Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fast contour-based approach to circle and ellipse detection

The real-time detection of circle and ellipse from complex background is a very challenging problem. This paper presents an efficient and effective method introducing the connectivity constraint which dramatically enhances the performance of detection and accuracy of localization. Lacking in abstract denotation of features, most of the current techniques suffer from the huge feature point set. In contrast to presenting features as isolated points, we propose to regard features as contours, continuous lines of one-pixel width. The chain code algorithm is employed to organize feature points as disjoint feature contours. For each independent contour, the parameters of possible figures (circle/ellipse) are estimated based on the RANSAC (Random Sample Consensus) algorithm, thus reducing the scale of problem to several smaller subproblems. To avoid the influence of small arcs and to avoid the case that several targets overlap in the real application, the 'fitting factor' of each possible figure is introduced to evaluate the estimation of parameters. Our experiments successfully demonstrate its real-time performance, accuracy, and robustness.
ADC compensation using a sinewave histogram method

The need for high dynamic range analog to digital converters (ADCs) is strong due to the growing use of digital signal processing in communications applications. ADC performance has improved over the years due to advances in both design concepts and semiconductor technologies. However most ADCs still still exhibit undesirable distortion in addition to quantization error, thus limiting spurious free dynamic range, (SFDR), in digital receiver applications. This paper describes a new method for developing ADC error function models using standard sinewave histogram methods. The method provides better error representation by providing error basis functions for every state. Results show this method is capable of removing all slope dependent errors in complex ADC error models and application to a 200 MSPS ADC showed more than 10 dB improvement in SFDR over the full Nyquist band for the ADC.
Energy Saving Accounts for the Suppression of Sensory Detail

High functioning autistic people can exhibit exceptional skills with numbers, eidetic imagery and recall of concrete detail, as brought to popular attention in the film Rain Man. However, it now transpires that these skills are to some extent latent within all of us. We do not have access under normal circumstances to this concrete detail, yet brain stimulation experiments show that this detail exists in all of us. This paper proposes that one of the reasons for this lies in the brain’s need to conserve energy. Computer simulations using a spiking neural network support this hypothesis.
Exchange Rate Assessments; CGER Methodologies

The rapid increase in international trade and financial integration over the past decade and the growing importance of emerging markets in world trade and GDP have inspired the IMF to place stronger emphasis on multilateral surveillance, macro-financial linkages, and the implications of globalization. The IMF's Consultative Group on Exchange Rate Issues (CGER)--formed in the mid-1990s to provide exchange rate assessments for a number of advanced economies from a multilateral perspective--has therefore broadened its mandate to cover both key advanced economies and major emerging market economies. This Occasional Paper summarizes the methodologies that underpin the expanded analysis.
Dimensions of Intrusion Detection in Wireless Domain: A stretigic Analysis

Modern communication networks have been becoming more and more large-scaled and complicated due to rapid development and interconnection among heterogeneous communication networks. Therefore, the management and maintenance of modern communication networks have posed many grand challenges to both industrial and academic communication communities. To overcome these challenges, it is very necessary to find new levels of autonomy and intelligence in designing, deploying, managing, and maintaining communication networks. The present paper has studued the dimensions of the intrusion detection system in wireless doamin. A simulation study for intrusion detection in WLAN has been carried out using NS2 software.
A fuzzy approach for actuator fault-tolerant control of Wind Energy Conversion Systems

This paper presents the novel Fuzzy Fault Tolerant Control (FFTC) of Wind Energy Conversion System (WECS) subject to actuator faults. The proposed algorithm combines the merits of: (i) The states of the closed-loop system will follow those of a user-defined stable reference model despite the presence of actuator faults; (ii) Maximizes the power coefficient for a fixed pitch variable speed wind turbines. The Takagi-Sugeno (TS) fuzzy model system with actuator faults is adopted for modelling the nonlinear dynamics of the WECS and establishing fuzzy state observer. Sufficient conditions are derived for robust stabilization in the sense of Lyapunov asymptotic stability and are formulated in the format of Linear Matrix Inequalities (LMIs). The design technique is applied to a dynamic model of wind energy conversion system to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed FFTC.
Spatial Openness as a Practical Metric for Evaluating Built-up Environments

This paper reports on a primary metric tool developed in a collaboration between an architecture researcher and a computer science researcher. The development of this tool emerged from the concept that the spatial openness (SO)—the volume of free space measured from all possible observation points—is an important quality indicator of alternative spatial configurations within given constraints; this concept is based on the idea that the geometry and morphology of the built-up environment influence perception. Previous work showed that comparative SO measurements in alternative spatial configurations are correlated with the comparative perceived density, and in particular that a higher value of SO indicates a lower perceived density. We present a feasible 3D computational method for measuring SO and demonstrate its potential use in the design process. The SO metric is a step towards the development of quantitative comparative evaluation of building shapes and spatial configurations related to the 3D observation of open space.
Efficient Bias Correction For MRI Image Denoising

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a popular radiology technique that is used for visualizing detailed internal structure of the body. Observed MRI images are generated by the inverse Fourier transformation from received frequency signals of a MR scanner system. Previous research has demonstrated that random noise involved in the observed MRI images can be described adequately by the so-called Rician noise model. Under that model, the observed image intensity at a given pixel is a non-linear function of the true image intensity and of two independent zero-mean random variables with a same normal distribution. Because of such a complicated noise structure in the observed MRI images, denoised images by conventional denoising methods are usually biased, and the bias could reduce image contrast and affect negatively subsequent image analysis. Therefore, it is important to address the bias issue properly. To this end, several bias correction procedures have been proposed in the literature. In this paper, we study the Rician noise model and the corresponding bias-correction problem systematically, and propose a new and more effective biascorrection formula based on the regression analysis and Monte Carlo simulation. Numerical studies show that our proposed method works well in various applications.
The Time Course of Chinese Lexical Access in Speech Production : Picture-Word Interference Paradigm Study

The present experiment explores the time course of Chinese lexical access in speech production. The experiment applies classical picture-word interference paradigm. The picture paired with different interfering stimulus (SEMANTIC, PHONOLOGICAL, UNRELATED and NEUTRAL) in different SOA (stimulus onset asynchrony, SOA). The results show that SOA and interfering condition affect the picture naming significantly. The interaction between SOA and interfering condition was also significant. The finding indicates that at SOA = 0 ms and 150 ms both semantic and phonological activation exist. Thus there is a stage of lexical access to a content word where its meaning and word-form are activated. The result provides evidence for the connectionist model from reaction time analysis. The time course of Chinese lexical access may different from the western language.
A Model-Free Approach for Maximizing Power Production of Wind Farm Using Multi-Resolution Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation

This paper provides a model-free approach based on the Multi-Resolution Simultaneous Perturbation Stochastic Approximation (MR-SPSA) for maximizing power production of wind farms. The main advantage is that the method based on MR-SPSA can achieve fast controller tuning without any plant model by exploiting the information of the wind farm configuration such as turbines location and wind direction. In order to simulate the performance of the model-free scheme, a wind farm model with dynamic characterization of wake interaction between turbines is used and then the proposed method is applied to the Horns Rev wind farm. Simulation results illustrate that the method based on MR-SPSA achieves the maximum total power production with faster convergence compared with other existing model-free methods.
Let's vote to classify authentic and manipulative online reviews: The role of comprehensibility, informativeness and writing style

Scholars increasingly seek to investigate differences between authentic and manipulative online reviews. A common line of research argues that authentic and manipulative reviews are distinguishable based on three textual characteristics, namely, comprehensibility, informativeness and writing style. Although recent studies have analyzed differences between authentic and manipulative reviews in terms of these textual characteristics, they often lack in terms of methodological rigor. For one, datasets used for analysis are not always representative. Moreover, only few machine learning algorithms are used to classify authentic and manipulative reviews. Recognizing the value of methodological rigor, this paper extends prior studies by examining textual differences between authentic and manipulative reviews using a more representative dataset. Moreover, authentic and manipulative reviews were classified using a voting among multiple classifiers that had been used in recent literature. The implications of the results are discussed.
Multimedia documents with elastic time

Time is an essential component in interactive multimedia documents (or systems). We present the elastic time model for multimedia documents. Using the metaphor of a spring system, it allows authors to associate with each multimedia object a minimum and a maximum length and a length at rest. Authors can connect the (elastic) objects by de ning temporal relationships among them. If the given specication is consistent, a document is produced which is also elastic, with a minimum, a maximum, and an optimal length. As such, our elastic model associates with a document a range of feasible solutions in addition to an optimal one. The author can then select from the acceptable range an alternative length for the document, and the system will compute a revised solution that takes the additional global constraint into e ect. The system can answer questions, such as: \Can I show this multimedia presentation in 10 minutes? If so, how should all the objects be scheduled? " Furthermore, the system also takes fairness into consideration and distributes any necessary stretching or shrinking across multimedia objects contained in a document. As such, the elastic time model provides expressive power and exibility in document auThe author's current address is: University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, JUNESONG @ CS.UMD. EDU thoring and browsing. The proposed approach has been implemented in Smalltalk/OS2.
English-Lithuanian Word Alignment with Bilingwis: Evaluation of the Alignment

This paper presents the first qualitative evaluation of the word-alignment system Bilingwis for the English-Lithuanian language pair. The evaluation was performed by scoring alignments for the most frequent autosemantic words from the English-Lithuanian parallel corpus. The main tendencies revealed by the evaluation are presented and some problematic issues as well as future improvements are discussed.
CHARACTERISTICS AND PREDICTORS ASSOCIATED WITH TEACHER AND FACULTY USE OF ONLINE DATA COLLECTION IN TEACHER PREPARATION SETTINGS

The purpose of this study was to examine some of the gaps in the research around the use of online surveys in teacher preparation settings by exploring the attitudes toward technology and online evaluations, as well as predictors of user assessment of online data collection methodology, among 222 College Supervisors and Cooperating Teachers. Research questions centered around the status of and relationships among College Supervisor/Cooperating Teacher demographic variables, level of computer experience, computer proficiency, attitude toward technology, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, facilitating conditions, and overall assessment of online student teacher evaluations. Findings indicated that Cooperating Teachers experienced far fewer technological difficulties and found online evaluation to be much easier and more useful. They also had a more positive overall assessment of online evaluation. Among all study subjects, attitude toward technology, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness explained 74% of the variance in their overall assessment of online evaluation. Recommendations regarding the implementation of online evaluation in student teaching settings are offered.
WirelessHART localization algorithm

The growth in the use of wireless sensor networks has made possible the development of improvements that meet the needs of the communication industry, including several devices with to low cost, low power consumption, mobility and ease of integration, installation and configuration advantages. Not only that but they also create additional functionalities, such as showing the location of field engineers who are active in industrial environments. The WirelessHART protocol is an open standard for wireless communication that seeks to meet these qualities. This study presents a development of an application for the localization of a mobile device via the WirelessHART network. Different methods are analyzed to estimate the distance between the mobile node and the other fixed elements of the wireless sensor network, such as deployment topologies and algorithms, which are used to compute the data and determine the location in a coordinate plane. The operation of the proposed system and the location method were evaluated by means of simulations and practical tests. Due to the conditions used for the installation of the devices, it was possible to obtain a range of radio transmission over 100 m, which allowed to determine an area of monitoring system of about 100 m × 100 m. The results obtained from the error location reached between a 72% and 80% of the estimated localization that was less than 5 meters.
Global Genetic Diversity of Human Metapneumovirus Fusion Gene

We analyzed 64 human metapneumovirus strains from eight countries. Phylogenetic analysis identified two groups (A and B, amino acid identity 93%–96%) and four subgroups. Although group A strains predominated, accounting for 69% of all strains, as many B as A strains were found in persons >3 years of age.
PVFS : Probabilistic Voting-based Filtering Scheme

An adversary can easily compromise sensor nodes in wireless sensor networks, and generate multiple attacks through compromised nodes, such as false vote injection attacks and false report injection attacks. The false vote injection attack tries to drop legitimate reports in an intermediate node, and the false report injection attack tries to drain the energy consumption of each node. To prevent these attacks, a probabilistic voting-based filtering scheme (PVFS) has been proposed to select verification nodes, and to detect fabricated votes in the reports as they occur simultaneously. In this paper, we propose a method that improves the energy efficiency of each node and the security level of the false report injection attack, while maintaining the detection power of the false vote injection attack. Our proposed method effectively selects verification node with considering the conditions of each node, based on a fuzzy rule-based system. The verification node is decided through the energy remaining level, distance level, and number of detected false votes in the fuzzy system. We evaluated the effectiveness of the proposed method, as compared to PVFS, when two attacks occur simultaneously in the sensor network. The experimental results show that our method saves energy by up to 8%, by improving and maintaining the defence against these multiple attacks.
Distinguishing Neurocognitive Processes Reflected by P600 Effects: Evidence from ERPs and Neural Oscillations

Research on language comprehension using event-related potentials (ERPs) reported distinct ERP components reliably related to the processing of semantic (N400) and syntactic information (P600). Recent ERP studies have challenged this well-defined distinction by showing P600 effects for semantic and pragmatic anomalies. So far, it is still unresolved whether the P600 reflects specific or rather common processes. The present study addresses this question by investigating ERPs in response to a syntactic and pragmatic (irony) manipulation, as well as a combined syntactic and pragmatic manipulation. For the syntactic condition, a morphosyntactic violation was applied, whereas for the pragmatic condition, such as “That is rich”, either an ironic or literal interpretation was achieved, depending on the prior context. The ERPs at the critical word showed a LAN-P600 pattern for syntactically incorrect sentences relative to correct ones. For ironic compared to literal sentences, ERPs showed a P200 effect followed by a P600 component. In comparison of the syntax-related P600 to the irony-related P600, distributional differences were found. Moreover, for the P600 time window (i.e., 500–900 ms), different changes in theta power between the syntax and pragmatics effects were found, suggesting that different patterns of neural activity contributed to each respective effect. Thus, both late positivities seem to be differently sensitive to these two types of linguistic information, and might reflect distinct neurocognitive processes, such as reanalysis of the sentence structure versus pragmatic reanalysis.
A Panel Data Analysis for Financial Stability Indicators

In this study a panel data analysis was made for financial stability indicators in 7 European Union countries over 2006-2011 (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Austria, France, Italy, Greece and England. The loam quality is explained by the coverage of non-performing loans and the index of prices in each country using a fixed-effects model. The Hausman test indicated that a fixed-effects model with Driscoll and Kraay errors is better than a random-effects one.
Evolutionary Image Transition Based on Theoretical Insights of Random Processes

Evolutionary algorithms have been widely studied from a theoretical perspective. In particular, the area of runtime analysis has contributed significantly to a theoretical understanding and provided insights into the working behaviour of these algorithms. We study how these insights into evolutionary processes can be used for evolutionary art. We introduce the notion of evolutionary image transition which transfers a given starting image into a target image through an evolutionary process. Combining standard mutation effects known from the optimization of the classical benchmark function OneMax and different variants of random walks, we present ways of performing evolutionary image transition with different artistic effects.
A Planar Reconfigurable Aperture With Lens and Reflectarray Modes of Operation

This paper presents the design and experimental characterization of a planar 6 × 6 fully reconfigurable array operating at 5.7 GHz, capable of functioning both as a reconfigurable array lens and a reconfigurable reflectarray. First, the design of the array element, which consists of two varactor diode-loaded patches coupled by a varactor diode-loaded slot, is reviewed. Next, the design and fabrication of a planar array is described, and the varactor biasing scheme is discussed in detail. Experimental results demonstrating 2-D beamforming are presented, where a broadside directivity of 20.8 dBi and a beam-scanning range of 50° by 50° is achieved for the lens mode. The ability of the array to also function as a reflectarray is also demonstrated, achieving a directivity of 19.4 dBi at broadside and a beam-scanning range of 60° by 30°. Not only is this array able to demonstrate full 2-D beamforming, it is also low-cost and easy to fabricate, making it very attractive for applications where high-gain beam-scanning is needed.
Zinc Hyperaccumulation in Squirrelfish (Holocentrus adscenscionis) and Its Role in Embryo Viability

Female squirrelfish (Fam. Holocentridae) can accumulate and temporarily sequester copious amounts of zinc (Zn) in their livers. There, it is initially compartmentalized before a subsequent, estrogen-triggered redistribution to the ovaries. Here we show that cellular uptake of Zn is also influenced by estrogen signaling, and that estrogen increases concentrations of the plasma Zn-binding protein vitellogenin (VTG). However, estrogen-mediated increases in VTG are not sufficient to accommodate the magnitude of hepato-ovarian Zn transfer in female squirrelfish (Holocentrus adscensionis). These findings suggest that holocentrids have acquired the ability to use hormonal cues to drive hepatic uptake and storage of Zn, signal for its physiological redistribution, and influence the capacity for systemic transport of Zn beyond the mediation of increased plasma VTG concentrations. Such specific adaptations suggest an advantage for the oocyte, which is corroborated in further studies where we determined that oocyte Zn concentrations are positively correlated with egg viability in captive-spawned squirrelfish. The novel nature of these findings underlies the importance of Zn in squirrelfish reproductive biology.
A Self-Government Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm and Its Application in Texaco Gasification

In this paper, a self-government particle swarm optimizer (SGPSO) is proposed to improve the performance of original PSO, in which particle updating depends on local best information searched at anterior runs as well as individual history best and global best at present. To evaluate the novel algorithm, some benchmark functions are employed in comparison with PSO. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm can search more optimal solution than PSO and indicate the effectiveness of the novel algorithm to solve optimization problems. Finally, the proposed algorithm is applied in soft-sensing the Texaco furnace temperature. It is convinced that SGPSO based soft sensor is very capable of real-time assessment of the furnace temperature in the Texaco gasification process.