called the relative weighted frequency method, to assign production probabilities that impose proper PCFG distributions on finite parses. We demonstrate that these distributions have finite entropies. In addition, under the distributions, sizes of parses have finite moment of any order. We show that Gibbs distributions on CFG parses, which generalize PCFG distributions and are more powerful, become PCFG distributions if their features only include frequencies of production rules in parses. Under these circumstances, we prove the equivalence of the maximum-likelihood (ML) estimation procedures for these two types of probability distributions on parses. We introduce the renormalization of improper PCFGs to proper ones. We also study PCFGs from the perspective of stochastic branching processes. We prove that with their production probabilities assigned by the relative weighted frequency method, PCFGs are subcritical, i.e., their branching rates are less than one. We also show that by renormalization, connected supercritical PCFGs become subcritical ones. Finally, some minor issues, including identifiability and approximation of production probabilities of PCFGs, are discussed.
Regulation of Mutagenic DNA Polymerase V Activation in Space and Time

Spatial regulation is often encountered as a component of multi-tiered regulatory systems in eukaryotes, where processes are readily segregated by organelle boundaries. Well-characterized examples of spatial regulation are less common in bacteria. Low-fidelity DNA polymerase V (UmuD′2C) is produced in Escherichia coli as part of the bacterial SOS response to DNA damage. Due to the mutagenic potential of this enzyme, pol V activity is controlled by means of an elaborate regulatory system at transcriptional and posttranslational levels. Using single-molecule fluorescence microscopy to visualize UmuC inside living cells in space and time, we now show that pol V is also subject to a novel form of spatial regulation. After an initial delay (~ 45 min) post UV irradiation, UmuC is synthesized, but is not immediately activated. Instead, it is sequestered at the inner cell membrane. The release of UmuC into the cytosol requires the RecA* nucleoprotein filament-mediated cleavage of UmuD→UmuD′. Classic SOS damage response mutants either block [umuD(K97A)] or constitutively stimulate [recA(E38K)] UmuC release from the membrane. Foci of mutagenically active pol V Mut (UmuD′2C-RecA-ATP) formed in the cytosol after UV irradiation do not co-localize with pol III replisomes, suggesting a capacity to promote translesion DNA synthesis at lesions skipped over by DNA polymerase III. In effect, at least three molecular mechanisms limit the amount of time that pol V has to access DNA: (1) transcriptional and posttranslational regulation that initially keep the intracellular levels of pol V to a minimum; (2) spatial regulation via transient sequestration of UmuC at the membrane, which further delays pol V activation; and (3) the hydrolytic activity of a recently discovered pol V Mut ATPase function that limits active polymerase time on the chromosomal template.
Auxiliary material Text S1 for "Absorbing aerosols over Asia: A Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory general circulation model sensitivity study of model response to aerosol optical depth and aerosol absorption"

[1] Forcing by absorbing atmospheric black carbon (BC) tends to heat the atmosphere, cool the surface, and reduce the surface latent and sensible heat fluxes. BC aerosol can have a large impact on regional climates and the hydrologic cycle. However, significant uncertainties remain concerning the increases in (1) the total amount of all aerosol species and (2) the amount of aerosol absorption that may have occurred over the 1950–1990 period. Focusing on south and east Asia, the sensitivity of a general circulation model's climate response (with prescribed sea surface temperatures and aerosol distributions) to such changes is investigated by considering a range of both aerosol absorption and aerosol extinction optical depth increases. We include direct and semidirect aerosol effects only. Precipitation changes are less sensitive to changes in aerosol absorption optical depth at lower aerosol loadings. At higher-extinction optical depths, low-level convergence and increases in vertical velocity overcome the stabilizing effects of absorbing aerosols and enhance the monsoonal circulation and precipitation in northwestern India. In contrast, the presence of increases in only scattering aerosols weakens the monsoonal circulation and inhibits precipitation here. Cloud amount changes can enhance or counteract surface solar flux reduction depending on the aerosol loading and absorption, with the changes also influencing the surface temperature and the surface energy balance. The results have implications for aerosol reduction strategies in the future that seek to mitigate air pollution concerns. At higher optical depths, if absorbing aerosol is present, reduction of scattering aerosol alone has a reduced effect on precipitation changes, implying that reductions in BC aerosols should be undertaken at the same time as reductions in sulfate aerosols.
Altered hippocampal morphology in unmedicated patients with major depressive illness

Despite converging evidence that major depressive illness is associated with both memory impairment and hippocampal pathology, findings vary widely across studies and it is not known whether these changes are regionally specific. In the present study we acquired brain MRIs (magnetic resonance images) from 31 unmedicated patients with MDD (major depressive disorder; mean age 39.2±11.9 years; 77% female) and 31 demographically comparable controls. Three-dimensional parametric mesh models were created to examine localized alterations of hippocampal morphology. Although global volumes did not differ between groups, statistical mapping results revealed that in MDD patients, more severe depressive symptoms were associated with greater left hippocampal atrophy, particularly in CA1 (cornu ammonis 1) subfields and the subiculum. However, previous treatment with atypical antipsychotics was associated with a trend towards larger left hippocampal volume. Our findings suggest effects of illness severity on hippocampal size, as well as a possible effect of past history of atypical antipsychotic treatment, which may reflect prolonged neuroprotective effects. This possibility awaits confirmation in longitudinal studies.