Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Bayesian Graphical Models for Polyphonic Pitch Tracking

Bayesian graphical models are a very flexible tool for the modelling of musical signals. They allow for an hierarchical model structure which can be used to represent structure at many different levels, from low level signal structure in terms of sinusoids to high level musical structure. The Bayesian framework allows for the incorporation of a priori information into the model and also forms a basis for probabilistic model selection in the joint detection and estimation of musical signals. Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods are employed to produce maximum a posteriori parameter estimates which enable the flexible choice of a priori probability distributions which would otherwise be analytically intractable. The application of this modelling technique to polyphonic 1 Diderot Forum, Vienna, 2–4 December 1999 pitch estimation is shown which exploits correlations in the parameters over multiple data frames.
A Structured Light Range Imaging System Using a Moving Correlation Code

We describe a system which produces a dense accurate range image using 8 consecutive frames of camera data in conjunction with a special projector. A prototype has been built and tested, and yields a typical range error of about 0.2 mm at 2 meters range with a baseline just over one meter. The camera is directed at a scene, along with a stripe projector consisting of a thin light source (xenon tube and slit) on the axis of a turntable, and a binary mask conforming to a cylinder coaxial with this. The mask has alternate opaque and transparent stripes parallel to the axis. It forms a sequence in which each subsequence of given length n (8 here) is different. No lens is used in the projector, deliberately smoothing the resulting illumination in a shadowing process. In operation, the turntable rotates, and images are taken at uniform angular intervals for several consecutive frames. In the consecutive frames, a given pixel records samples of the brightness of a fixed surface point. The vector consisting of those samples, when normalized, is unique to the place in the sequence from which it came, thus enabling the computation, via a fast indexing process, of the 3D position of the surface point. The code is similar to a DeBruijn sequence, but modified to reduce range error. Several types of calibration and error compensation were used to produce an accurate range image.
Trustworthy and personalized computing on public kiosks

Many people desire ubiquitous access to their personal computing environments. We present a system in which a user leverages a personal mobile device to establish trust in a public computing device, or kiosk, prior to resuming her environment on the kiosk. We have designed a protocol by which the mobile device determines the identity and integrity of all software loaded on the kiosk, in order to inform the user whether the kiosk is trustworthy. Our system exploits emerging hardware security technologies, namely the Trusted Platform Module and new support in x86 processors for establishing a dynamic root of trust. We have demonstrated the viability of our approach by implementing and evaluating our system on commodity hardware. Through a brief survey, we found that respondents are generally willing to endure a delay in exchange for an increased assurance of data privacy, and that the delay incurred by our unoptimized prototype is close to the range tolerable to the respondents. We have focused on allowing the user to personalize a kiosk by running her own virtual machine there. However, our work is generally applicable to establishing trust on public computing devices before revealing any sensitive information to those devices.
Three-Dimensional Surround Sound Systems Based on Spherical Harmonics

The theory of recording and reproduction of three-dimensional sound fields based on spherical harmonics is reviewed and extended. Free-field, sphere, and general recording arrays are reviewed, and the mode-matching and simple source approaches to sound reproduction in anechoic environments are discussed. Both methods avoid the need for both monopole and dipole loudspeakers—as required by the Kirchhoff–Helmholtz integral. An error analysis is presented and simulation examples are given. It is also shown that the theory can be extended to sound reproduction in reverberant environments.
Optimal motion planning of a mobile robot with minimum energy consumption

This paper presents an optimal motion planning of a mobile robot with the objective of minimum energy consumption. The energy consumption is analyzed in both geometric path planning and smooth trajectory planning. A global path planner is developed by treating energy efficiency as the central element in the cost function. Utilizing waypoints of the generated optimal path, a smooth trajectory is planned based on Bézier curve in terms of parameters of arrival time and velocity at each waypoint. Energy consumption is further minimized by optimizing these parameters. Simulations and experiments are finally performed to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposal motion planning approach to energy minimization.
Information and Behavior: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations into Online Reviews, Patent Litigation, and Racial Profiling

In economic systems, new information or changes in information sets may have an outsized impact on the behavior of rational economic agents. Here, I investigate this relationship in three idiosyncratic scenarios. First, I look at the responses by online reputation platform users to a positive quality signal, and inspect how this effect differs across heterogeneous agents. Second, inside a theoretical model of patent litigation and settlement, I analyze parties’ responses and litigation outcomes with respect to changes in evidence regarding patent validity. Lastly, I work through a simple model of motorist and police behavior to investigate whether there are testable racial profiling implications if motorists rationally change their behavior in response to changes in visibility. Information and Behavior: Theoretical and Empirical Investigations into Online Reviews, Patent Litigation, and Racial Profiling
The slide mechanism with applications in dynamic networks

This paper presents a simple and efficient building block, called <italic>slide</italic>, for constructing communication protocols in dynamic networks whose topology frequently changes. We employ <italic>slide</italic> to derive (1) an end-to-end communication protocol with optimal <italic>amortized</italic> message complexity, and (2) a general method to efficiently and systematically combine dynamic and static algorithms. (Dynamic algorithms are designed for dynamic networks, and static algorithms work in networks with stable topology.) The new end-to-end communication protocol has amortized message communication complexity <italic>O(n)</italic> (assuming that the sender is allowed to gather enough data items before transmitting them to the receiver), where <italic>n</italic> is the total number of nodes in the network (the previous best bound was (<italic>O(m)</italic>, where <italic>m</italic> is the total number of links in the network). This protocol also has bit communication complexity <italic>O(nD)</italic>, where <italic>D</italic> is the data item size in bits (assuming data items are large enough; i.e., for <italic>D = Ω(nm log n))</italic>. In addition we give, as a byproduct, an end-to-end communication protocol using <italic>O(n<supscrpt>2</supscrpt>m)</italic> messages per data item, which is considerably simpler than other protocols known to us (the best known end-to-end protocol has message complexity <italic>O(nm)</italic>[AG91]). The protocols above combine in an interesting way several ideas: the <italic>information dispersal algorithm</italic> of Rabin [Rab89], the <italic>majority</italic> insight of [AFWZ88, AAF+], and the <italic>slide</italic> protocol. </italic> . The second application of <italic>slide</italic> develops a systematic mechanism to combine a dynamic algorithm with a static algorithm for the same problem, such that the combined algorithm automatically adjusts its communication complexity to the network conditions. That is the combined algorithm solves the problem in a dynamic network, and if the network stabilizes for a long enough period of time then the algorithm's communication complexity matches that of the static algorithm. This approach has been first introduced in [AM88] in the context of topology update algorithms.
Learning from Extreme Events: Risk Perceptions after the Flood

This paper examines whether a severe flood causes homeowners to update their assessment of flood risk as seen in a change in the price of floodplain property. I use data on all single-family, residential property sales in St. Louis County, Missouri, between 1979 and 2006 in a repeat-sales model and a property fixed-effects model. After the 1993 flood on the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, property prices in 100-year floodplains did not change significantly, but prices in 500-year floodplains declined by between 2% and 5%. All property prices in municipalities located on the rivers fell postflood by 6% to 10%. (JEL Q51, Q54)
Supervised Learning for Linking Named Entities to Knowledge Base Entries

This paper addresses the challenging information extraction problem of linking named entities in text to entries in a knowledge base. Our approach uses supervised learning to (a) rank candidate knowledge base entries for each named entity, (b) classify the top-ranked entry as the correct disambiguation or not, and (c) group together the named entities without a corresponding entry in the knowledge base. We analyze the fundamental design challenges involved in the development of a learningbased entity-linking system, and we provide extensive experimental results for a wide range of methods and feature sets. Our experiments over the datasets from the Text Analysis Conference (TAC) Entity Linking Task demonstrate the effectiveness of supervised learning methods, showing that out-ofthe-box algorithms and relatively simple to compute features can obtain very competitive results.
The integrative review: updated methodology.

AIM The aim of this paper is to distinguish the integrative review method from other review methods and to propose methodological strategies specific to the integrative review method to enhance the rigour of the process. BACKGROUND Recent evidence-based practice initiatives have increased the need for and the production of all types of reviews of the literature (integrative reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and qualitative reviews). The integrative review method is the only approach that allows for the combination of diverse methodologies (for example, experimental and non-experimental research), and has the potential to play a greater role in evidence-based practice for nursing. With respect to the integrative review method, strategies to enhance data collection and extraction have been developed; however, methods of analysis, synthesis, and conclusion drawing remain poorly formulated. DISCUSSION A modified framework for research reviews is presented to address issues specific to the integrative review method. Issues related to specifying the review purpose, searching the literature, evaluating data from primary sources, analysing data, and presenting the results are discussed. Data analysis methods of qualitative research are proposed as strategies that enhance the rigour of combining diverse methodologies as well as empirical and theoretical sources in an integrative review. CONCLUSION An updated integrative review method has the potential to allow for diverse primary research methods to become a greater part of evidence-based practice initiatives.
Three Essays on Oil Spills

This thesis contributes three essays to the literature on accidental oil spills. The rst essay presents a model of endogenous oil spill regulation where the severity of regulations is found to be a function of the size of recent spills. The regulator chooses how much to regulate in order to maximize political capital when regulations are rigid downwards and the distribution of spills is not known with certainty. In this model, very large spills can cause large increases in the regulation level. In the event that an unlikely disastrous spill is realized, major regulatory reform may take place, which would take the regulations to a level that is too high. The rst essay demonstrates the need for an understanding of the distribution of spills. The other two essays estimate it in the context of a sample selection model. The rst of these two, assumes that the disturbance terms are jointly normally distributed. The second essay estimates the model using semiparametric techniques. The estimates and predictions are found to be sensitive to distributional assumptions and the techniques used. Major ndings that are qualitatively supported by both are the following. 1 Groundings and collisions result in larger spills if there is a spill, but the likelihood that there will be a spill due to a grounding or a collision is very low. Tanker size has only a marginal eeect on the probability of a spill and a dubious eeect on spill size. US ag tankers and new tankers have a lower probability of causing spills, compared to foreign ag and old tankers, respectively.
TOWARDS A MODELING VIEW OF COMPUTING

The view that the brain computes is a working hypothesis in cognitive and brain sciences. But what does it mean to say that a system computes? What distinguishes computing systems, such as desktops and brains, from (arguably) non-computing systems, such as stones, stomachs and tornadoes? This question has generated an intense and lively discussion in recent years, and, as expected, there is no consensus over the answer. In fact, it is far from clear that there is only a single notion in play; it might well be the case that the term "computation" invokes very different notions in different contexts. Most accounts of computing are " structural " , in the sense that they take it that the difference between computing and non-computing has something to do with the structure of the mechanism, e.g., that computing processes have an algorithmic structure. I present the structural view of computing in section 2. As it turns out, however, the structural approach cannot account for much of the computational work in cognitive and brain sciences; I discuss this claim in section 3. There is thus a need for an alternative approach to computing, one that can take into account the current enterprises in computational cognitive and neuroscience. My aim in section 4 is to sketch such an alternative, which is the modeling view of computing. The key feature of the modeling view is that computing consists in an isomorphism between the " inner " Book Title 2 mathematical relations, defined over the representing states, and " outer " mathematical relations, defined over the represented states. 1. The structural-digital view The claim that something computes goes beyond the use of computational models. Neuroscientists and cognitive scientists not only use computational models to study the nervous system but often claim, in addition, that the modeled system itself e.g., the brain, computes. What do they mean by this further claim? Many hold that the distinction between computing and non-computing has something to do with the structure of the (computing) mechanism. Computing mechanisms have a special structure that is not shared by many of the non-computing mechanisms. Let us call this approach the structural view of computing. The proponents of the structural view tend to associate computing with types of digital structures. They take it that to compute a function is to follow some rule or algorithm or effective procedure; to execute a program; to implement an …
Affirmative sexual consent? Direct and unambiguous consent is rarely included in discussions of recent sexual interactions

Abstract:Sexual activity typically follows an implicit sexual script or a normative sequence of behaviours that are involved in a sexual interaction. It is unclear whether or how affirmative sexual consent is incorporated in individual sexual scripts and interactions. The current research explores how sexual consent may be expressed and verified as part of individuals' sexual interactions. Undergraduate participants from an Ontario university (N = 92; 58 males, 34 females) completed a series of open-ended questions that asked them to describe their sexual experiences with a new and long-term partner from beginning to end. Analysis of presence of consent-related behaviours in participants' accounts were assessed on the basis of a priori themes and extensions of these themes. Thematic analyses identified the following themes: 1) Sex proceeding with escalating intensity of nonverbal sexual behaviour, 2) Passive behaviours that do not indicate unwillingness to have sex, 3) Indirect verbal communication of interest in sex, 4) Indications that sex "just happened," 5) Descriptions of the context in which sex occurred, and 6) Direct discussions relevant to sexual consent. Results indicated that direct discussion of sexual consent was exceedingly rare and that most sexual interactions included indirect, veiled, and coded behaviours that require inference of sexual consent or non-consent. Consent-related themes varied as a function of both participant gender (male versus female) and nature of relationship (new versus long-term). The findings of this study have implications for sexual health education, sexual assault prevention interventions, and public policy development.
School Climate and Parental Involvement Buffer the Risk of Peer Victimization on Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors Among Asian American Middle School Students

Suicide is the second leading cause of death among Asian American youth. Few studies have examined the risk and protective factors for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) for Asian American middle school students. This study used data from the Georgia Student Health Survey 2.0 to examine the relationship between individual (gender, grade level, substance use, mental health difficulties, face-to-face victimization, and cyber victimization), school (school climate, racial diversity at school, school size, student–teacher ratio, and socioeconomic status), and familial (parental involvement) predictors of STB among 12,511 Asian American middle school students from 510 schools (50.1% girls). Results showed that both face-to-face and cyber victimization predicted higher levels of STB. Positive school climate at the individual level buffered the relationship between face-to-face victimization and STB, whereas positive school climate at the school level buffered the relationship between cyber victimization and STB. Gender was also a significant moderator of these relationships. Specifically, both types of peer victimization predicted more STB for girls than for boys. Parental involvement mitigated the relationship between face-to-face victimization and STB for girls. Positive school climate at the individual level buffered the relationship between cyber victimization and STB for boys. Findings highlight the importance of school climate, parental involvement, and gender differences in STB among Asian American students.
Virtual Hair Handle: A Model for Haptic Hairstyling

The process of styling virtual hair is a tedious task for 3D artists, who would significantly profit from more natural and intuitive ways of creating virtual hairstyles - such as, for example, the possibility to simply comb virtual hair using a haptic device. However, despite significant advances in hair simulation during the last decades, physically based haptic interaction with hair is still an unresolved problem. In this paper, we propose a real-time simulation framework allowing to interactively style virtual hair and feel a force-feedback through a haptic device. Unlike previous approaches, we adapt our hair simulation model to fulfil the requirements of haptic interaction. Our model reproduces, on a physical basis, hair behaviour and interaction forces arising when touching hair.
EXAMINATION OF GRAPHENE WITH VERY SLOW ELECTRONS

Although graphene has been available and intensively studied for nearly a full decade, new methods are still required for its examination and diagnostics. Even checking the continuity of layers and the reliable counting of layers of graphene and other 2D crystals should be easier to perform. Scanning electron microscopy with slow and very slow electrons offers an innovative tool enabling one to see graphene samples at nanometer or even sub-nanometer lateral resolution in both transmitted and reflected electrons and to count the number of layers reliably in both imaging modes. Diagnostics can be performed in this way on freestanding graphene samples as well as on graphene grown on the surfaces of bulk substrates. Moreover, bombardment with very slow electrons acts as an ultimate cleaning procedure removing adsorbed gases from crystal surfaces which can be monitored in scanned transmission electron images taken at below 50 eV.
A performance metric for codes with a high-order spectral null at zero frequency

Sum-variance is a well-known metric for assessing the performance of dc-free codes (first-order spectral-null codes), however, as we show in this paper, it is unsuitable for comparing the magnitude of spectral components of high-order spectral-null (HOSN) codes at low frequencies. In this paper, we introduce a new performance metric for evaluating the spectrum compression of arbitrarily HOSN codes around zero frequency; we call this metric the low-frequency spectrum weight (LFSW). We show that the asymptotic low-frequency spectral components of Kth-order spectral-null codes (K/spl ges/1) are exclusively determined by the order K and the LFSW, and that the LFSW equals the zero-frequency value in the spectrum of the corresponding sequence of Kth-order running digital sum values. We derive this result for symbol-by-symbol encoding, and then extend it to block HOSN codes. We then derive a closed-form expression for the LFSW of HOSN codes constructed through state-independent encoding. Closed-form expressions for LFSW of first-order zero-disparity codes and for the asymptotic LSFW of maxentropic dc-free sequences are also given.
Let’s not Argue about Semantics

Whats the best way to assess the performance of a semantic component in an NLP system? Tradition in NLP evaluation tells us that comparing output against a gold standard is a good idea. To define a gold standard, one first needs to decide on the representation language, and in many cases a first-order language seems a good compromise between expressive power and efficiency. Secondly, one needs to decide how to represent the various semantic phenomena, in particular the depth of analysis of quantification, plurals, eventualities, thematic roles, scope, anaphora, presupposition, ellipsis, comparatives, superlatives, tense, aspect, and time-expressions. Hence it will be hard to come up with an annotation scheme unless one permits different level of semantic granularity. The alternative is a theory-neutral black-box type evaluation where we just look at how systems react on various inputs. For this approach, we can consider the well-known task of recognising textual entailment, or the lesser-known task of textual model checking. The disadvantage of black-box methods is that it is difficult to come up with natural data that cover specific semantic phenomena.