Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimal operations for visual categorization

Bag-of-words is the state-of-the-art method used in visual categorization. The performance of visual categorization depends on four main operations: the detection of interest point, the description of interest point, the design of classifier, and the construction of codebook. In this paper, we focus on the optimizations of the first three operations. Firstly, we compare several popular detectors of interest points and propose an optimal detector combined MSER detector with Hessian-Laplace detector to sample the key points. This detector well combines the interest region with the interest point such that the image can be represented in a hierarchical way. Secondly, we adopt SIFT to describe the sampling region because our experiment results demonstrate that SIFT is more robust than other popular descriptors. Thirdly, we use SVM with RBF kernel for object classification. The proposed classifier outperforms other classifier in terms of the classification accuracy. In order to verify three proposed optimal operations, we implement them in two image datasets: Caltech and KTH-TIPS. The experimental results show that our optimal operations can increase the accuracy of object categorization.
Vector Regression Functions for Texture Compression

Raster images are the standard format for texture mapping, but they suffer from limited resolution. Vector graphics are resolution-independent but are less general and more difficult to implement on a GPU. We propose a hybrid representation called vector regression functions (VRFs), which compactly approximate any point-sampled image and support GPU texture mapping, including random access and filtering operations. Unlike standard GPU texture compression, (VRFs) provide a variable-rate encoding in which piecewise smooth regions compress to the square root of the original size. Our key idea is to represent images using the multilayer perceptron, allowing general encoding via regression and efficient decoding via a simple GPU pixel shader. We also propose a content-aware spatial partitioning scheme to reduce the complexity of the neural network model. We demonstrate benefits of our method including its quality, size, and runtime speed.
Towards Solving the Bottleneck of Pitch-based Singing Voice Separation

Singing voice separation from accompaniment in monaural music recordings is a crucial technique in music information retrieval. A majority of existing algorithms are based on singing pitch detection, and take the detected pitch as the cue to identify and separate the harmonic structure of the singing voice. However, as a key yet undependable premise, vocal pitch detection makes the separation performance of these algorithms rather limited. To overcome the inherent weakness of pitch-based inference algorithms, two novel methods based on non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) are devised in this paper. The first one combines NMF with the distribution regularities of vocals under different time frequency resolutions, so that many vocal unrelated portions are eliminated and the singing voice is hence enhanced. In consequence, the accuracy of vocal pitch detection is significantly improved. The second method applies NMF to decompose the spectrogram into non-overlapping and indivisible segments, which can be used as another cue besides the pitch to help identify the vocal harmonic structure. The two proposed methods are integrated into the framework of pitch-based inference. Extensive testing on the MIR-1K public dataset shows that both of them are rather effective, and the overall performances outperform other state-of-the-art singing separation algorithms.
Trust-Contexts Modeling, Organization and Trust Estimation on the Web

Trust-contexts, computational models of the situational factors of trust behaviors, play important roles in trust decisions, but their researches are still in infancy. In this paper, based on earlier studies, trust- contexts are modeled and organized globally on the Web. Then, the basic ideas and an extension of trust estimation, which is the core step of trust decision, are focused. At last, more extensional topics are presented.
Stuck in a What? Adventures in Weight Space

Deep learning researchers commonly suggest that converged models are stuck in local minima. More recently, some researchers observed that under reasonable assumptions, the vast majority of critical points are saddle points, not true minima. Both descriptions suggest that weights converge around a point in weight space, be it a local optima or merely a critical point. However, it’s possible that neither interpretation is accurate. As neural networks are typically over-complete, it’s easy to show the existence of vast continuous regions through weight space with equal loss. In this paper, we build on recent work empirically characterizing the error surfaces of neural networks. We analyze training paths through weight space, presenting evidence that apparent convergence of loss does not correspond to weights arriving at critical points, but instead to large movements through flat regions of weight space. While it’s trivial to show that neural network error surfaces are globally non-convex, we show that error surfaces are also locally nonconvex, even after breaking symmetry with a random initialization and also after partial training.
Tune It Down to Live It Up? Rapid, Nongenomic Effects of Cortisol on the Human Brain

The stress hormone cortisol acts on the brain, supporting adaptation and time-adjusted coping processes. Whereas previous research has focused on slow emerging, genomic effects of cortisol, we addressed the rapid, nongenomic cortisol effects on in vivo neuronal activity in humans. Three independent placebo-controlled studies in healthy men were conducted. We observed changes in CNS activity within 15 min after intravenous administration of a physiological dose of 4 mg of cortisol (hydrocortisone). Two of the studies demonstrated a rapid bilateral thalamic perfusion decrement using continuous arterial spin labeling. The third study revealed rapid, cortisol-induced changes in global signal strength and map dissimilarity of the electroencephalogram. Our data demonstrate that a physiological concentration of cortisol profoundly affects the functioning and perfusion of the human brain in vivo via a rapid, nongenomic mechanism. The changes in neuronal functioning suggest that cortisol acts on the thalamic relay of background as well as on task-specific sensory information, allowing focus and facilitation of adaptation to challenges.
Multilingualism at church: language practices in a Ghanaian context

ABSTRACT This paper examines the linguistic repertoires and domains of language use of the members of Victory Baptist Church at Nkwantanang (a suburb of Kade), an Akan-speaking area in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Data for the study is from observations and transcribed recordings of Sunday services, youth and women fellowship meetings, as well as conversations and interviews with selected members of the church. The theoretical underpinning of the work derives from Fishman’s [(2006). A decalogue of basic theoretical perspectives for a sociology of language and religion. In T. Omoniyi, & A. J. Fishman (Eds.), Explorations in the sociology of language and religion (pp. 13–25). Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. Retrieved from https://sociologyoflanguageandreligion.com/about/fishmans-decalogue/] sociology of language and religion principles and Baldauf’s [(2005). Micro language planning. In P. Bruthiaux, D. Atkinson, G. Eggington, W. Grabe, & V. Ramanathan (Eds.), Directions in Applied Linguistics: Essays in Honor of Robert B. Kaplan (pp. 227–239). Clevedon: Multilingual Matters] micro language planning approach. A major finding is that there are numerous instances of code-switching among the youth, which are attributable to the language contact situation in the church and the town. Additionally, monolingual elderly women resort to lexical borrowing. Furthermore, whereas some studies have proved that smaller communities are diglossic, this study shows that the language situation in Nkwantanang is rather multilingual despite the community's small size and remoteness. Lastly, members of the church have a positive attitude towards the prevailing language situation, which supports principle three of Fishman's SLR.
Profile information on CO from SCIAMACHY observations using cloud slicing and comparison with model simulations

Abstract. We apply a cloud slicing technique (CST), originally developed for Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) ozone observations, to CO vertical column densities retrieved from the SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY (SCIAMACHY). CST makes use of the shielding effect of clouds and combines trace gas column measurements of cloudy pixels with different cloud heights to retrieve fractional columns aloft. Here we determine seasonal mean tropospheric CO profiles at a vertical resolution of about 1 km, which is much finer than what can be obtained from thermal infrared (IR) instruments. However, since both the atmospheric CO profiles and the effective cloud heights depend systematically on meteorology, and in addition part of the retrieved signal originates from the clear part of the satellite ground pixel, the profiles retrieved from the CST have to be interpreted with care. We compare the seasonal mean SCIAMACHY CO profiles with the output from two atmospheric models sampled in the same way as the satellite observations. We find in general good agreement of the spatial patterns, but systematic differences in the absolute values are observed in both hemispheres (more strongly in the Northern Hemisphere), indicating that the source strengths in the emission inventories are probably underestimated.
Competitive Analysis of Caching in Distributed Databases

This paper makes two contributions. First, we introduce a model for evaluating the performance of data allocation and replication algorithms in distributed databases. The model is comprehensive in the sense that it accounts for I/O cost, for communication cost, and, because of reliability considerations, for limits on the minimum number of copies of the object. The model captures existing replica-management algorithms, such as read-one-write-all, quorum-consensus, etc. These algorithms are static in the sense that, in the absence of failures, the copies of each object are allocated to a fixed set of processors. In modern distributed databases, particularly in mobile computing environments, processors will dynamically store objects in their local database and will relinquish them. Therefore, as a second contribution of this paper, we introduce an algorithm for automatic dynamic allocation of replicas to processors. Then, using the new model, we compare the performance of the traditional read-one-write-all static allocation algorithm to the performance of the dynamic allocation algorithm. As a result, we obtain the relationship between the communication cost and I/O cost for which static allocation is superior to dynamic allocation, and the relationships for which dynamic allocation is superior.
FRIEND21 Project: two-tiered architecture for 21st-century human interfaces

The FRIEND21 Project, which ended on March 31,1994, is briefly described and its final results are presented. The FRIEND21 Project conducted research into human interfaces having two-tiered architecture consisting of “metaware” and “agency model. ” This approach attempts to deal with human-interface issues from the very top layer of a symbolic and cognitive environment constructed be-tween the user and the machine to the bottom layer of machine functions organized into the agency model.
Non-Voting Shares and the Value of Control: The Impact of Corporate Regulation in Italy

Researchers have recently devoted their attention to the relationship between corporate and securities laws and the development of stock markets, claiming that high quality regulation, by reducing private benefits of control, stimulates broader and deeper capital markets. This paper tries to assess the impact of changes in Italian corporate law on private benefits during the twelve-year period 1989-2000. In this period, the Italian legislator introduced the mandatory bid rule (law 149/1992) and moved towards a higher protection of minority shareholders (through the legislative decree 58/1998). The paper focuses on these regulatory changes by analysing the evolution of the so-called voting premium, i.e. the price differential between voting and non-voting stocks, which might be regarded as a good proxy of private benefits of control. The analysis involves 80 publicly traded firms and supports the hypothesis that, along with the company's ownership structure, the liquidity and the fiscal treatment of non voting stocks as well as market factors (such as interest rates and traded volumes), the institutional framework matters. In particular, the estimation results show that the voting premium increased by about 2 percentage points after the introduction of the mandatory bid rule in 1992 and drop by about 7 percentage points following the enactment of the new corporate governance rules in 1998. The behaviour of voting and non-voting share prices during the period is thus consistent with the hypothesis that the expropriation of minority shareholders decreased after 1998.
Workflow-based Remote-Sensing Image Processing Application in ImageGrid

Remote-sensing image processing applications demand large-scale, collaborative processing and storage capabilities. Computational grid can provide abundant powerful computational resources with sharing and cooperation in grid environment. This paper gives an introduction to a collaborative processing mechanism based on workflow technology implemented in ImageGrid. The main idea is to encapsulate all parallel algorithms of remote-sensing image processing into grid services and recombine them with grid workflow to satisfy more and more complex remote-sensing image processing applications. In particular, we describe the architecture of the workflow-based grid system and the processing flow. We also give out the algorithm classification and an example of remote-sensing image processing grid application.
A Cryptography Application of Conjugate Quasigroups

In this article, we design a stream cipher based on the the conjugates of quasigroups. According to the analysis given in the article the method is extremely secure. Beside that, the plaintext and its cipher text are of the same length, and the stream cipher needs small storage in memory since one quasigroup can be used as three different quasigroups.
Role of the ROS/AMPK signaling pathway in tetramethylpyrazine-induced apoptosis in gastric cancer cells

Tetramethylpyrazine (TMPZ) is one of the active compounds extracted from the traditional Chinese medicinal herb Chuanxiong and several studies have shown it to possess anticancer properties. However, its effectiveness in gastric cancer and its cellular mechanisms are relatively unknown. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of TMPZ on SGC7901 cells, and it was demonstrated that a high dose of TMPZ inhibited cell viability and induced apoptosis by stimulating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) through the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Furthermore, TMPZ-induced apoptosis resulted in the sequential events beginning with the translocation of Bax, the collapse of mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm), the release of cytochrome c and the activation of caspase-9 and -3. Each of these events was inhibited by compound C, a pharmacological inhibitor of AMPK. To the best of our knowledge, these results demonstrate for the first time that the induction of apoptosis by TMPZ in gastric cancer cells is associated with the activation of the ROS/AMPK pathway. AMPK activation induces apoptosis through the mitochondrial apoptotic pathway. In addition, these results raise the possibility that TMPZ may have a future therapeutic role in gastric cancer.
Multi-feature facial synthesis based on triangle coordinate system

This paper presents a new method based on triangle coordinate system to synthesize multi-feature virtual faces. This method can extract contour features, textural features and facial features among faces making use of the mapping relationships of coordinates. We will obtain a number of vectors throughout the processes. By using those vectors users can synthesize virtual faces with different facial features and expressions. The method is visualized, effective and fast.
On the Throughput Comparisons of MAC Protocols in Multi-Hop Wireless Networks

We revisit the use of throughput metrics in studying Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols in static multi-hop wireless networks. To complement existing single-hop and multi-hop throughput notions, we first propose a unified normalized throughput expression. Since current multi-hop metrics do not give much intuition on how close a MAC protocol's throughput performance is to the best achievable for a given network topology, we present a new variant that benchmarks against the maximum achievable throughput. It can be characterized by the product of the number of maximum successful simultaneous transmissions smax under saturated traffic conditions, and link rate R. We show how to compute smax via a linear programming formulation and demonstrate its use in both string and grid topologies. We also derive exact mathematical expressions for the maximum simultaneous transmissions for these two topologies.
Lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium and yttrium in waters in an upland acidic and acid sensitive environment, mid-Wales

Abstract. The less than 0.45 mm filterable lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr) and yttrium (Y) concentrations in rainfall, cloud water, stream and groundwater in the upper River Severn catchments of mid-Wales are presented, based on up to ten years of weekly data. Results show that for rainfall, there is enrichment in the rare earth (RE) elements, especially under conditions of small volume of catch. However, within the correlations, there is a 'forked' relationship, with one line of high La, Ce and Pr with low Y, corresponding to clear pollutant events and the other with relatively low La, Ce and Pr and higher Y to background conditions. Cloud water and stream waters show a simpler relationship indicating two types of source. Cloud, stream and ground water show no split in pattern, with singular linear relationships between the rare La, Ce, Pr and Y. However, in many cases the monitoring of the streams and groundwaters post-dates the rainfall period with high pollutant Ce inputs. RE element concentrations vary systematically, in general decreasing with increasing volume of catch for cloud-water. For the streams, occasionally, there are relatively high Ce and La concentrations (up to about a tenth the maximum in rainfall), which occur in the same year as the corresponding high values in rainfall. Apart from these anomalous periods, RE element concentrations increase with decreasing pH and increasing aluminium concentrations; RE elements are mobilised under acidic conditions. The river waters are particularly enriched in Y relative to La, Ce and Pr, both in terms of average concentrations and values normalised to standard continental shales. The RE element level in the streams is variable and seems to be linked to the main soil types within the catchment; gleys in particular show higher concentrations than their peat and podzolic counterparts. On average, groundwaters are enriched in the RE elements relative to the stream but the link with pH and aluminium observed in the stream is much weaker.
An Improved ICP Algorithm for Point Cloud Registration

Speed and accuracy of point cloud registration are priorities in research. After finding points by close point criterion, we use the nearest criterion to remove point pairs which contain same points. This paper proposes an improved iteration close point algorithm that uses matching points' center of gravity as reference points and point pair distance constraint to reject false point pairs for point cloud registration. We compared this improved algorithm with another method which uses point cloud center of gravity as reference point pair and iteration close point algorithm. Experimental results show that the registration rate, accuracy and convergence rate of the algorithm which we proposed are all improved.
PVA in VANETs: Stopped cars are not silent

In Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETs), the major communication challenge lies in very poor connectivity, which can be caused by sparse or unbalanced traffic. Deploying supporting infrastructure could relieve this problem, but it often requires a large amount of investment and elaborate design, especially at the city scale. In this paper, we propose the idea of Parked Vehicle Assistance (PVA), which allows parked vehicles to join VANETs as static nodes. With wireless device and rechargable battery, parked vehicles can easily communicate with one another and their moving counterparts. Owing to the extensive parking in cities, parked vehicles are natural roadside nodes characterized by large number, long-time staying, wide distribution, and specific location. So parked vehicles can serve as static backbone and service infrastructure to improve connectivity. We investigate network connectivity in PVA through theoretic analysis and realistic survey and simulations. The results prove that even a small proportion of PVA vehicles could overcome sparse or unbalanced traffic, and promote network connectivity greatly. Thus, PVA enhances VANETs from down to top, and paves the way for new hybrid networks with static and mobile nodes.
UNDERSTANDING CAREER CHOICE OF BUSINESS STUDENTS 1

This research considers the role of values, family and non-family influences on career choice, and career goals among MBA students. Data were collected from 109 MBA students in the first semester of their MBA program. Males and females were almost equally represented. Most respondents aspired to careers, not jobs, or callings. There were few gender differences in this sample. Neither family nor non-family influences predicted career outcomes, indicative of the independent-self among the students. Predictor variables generally accounted for modest variance on most career outcomes suggesting complexity of the career choice process.
DynOR: A 32-bit microprocessor in 28 nm FD-SOI with cycle-by-cycle dynamic clock adjustment

This paper presents DynOR, a 32-bit 6-stage Open-RISC microprocessor with dynamic clock adjustment. To alleviate the issue of unused dynamic timing margins, the clock period of the processor is adjusted on a cycle-by-cycle level, based on the instruction types currently in flight in the pipeline. To this end, we employ a custom designed clock generation unit, capable of immediate glitch-free adjustments of the clock period over a wide range with fine granularity. Our chip measurements in 28nm FD-SOI technology show that DynOR provides an average speedup of 19% in program execution over a wide range of operating conditions, with a peak speedup for certain applications of up to 41%. Furthermore, this speedup can be traded off against energy, to reduce the chip power consumption for a typical die by up to 15%, compared to a static clocking scheme based on worst case excitation.