Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Learning based alpha matting using support vector regression

Alpha matting refers to the problem of estimating the opacity mask of the foreground in an image. Many recent algorithms solve it with color samples or some local assumptions, causing artifacts when they fail to collect appropriate samples or the assumptions do not hold. In this paper, we treat alpha matting as a supervised learning problem and propose a new matting approach. Given the input image and a trimap (labeling some foreground/background pixels), we segment the unlabeled region into pieces and learn the relations between pixel features and alpha values for these pieces. We use support vector regression (SVR) in the learning process. To obtain better learning results, we design a training samples selection method and use adaptive parameters for SVR. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations on a matting benchmark show that our approach outperforms many recent algorithms in terms of accuracy.
Essays in Financial Economics

This dissertation consists of three essays: Chapters 1 and 2 focus on the impact of cognitive and institutional constraints on stock market efficiency while Chapter 3 examines whether shocks to the real interest rate are a priced state variable. Chapter 1 is titled "Commodity Inattention": attention is a scarce resource for investors that must be divided among many sources of information. The commodities market is an important source of information affecting firms that operate in the economy. Investors do not fully appreciate this relationship allowing for predictability in equity returns using commodity returns. A strategy that exploits this predictability has an alpha of 1.5% per month and no meaningful factor exposure. This effect is stronger in smaller firms, firms that tend to be ignored by their owners, firms owned by investors who ignore commodity information, firms with nuanced commodity exposure and during times of high informational burden for investors. Chapter 2 is titled "Market Crash Risk and Slow Moving Capital": index option skew (risk reversal) is a variable commonly looked at by investors to assess market conditions. In the cross-section, value stocks and junk bonds do poorly when the price of risk reversals increases. However, investors are slow to fully incorporate this information into prices leading to significant predictability in value vs. growth stocks as well as junk vs. investment grade bonds. This predictability is economically significant and poses a challenge to strictly rational models of information processing by investors. Chapter 3 is titled "Is Real Interest Rate Risk Priced? Theory and Empirical Evidence": we propose a model in which real interest rates respond to both expected consumption growth
Human sperm volume regulation. Response to physiological changes in osmolality, channel blockers and potential sperm osmolytes.

BACKGROUND Volume regulation is an important sperm function because defective sperm cannot negotiate the female tract in an infertile mouse model and swollen human sperm cannot penetrate and migrate through mucus. METHODS AND RESULTS The size of sperm from 52 donor ejaculates incubated in medium of female tract fluid osmolality (BWW290) was measured by flow cytometry to be identical to that in homologous semen osmolality (289-351 mosmol/kg), indicating effective volume regulation. Inhibition of anticipated regulatory volume decrease in BWW290 by the channel blocker quinine induced size increases and associated kinematic changes measured by computer-aided sperm analysis. Incubation in L-carnitine, myo-inositol and taurine did not change sperm volume or kinematics, but the presence of glutamate and K(+) decreased the efficiency of forward progression indicative of volume increase, suggesting them as potential osmolytes for human sperm. Linear regression suggested correlations of changes in cell volume and in kinematic parameters, and the association of faster forward progressive sperm with smaller cell size. CONCLUSIONS Sperm volume and its regulation may be crucial to natural fertility. The identification of sperm osmolytes, ion channels and mechanisms involved would contribute to the understanding of male infertility and offer a lead for male contraception.
Experimental demonstration of upstream transmission in digital filter multiple access pons with real-time reconfigurable optical network units

Digital filter multiple access (DFMA) passive optical networks (PONs) exploit centralized softwaredefined networking (SDN) controller-managed and transceiver-embedded digital orthogonal filters in individual optical network units (ONUs) to enable end-users to adaptively and dynamically access and share a common fiber transmission medium. DFMA PONs have the potential of not only equipping NG-PONs with sufficient network operation flexibility, adaptability, elasticity, and reconfigurability, but also providing highly desirable backward compatibility with current PON standards. In this paper, for the first time to our knowledge, multipoint-to-point upstream signal transmission in intensity-modulation and direct-detection (IMDD)DFMAPONs is experimentally demonstrated using two real-time, reconfigurable, optical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing-modulated ONUs and an offline optical line terminal. The experimental demonstrations show that each ONU achieves a similar upstreambit error rate performance, excellent tolerance to inter-ONU sample timing offset, and a relatively large ONU launch power variation range.
Intrusive memories and trauma-related symptoms in individuals presenting with dental anxiety

viii Chapter 1. Dental Anxiety 1 1.1 Characteristics of Dental Anxiety 1 1.2 Treating Dental Anxiety 8 1.3 A General Overview of Fear Acquisition, Development and Maintenance. 11 1.4 Contemporary Model of Conditioning 19 1.5 The Panic and Alarm Theory of Fear Acquisition 24 1.6 Evolutionary Models of Fear Acquisition 27 1.7 Cognitive Models of Fear Acquisition and Maintenance 29 1.8 Neurobiological Model of Fear Acquisition 32 1.9 Dental Anxiety; Acquisition and Maintenance 35 Aims of Study 1 42 Hypotheses 42 Chapter 2. Study 1: Comparison ofDental Anxiety Measures and Direct and Indirect Pathways of Fear Acquisition 44 2.1 Design 44 2.2 Sample 44 2.3 Measures 45 2.4 Clinical Interview 47 2.5 Analysis 47 Chapter 3. Results: Study 1 Comparison ofDental Anxiety Measures and Direct and Indirect Pathways of Fear Acquisition 48 3.1 Demographic Data 48 3.1.1 Participants 48 3.1.2 Exploratory Data Analysis of the MDAS, DFS Behavioural Avoidance and Physiological Arousal Scales 48
Cultural adaptation and validation of the Freiburg Life Quality Assessment - Wound Module to Brazilian Portuguese1

Objectives: to adapt the Freiburg Life Quality Assessment - Wound Module to Brazilian Portuguese and to measure its psychometric properties: reliability and validity. Method: the cultural adaptation was undertaken following the stages of translation, synthesis of the translations, back translation, committee of specialists, pre-test and focus group. A total of 200 patients participated in the study. These were recruited in Primary Care Centers, Family Health Strategy Centers, in a philanthropic hospital and in a teaching hospital. Reliability was assessed through internal consistency and stability. Validity was ascertained through the correlation of the instrument's values with those of the domains of the Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index - Wound Version and with the quality of life score of the visual analog scale. Results: the instrument presented adequate internal consistency (Cronbach alpha =0.86) and high stability in the test and retest (0.93). The validity presented correlations of moderate and significant magnitude (-0.24 to -0.48, p<0.0001). Conclusion: the results indicated that the adapted version presented reliable and valid psychometric measurements for the population with chronic wounds in the Brazilian culture.
Superiority of Interferon-Free Regimens for Chronic Hepatitis C

Abstract Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) such as quality of life and work productivity are important for measuring patient's experience. We assessed PROs during and after treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Data were obtained from a phase 3 open label study of sofosbuvir and ribavirin (SOF + RBV) with and without interferon (IFN). Patients completed 4 PRO assessment instruments (SF-36, Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy—Fatigue, Chronic Liver Disease Questionnaire— HCV, Work Productivity and Activity—Specific Health Problem) before, during, and after treatment. A total of 533 patients with chronic HCV were enrolled; 28.9% treatment-naïve, 23.1% cirrhotic, 219 received IFN + SOF + RBV and 314 received IFN-free SOF + RBV. At baseline, there were no differences in PROs between the IFN-free and IFN-containing treatment arms (all P > 0.05). During treatment, patients receiving IFN + SOF + RBV had a substantial impairment in their PROs (up to −24.4% by treatment week 12, up to −8.3% at week 4 post-treatment). The PRO decrements seen in the SOF + RBV arm were smaller in magnitude (up to −7.1% by treatment week 12), and all returned to baseline or improved by post-treatment week 4. By 12 weeks after treatment cessation, patients who achieved sustained viral response-12 showed some improvement of PRO scores regardless of the regimen (up to +7.1%, P < 0.0001) or previous treatment experience. In multivariate analysis, the use of IFN was independently associated with lower PROs. IFN-based regimens have a profoundly negative impact to PROs. By contrast, the impact of RBV on these PROs is relatively modest. Achieving HCV cure is associated with improvement of most of the PRO scores.
Deep Submodular Functions

We start with an overview of a class of submodular functions called SCMMs (sums of concave composed with non-negative modular functions plus a final arbitrary modular). We then define a new class of submodular functions we call {\em deep submodular functions} or DSFs. We show that DSFs are a flexible parametric family of submodular functions that share many of the properties and advantages of deep neural networks (DNNs). DSFs can be motivated by considering a hierarchy of descriptive concepts over ground elements and where one wishes to allow submodular interaction throughout this hierarchy. Results in this paper show that DSFs constitute a strictly larger class of submodular functions than SCMMs. We show that, for any integer $k>0$, there are $k$-layer DSFs that cannot be represented by a $k'$-layer DSF for any $k'<k$. This implies that, like DNNs, there is a utility to depth, but unlike DNNs, the family of DSFs strictly increase with depth. Despite this, we show (using a "backpropagation" like method) that DSFs, even with arbitrarily large $k$, do not comprise all submodular functions. In offering the above results, we also define the notion of an antitone superdifferential of a concave function and show how this relates to submodular functions (in general), DSFs (in particular), negative second-order partial derivatives, continuous submodularity, and concave extensions. To further motivate our analysis, we provide various special case results from matroid theory, comparing DSFs with forms of matroid rank, in particular the laminar matroid. Lastly, we discuss strategies to learn DSFs, and define the classes of deep supermodular functions, deep difference of submodular functions, and deep multivariate submodular functions, and discuss where these can be useful in applications.
The Effects of Different Fine Recycled Concrete Aggregates on the Properties of Mortar

The practical use of recycled concrete aggregate produced by crushing concrete waste reduces the consumption of natural aggregate and the amount of concrete waste that ends up in landfills. This study investigated two methods used in the production of fine recycled concrete aggregate: (1) a method that produces fine as well as coarse aggregate, and (2) a method that produces only fine aggregate. Mortar specimens were tested using a variety of mix proportions to determine how the characteristics of fine recycled concrete aggregate affect the physical and mechanical properties of the resulting mortars. Our results demonstrate the superiority of mortar produced using aggregate produced using the second of the two methods. Nonetheless, far more energy is required to render concrete into fine aggregate than is required to produce coarse as well as fine aggregate simultaneously. Thus, the performance benefits of using only fine recycled concrete aggregate must be balanced against the increased impact on the environment.
Interactive techniques for implicit modeling

Recent research has demonstrated the usefulness of implicit surfaces for modeling geometric objects. The interactive design of such surfaces has not, however, received the same attention as has the design of parametric surfaces. Principally this is due to the difficulty of controlling the shape of implicit surfaces while displaying the changes quickly enough for use within an interactive design environment. This paper describes progress towards interactive control of implicit surfaces and introduces new techniques useful to the designer.
Applications of MPC and PI controls for liquid level control in coupled-tank systems

The coupled-Tank (CT) system remains an important tool for research by process control engineers. However, effective control of the system depends largely on the accuracy of the mathematical model that predicts its dynamic behavior. In this work, the nonlinear model for the CT system based on analytical technique has been investigated. Linear models for the CT system were obtained based on analytical and empirical techniques. Accuracy of the linear models were investigated based on integral absolute error (IAE), were empirical model was found to be more accurate. Proportional integral (PI) control systems based on Ziegler Nichols (ZN), Ciancone correlation (CCR), Cohen Coon (CC), IMC and pole placement (PP) tuning methods were designed for liquid level control in the CT system tank 2. IAE results showed that PI controller did not meet all the specified control objectives. To improve the response, a neural network feedforward controller was incorporated to the PI controller and the response was compared to that of a model predictive controller (MPC). Simulations results showed that both PI-plus-feedforward and MPC satisfied all control specifications. However, MPC response was more satisfactory in terms of disturbance handling and time response criteria.
A Structural Model of Short-Term Reversals

We present a structural model of the stock market where a subset of the investors is infrequently present at the market. In our model the stocks’ return reversal pattern is exponential and the amount of return reversal, the speed of return reversal and stock’s transitory volatility are all related to liquidity. In contrast to common perception, fast return reversal is typically a sign of inefficient, illiquid markets, thus not a sign of efficiency. Other results are that the stock’s return liquidity premium and the cost of immediacy to transitory investors are non-monotonic in several structural parameters of the model, such as the number of market makers. Based on the entire available return history for NYSE and Amex traded stocks, we find that, on average, 24% of NYSE and Amex traded stocks’ excess returns revert within a week, that the pattern of return reversal is exponential, and that nearly 20% of daily volatility is transitory. Both the speed of return reversal and the amount of transitory volatility depend on the stock’s liquidity: For illiquid stocks, return reversals are faster and a greater amount of the volatility, 27%, is transitory. Our estimates of the total costs of immediacy suffered by investors, as a percentage of stock’s market capitalization, are non-monotonic in stock’s liquidity.
Multiresource allocation and scheduling for periodic soft real-time applications

Real-time applications that utilize multiple system resources, such as CPU, disks, and network links, require coordinated scheduling of these resources in order to meet their end-to-end performance requirements. Most state-of-the-art operating systems support independent resource allocation and deadline-driven scheduling but lack coordination among multiple heterogeneous resources. This paper describes the design and implementation of an Integrated Real-time Resource Scheduler (IRS) that performs coordinated allocation and scheduling of multiple heterogeneous resources on the same machine for periodic soft real-time application. The principal feature of IRS is a heuristic multi-resource allocation algorithm that reserves multiple resources for real-time applications in a manner that can maximize the number of applications admitted into the system in the long run. At run-time, a global scheduler dispatches the tasks of the soft real-time application to individual resource schedulers according to the precedence constraints between tasks. The individual resource schedulers, which could be any deadline based schedulers, can make scheduling decisions locally and yet collectively satisfy a real-time application's performance requirements. The tightness of overall timing guarantees is ultimately determined by the properties of individual resource schedulers. However, IRS maximizes overall system resource utilization efficiency by coordinating deadline assignment across multiple tasks in a soft real-time application.
A Multilevel Analysis of the Determinants of Recycling Behavior in the European Countries

Abstract The main objective of this study is to permit a better understanding of recycling as a function of both individual and contextual variables. Our cross-national study aims at examining how differences in national settings and in social and institutional factors as well interact with a series of individual characteristics to influence engagement in recycling behavior in the 15 countries of the European Union. One of our most important conclusions is that conservation behavior is greatly influenced by the ecological mobilization in which it occurs. Indeed, the most activists participate nationally in environmental organizations, the more the population is likely to participate in programs such as the separation of domestic waste. Alone, this variable explains about 45% of the variance observed between the European Union countries on public participation in separation and recycling activities. The present contribution is the first to do so through a multilevel modeling approach that can integrate both individual and contextual variables at the heart of conservation behavior.
Offender Recidivism: A Quantitative Study of Motivational Risk Factors and Counseling

Offender Recidivism: A Quantitative Study of Motivational Risk Factors and Counseling by Nazak Dadashazar M.A., University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 2002 B.S., University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, 1998 Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Counselor Education and Supervision
Relation between uric acid and Alzheimer's disease in elderly Jordanians.

BACKGROUND It has been suggested that oxidative injuries have a role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Uric acid (UA) has a contradictory effect on cognitive function and several lines of evidence suggest that UA may modulate outcome in neurological diseases. OBJECTIVES Many studies investigated serum UA levels in AD patients, but to date, results from these observational studies are conflicting. In this study, we assess whether serum UA levels would be altered in the AD Jordanian patients compared to those of the healthy controls. METHODS Serum UA and lipid profile levels were measured in 41 AD patients and 40 healthy controls. RESULTS were statistically evaluated at p < 0.05 level of significance. The Arabic version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE-A) was used to evaluate the cognitive functions of all participants. RESULTS Demographic variables indicate that individuals that are illiterate demonstrate a 7.5 fold (p = 0.033) increase in risk of developing AD. The AD group shows 12.6% lower serum UA level than control subjects and the difference between groups is statistically significant (p = 0.033). No significant differences could be found between the two groups in lipid profile levels. Pearson correlation coefficients and Multivarient linear regression show no significant correlation between MMSE and continuous variables in AD patients except for age. CONCLUSION The results suggest that serum UA levels are significantly lower in AD patients in comparison to control subjects. UA may have a protective role against AD; however this role needs further investigations.
PENERAPAN PMR PADA PEMBELAJARAN MATEMATIKA UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KEMANDIRIAN BELAJAR SISWA SMP

Kemandirian belajar siswa dalam matematika merupakan faktor yang turut menentukan keberhasilan belajar. Oleh sebab itu, kemandirian belajar ini perlu dikembangkan pada siswa. Pentingnya kemandirian belajar ini, sayangnya tidak seiring dengan penguasaan skill ini pada siswa. Karena itu, perlu adanya upaya untuk menerapkan suatu pendekatan pembelajaran yang diperkirakan dapat memicu peningkatan kemandirian belajar siswa dalam matematika. Penelitian ini menerapkan pendekatan Pendidikan Matematika Realistik (PMR) sebagai alternatif pendekatan pembelajaran yang diperkirakan dapat memicu peningkatan kompetensi tersebut. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui seberapa besar kontribusi penerapan PMR terhadap peningkatan Kemandirian Belajar Siswa dalam matematika (KBS), ditinjau dari keseluruhan dan level sekolah (tinggi, sedang, rendah). Penelitian ini menerapkan desain kuasi eksperimen. Sampel penelitian terdiri dari 239 orang siswa kelas VII pada tiga SMP Negeri di Kota Bandung, masing-masing mewakili sekolah level tinggi, sedang, dan rendah. Hipotesis penelitian diuji pada taraf signifikansi 5%, menggunakan Uji-t Berpasangan, Uji Peringkat Bertanda Wilcoxon, Uji-t Independen, Uji Mann-Whitney, Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa: (1) terdapat peningkatan yang signifikan pada KBS bagi siswa yang belajar matematika melalui pendekatan PMR, ditinjau dari keseluruhan, dan pada sekolah level rendah, sedangkan bagi siswa yang belajar matematika melalui pendekatan PB, tidak mengalami peningkatan KBS secara signifikan, baik ditinjau dari keseluruhan maupun berdasarkan level sekolah; (2) terdapat perbedaan peningkatan KBS antara siswa yang belajar matematika melalui pendekatan PMR dan PB, namun perbedaan tersebut kecil sehingga tidak signifikan. Ditinjau dari peningkatan pada aspek-aspek KBS, terdapat perbedaan yang signifikan pada aspek strategi kognitif antara siswa yang belajar matematika melalui pendekatan PMR dan PB.