Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Classification of transient signals using sparse representations over adaptive dictionaries

Automatic classification of broadband transient radio frequency (RF) signals is of particular interest in persistent surveillance applications. Because such transients are often acquired in noisy, cluttered environments, and are characterized by complex or unknown analytical models, feature extraction and classification can be difficult. We propose a fast, adaptive classification approach based on non-analytical dictionaries learned from data. Conventional representations using fixed (or analytical) orthogonal dictionaries, e.g., Short Time Fourier and Wavelet Transforms, can be suboptimal for classification of transients, as they provide a rigid tiling of the time-frequency space, and are not specifically designed for a particular signal class. They do not usually lead to sparse decompositions, and require separate feature selection algorithms, creating additional computational overhead. Pursuit-type decompositions over analytical, redundant dictionaries yield sparse representations by design, and work well for target signals in the same function class as the dictionary atoms. The pursuit search however has a high computational cost, and the method can perform poorly in the presence of realistic noise and clutter. Our approach builds on the image analysis work of Mairal et al. (2008) to learn a discriminative dictionary for RF transients directly from data without relying on analytical constraints or additional knowledge about the signal characteristics. We then use a pursuit search over this dictionary to generate sparse classification features. We demonstrate that our learned dictionary is robust to unexpected changes in background content and noise levels. The target classification decision is obtained in almost real-time via a parallel, vectorized implementation.
SLDV III: the next generation of acousto-optical landmine detection

A new generation of Scanning Laser Doppler Vibrometer (SLDV) has been realized; based on experience and results of a former proof-of-concept design and a number of field tests. This new device SLDV III comprises a number of technical improvements in the transmitter and receiver section as well as in the evaluation of the recorded vibration signals. The subsequent paper summarizes the main features of this instrument.
Central Adiposity, Body Mass Index and Percent Body Fat among Bengalee Hindu Male Slum Dwellers of Dum Dum, West Bengal, India

The relationship between body mass index (BMI) and percent body fat (PBF) with central adiposity measures varies between ethnic groups and it has not been much studied in low socio-economic groups in India. Therefore, this study was undertaken to test the relative efficacy of waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), waist hip ratio (WHR) and conicity index (CI) to predict BMI and PBF among Bengalee Hindu male slum dwellers. A total of 465 adult (aged 18-72 years) male slum dwellers of Bengalee Hindu ethnicity were included. Standard anthropometric techniques and formulae were used. WC showed the strongest significant (p < 0.001) partial correlation with BMI and PBF (0.82 and 0.77, respectively). Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses of BMI and PBF with the central adiposity measures revealed that WC had the strongest impact on BMI and PBF. On the other hand WHR, HC and CI had weaker effect. Moreover, WC alone accounted for about 67 and 60 per cent of the variations, respectively, of BMI and PBF. The models involving only WC and CI, explained almost similar proportions of variations (adjR 2 = 94.1, and 69.4, respectively). Furthermore, the WC was found to best predict BMI (R 2 Change = 0.666; F Change = 921.32, p < 0.001) and PBF (R 2 Change = 0.597; F Change = 686.66, p < 0.001). Even after controlling for each other, i.e., BMI and PBF (results not shown) WC had the strongest significant impact on these two measures. Therefore, in this population, WC may be preferred over other measures of central adiposity in studies dealing with obesity and cardio vascular disease risk factors.
Focus groups for design improvement in dynamic cartography

Four focus group interviews provided an evaluation of the concepts of the graphic narrative and the stage-and-play metaphor for dynamic cartography. The 26 information, cartographic, and computer specialists who participated in the interviews provided a range of opinions on graphic scripts and the dynamic integration of maps and statistical graphs. Respondents in each session first viewed a graphic script designed to explore the correlation between two spatial distributions and then discussed the script's informativeness, coherence, merit, and deficiencies. Respondents next viewed and discussed a two-part demonstration of portions of a time-series script and of user-control enhancements for the correlation script. Participants found the graphic narrative engaging and informative, were able to discern patterns in the data without identifying false patterns, and contributed a variety of suggestions and criticisms useful in refining both the prototype scripts and the theory of narrative graphics. As a design.
Cybernetic Diagrams: Design Strategies for an Open Game

This paper investigates the use of diagrams related to cybernetics and information theory in experimental design practices in the 1960s and 1970s. Those diagrams are investigated in light of Vilém Flusser's concept of game, which mediates the modus operandi of computers and possible strategies for design based on distributed cognition. The research adopts the interpretative method to analyze the diagram proposed by cyberneticist Gordon Pask for Fun Palace, the diagrams produced by utopian architect Yona Friedman in the conceptual description of the Flatwriter program and Christopher Alexander's diagrams for his theories of Synthesis of Form and Pattern Language. In the end, it establishes a brief parallel between current debates of computational design with the cybernetic diagrams, highlighting differences in their approach to complexity and design knowledge.
Networked Exchanges, Identity, Writing

This article argues for a rhetoric of networked exchanges that focuses on the response. Working from Spinuzzi's call for a rhetoric of horizontal learning, it examines two kinds of online writing spaces in order to propose such a rhetoric. After surveying conflicting, academic attitudes regarding networked exchanges, the article proposes the response as a type of professional communication. A specific message board thread and a series of blog carnivals serve as examples of the rhetoric of response, a way that horizontal learning produces a specific type of networked writing identity. The article concludes with a call for response-based communication practices.
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by tumor debulking prolongs survival for patients with poor prognosis in International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics Stage IIIC ovarian carcinoma

Patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma of International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Stage IIIC should be treated by radical surgical tumor debulking with the goal of complete tumor resection. Prolonged median survival can be achieved in those patients entirely free of tumor after surgery by the administration of postsurgical platinum/taxane‐based chemotherapy regimens. However, residual tumor is present in the majority of patients, which limits survival prognosis. Different therapy approaches should be utilized to improve prognosis in these patients. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy could induce “downstaging” of the tumor and thus improve operability. Here, evidence of large ascites volume (>500 mL) can be used to identify those patients who could benefit from neoadjuvant chemotherapy.
An analysis of the gap between the knowledge and skills learned in academic software engineering course projects and those required in real: projects

This paper describes how the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge, (SWEBOK) can be used as a guide to assess and improve software engineering courses. A case study is presented in which the guide is applied to a typical undergraduate software engineering course. The lessons learned are presented which the authors believe are generalizable to comparable courses taught at many academic institutions. A novel approach involving largescale software project simulation is also presented a way to overcome some of the course deficiencies identified by the guide.
Attribute weighting methods and decision quality in the presence of response error: A simulation study

This paper uses a simulation approach to investigate how different attribute weighting techniques affect the quality of decisions based on multiattribute value models. The weighting methods considered include equal weighting of all attributes, two methods for using judgments about the rank ordering of weights, and a method for using judgments about the ratios of weights. The question addressed is: How well does each method perform when based on judgments of attribute weights that are unbiased but subject to random error? To address this question, we employ simulation methods. The simulation results indicate that ratio weights were either better than rank order weights (when error in the ratio weights was small or moderate) or tied with them (when error was large). Both ratio weights and rank order weights were substantially superior to the equal weights method in all cases studied. Our findings suggest that it will usually be worth the extra time and effort required to assess ratio weights. In cases where the extra time or effort required is too great, rank order weights will usually give a good approximation to the true weights. Comparisons of the two rank-order weighting methods favored the rank-order-centroid method over the rank-sum method. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Facial Expression Recognition via Deep Learning

ABSTRACT Deep learning is a newly-emerged machine learning theory, and has received extensive attentions in pattern recognition, signal processing, computer vision, etc. Deep belief networks (DBNs) is a representative method of deep learning and has a strong ability of unsupervised feature learning. In this paper, by combining DBNs with multi-layer perceptron (MLP), a new method of facial expression recognition based on deep learning is proposed. The proposed method integrates the DBNs's advantage of unsupervised feature learning with the MLP's classification advantage. Experimental results on two benchmarking facial expression databases, i.e., the JAFFE database and the Cohn-Kanade database, demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed method for facial expression recognition, outperforming the other state-of-the-art classification methods such as the nearest neighbour, MLP, support vector machine, the nearest subspace, as well as sparse representation-based classification.
Exploring cube affordance: towards a classification of non-verbal dynamics of physical interfaces for wearable computing

Abstract. Current input technologies for wearable computers are difficult to use and learn and can be unreliable. Physical interfaces offer an alternative to traditional input methods. In this paper we propose that developing a well-designed physical interface requires an exploration of the psychological idea of affordance. We present our findings from a design study in which we explore the natural affordance of a cube and suggest possible requirements for the design of graspable cubeshaped physical interfaces as alternative rich-action input device. We expect that such a framework will enhance the precision and usability of devices for wearable and mobile computing.
A multimedia‐based library orientation programme at Dyal Singh College Library, New Delhi

Purpose – This paper is an outcome of the study made for designing the multimedia‐based orientation programme of the Dyal Singh College Library (DSCL), New Delhi, India. The purpose of this paper is to enlighten the new students and to create insight into the operations of the DSCL.Design/methodology/approach – Macromedia Flash software is used in designing and developing the multimedia‐based library orientation programme of the DSCL. In this study, the quality and usefulness of the information provided is evaluated through feedback. The structure of the programme is divided into 227 snapshots lasting for 20 min. A survey was conducted using structured feedback comprising of five questions.Findings – Regarding the implementation of multimedia‐based library orientation programme and the responses received from the respondents regarding usefulness of information presented in the programme, except “library online public access catalogue & internet browsing”, all other features are found to be either excellen.
A Novel Algorithm for Time Optimal Trajectory Planning

Time optimal trajectory planning under various hard constraints plays a significant role in simultaneously meeting the requirements on high productivity and high accuracy in the fields of both machining tools and robotics. In this paper, the problem of time optimal trajectory planning is first formulated. A novel back and forward check algorithm is subsequently proposed to solve the minimum time feed-rate optimization problem. The basic idea of the algorithm is to search the feasible solution in the specified interval using the back or forward operations. Four lemmas are presented to illustrate the calculating procedure of optimal solution and the feasibility of the proposed algorithm. Both the elliptic curve and eight profile are used as case studies to verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.Copyright © 2014 by ASME
Derivations on Group Algebras

Let G be a locally compact group. The question of whether H1 L1(G),M(G), the first Hochschild cohomology group of L1(G) with coefficients in M(G), is zero was first studied by B. E. Johnson and initiated his development of the theory of amenable Banach algebras. He was able to show that H1(L1(G), M(G) = 0 whenever G is amenable, a [SIN]‐group, or a matrix group satisfying certain conditions. No group such that H1(L1(G),M(G) ≠ 0 is known. In this paper, we approach the problem of whether H1(L1(G),M(G) = 0 from several angles. Using weakly almost periodic functions, we show that H1(L1(G),L1(G) is always Hausdorff for unimodular G. We also show that for [IN]‐groups, every derivation D : L1(Gto L1(G is implemented, not necessarily by an element of M(G), but at least by an element of VN(G), the group von Neumann algebra of G. This applies, in particular, to the group G : = T2 ⋊ SL(2,Z}, for which it is unknown whether H}1(L1(G),M(G) = 0. Finally, we analyse the structure of derivations on L1(G); an important role is played by the closed normal subgroup N of G generated by the elements of G with relatively compact conjugacy classes. We can write an arbitrary derivation D : L1(G) to L1(G) as a sum D = DN DN⊥$, where DN and DN⊥ can be tackled with different techniques. Under suitable conditions, all satisfied by T2 ⋊ SL(2,Z}, we can show that DN is implemented by an element of VN(G) and that DN⊥ is implemented by a measure. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification: 22D05, 22D25, 43A10, 43A20, 46H25, 46L10, 46M20, 47B47, 47B48.
The relationship between planning and execution is more than duration: response to Goldrick & Chu

We respond to a commentary by Goldrick & Chu in which they sketch a possible account of our speech error data based on gradient symbol processing and specific assumptions of how planning activations map onto articulatory kinematics. Gradient activation patterns during planning are hypothesised to map directly onto gestural activation duration. Under a more comprehensive perspective on the speech error patterns this hypothesis proves to be overly simplifying and not well suited to render fresh insights into the relationship between planning and execution. Mapping gradient symbol activation patterns onto gestural duration is insufficient when taking into account the distributional properties of the data as well as the the wider range of conditions under which certain kinds of speech errors have been shown to emerge.
Organizational Culture and Knowledge Management in ERP Implementation: An Empirical Study

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems offer great promise to organizations wanting to gain competitive advantage by integrating the many elements that comprise business practice. ERP implementation is expensive and poses a big challenge for organizations because of its complexity. Knowledge management approach had been suggested to ensure effective ERP implementation. Four sets of “knowledge processes” were given in the knowledge management framework: (1) creation (2) storage/retrieval (3) transfer, and (4) usage/application. Descriptive studies suggested a knowledge-friendly organizational culture as a major catalyst for the knowledge processes. This research examines the relationship between organizational culture and the four sets of “knowledge processes” in the ERP implementation context. Accordingly, this paper empirically tests the relationships among organizational culture, knowledge creation, storage, transfer and application in the context of ERP implementation. The empirical inputs were obtained through a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was published using WebSurveyor Corporation's WebSurveyor software. The survey included responses from ERP project managers, project team members, IT professionals, CIOs, users, top management, vendors, and consultants associated with companies which had implemented the ERP systems. One-hundred and eighty two respondents from thirty-six different organizations participated in the survey. The survey results have shown that organizational culture influences the four sets of knowledge processes in the ERP implementation context. The implications for theory and practice are given.
More on slips and syllable structure

Shattuck-Hufnagel (1986) (henceforth S-H), in discussing the significance of ‘slips of the tongue’ for a model of processing, is particularly concerned with attempting to establish to what extent some of the constructs posited by phonologists in their characterisations of phonological structure can be shown to have a role in the planning of speech production. On the basis of the ‘MIT corpus’ of errors (collected by Merrill Garrett and herself), particularly those involving vowels, she argues for a role in planning for aspects of syllable structure, placement of lexical stress, and distinctions and dimensions such as those commonly captured by feature notations. My concern here is with some further aspects of syllable structure: I shall suggest that her data provide support for even more detailed structural properties than are proposed by S-H herself; indeed, that one uncertainty in assessing the significance of the data can be resolved by an independently motivated analysis of subsyllabic structure. I shall not repeat here the details of the classification of errors on which S-H's discussion is based (1986: §1); what is significant in the present context is that errors of various types provide a motivation for particular subsyllabic units.
A finite-mesh technique for laser trimming of thin-film resistors

A laser trimming technique in which a finite number of links are cut in a regular mesh of identical-valued resistors is described. The method eliminates long-term resistance drift due to slow annealing in the 'heat-affected-zone' adjacent to the laser kerf. It is shown that the precision and resolution can be comparable to those achieved with conventional methods, and that quite wide ranges (up to 4:1) of absolute values can be obtained with small meshes. A computational method for constructing a lookup table of resistor values for different cut patterns is described. >
Following Local Television News Personalities on Twitter

News workers are finding social networking to be a means of maintaining personal contact with their audiences. In an exploratory study, Twitter followers of local television news personalities were surveyed to assess their motivations for following these individuals, as well as their affinity toward the local station. The findings of this survey of 212 Twitter followers support the notion that social motivations best explain the use of social media. In addition, news workers who have Twitter followers might be enhancing viewers' affinity toward the news person’s television station.
Monitoring student retention in the Open University: definition, measurement, interpretation and action

Attempts to improve retention in conventional college settings in the United States (see Barefoot article in this issue) have emphasized the importance of institutions having good information systems and appropriate interpretation of information as a means of identifying where retention is a problem and what might be causing student withdrawal, and for monitoring the impact of interventions designed to improve retention. This article describes the information on student retention collected within the Open University (UK), its interpretation, and the uses made of such information to improve student retention. Observations are made about overall retention rates and students' reasons for withdrawing, and a model for tackling courses with low retention is described.
Assessing the Content and Quality of Commercially Available Reading Software Programs: Do They Have the Fundamental Structures to Promote the Development of Early Reading Skills in Children?

The current study developed a taxonomy of reading skills and compared this taxonomy with skills being trained in 30 commercially available software programs designed to teach emergent literacy or literacy-specific skills for children in preschool, kindergarten, and Grade 1. Outcomes suggest that, although some skills are being trained in a developmentally appropriate manner (e.g., Alphabetic Knowledge), others are absent or have incomplete presentations. Additionally, the quality of instruction for skills being trained was generally quite low due to limited examples for training each skill and few opportunities to practice the skills. Finally, scaffolding by providing access to easier and more challenging items and automaticity in moving children among levels of difficulty were inconsistent across software packages and within the software. Recommendations on best practices for choosing emergent literacy software packages and for designing pedagogically appropriate software for young children were provided.
CMHC adherence to National Mental Health Plan standards in Italy: a survey 30 years after national reform law.

OBJECTIVE The PROG-CSM (Progetto Centri di Salute Mentale) survey was conducted in all Italian community mental health centers (CMHCs) with the aim of evaluating the extent to which these services adhered to the standards defined by the Italian National Mental Health Plan 1998-2000. METHODS The policy recommendations of the Italian National Mental Health Plan were translated by a multidisciplinary group of experts into key indicators, including continuity of care, coordination with other community-based services, accessibility, implementation of specific programs, and provision of care. RESULTS There was high adherence to the standards of the National Mental Health Plan in continuity of care and coordination with other services, but there were lower levels of accessibility and implementation of specific projects. CONCLUSIONS CMHCs were sufficiently developed throughout Italy, and continuity of care and service coordination levels were satisfactory; however, adherence to the standards was unrelated to the duration of activity of the CMHCs.