Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Handwritten English Character Recognition Using Neural Network

Neural Networks are recently being used in various kind of pattern recognition. Handwritings of different person are different; therefore it is very difficult to recognize the handwritten characters. Handwritten Character recognition is an area of pattern recognition that has become the subject of research during the last some decades. Neural network is playing an important role in handwritten character recognition. Many reports of character recognition in English have been published but still high recognition accuracy and minimum training time of handwritten English characters using neural network is an open problem. Therefore, it is a great important to develop an automatic handwritten character recognition system for English language [1]. In this paper, efforts have been made to develop automatic handwritten character recognition system for English language with high recognition accuracy and minimum training and classification time. Experimental result shows that the approach used in this paper for English character recognition is giving high recognition accuracy and minimum training time.
Handing Over a Cube

Even though joint action is highly developed in humans, not much is known about motor control in physical joint‐action tasks. Here we investigated a physical handover task: one subject sequentially passed wooden cubes to another without communicating verbally. Temporal parameters such as reaction time decreased on a trial‐to‐trial basis, showing that the efficiency of the task is optimized on‐line by implicit negotiation between the partners. In contrast, the spatial position of the handover was found to be invariant and trial‐independent. Thus, our results suggest that physical joint‐action is guided by on‐line adaptation and a priori assumptions.
Time Series Analysis About The Relationship Between Foreign Trade and Exchange Rate in Turkish Economy

Abstract In this study, the relationship between the foreign trade data and the exchange rate is tested using the monthly data for the period of 1992:01-2014:01 in Turkish Economy. The devaluation of local currency is expected to increase export while decreasing import rates, thus it will close the foreign trade deficit, theoretically. However, this effect is observed in varying degrees in the on both short and long terms. One of the most fundamental problems of the Turkish Economy is the foreign trade deficit, beside the Turkish Lira is a quite frequently fluctuating currency. The relationship between the foreign trade data and the exchange rate is an important topic to examine when the dependence of export to import is especially considered. In this study, the longterm relation between these two main variables and their causality are examined as using the time series analysis. Therefore, the tested hypothesis will be „there is a long term relationship between the exchange rate and the foreign trade in Turkish Economy“. It is was empirically observed that this hypothesis is correct as a result of the tests. It is also observed that there is Granger causality from the exchange rate to the exports, imports and net foreign trade in addition to the fact that the long term relationship exists between the foreign trade and the rate of exchange.
ACTA as a new kind of international IP lawmaking

The ACTA negotiations are important not only for the potential impact of the treaty itself, but for what they can teach us about the dynamics of intellectual property law-making and the structure of the IP treaty framework. This paper draws two broad lessons from the progress of the ACTA to date which, while not entirely new, can be understood in a new light by looking at the detailed development of the ACTA text: (1) that the global IP 'ratchet' is not inexorable; and (2) that the international IP treaty framework is very poorly adapted to developing exceptions. The relevance of these lessons for negotiators, scholars and advocates is also discussed. 1 At the time this paper was researched and written, the July 1, 2010 draft of ACTA was the most recent draft of the text. Any references to “the most recent text” and related analysis refer to the July 1, 2010 draft. After this paper was submitted for publication, a new draft of ACTA was leaked on Aug. 25, 2010. This paper may be revised by the author to reflect changes made in the Aug. 25, 2010 draft text. 2 Senior Lecturer in Law, TC Beirne School of Law, The University of Queensland. 2 ACTA as a New Kind of International IP Lawmaking WWW.WCL. AMERICAN.EDU/PIJIP ABSTRACT 1
The evolution of population stability as a by-product of life-history evolution

Proposed mechanisms for the evolution of population stability include group selection through longterm persistence, individual selection acting directly on stability determining the demographic parameters, and the evolution of stability as a by-product of life-history evolution. None of these hypotheses currently has clear empirical support. Using two sets of Drosophila melanogaster populations, we provide experimental evidence of stability evolving as a correlated response to selection on traits not directly related to demography. Four populations (FEJs) were selected for faster development and early reproduction for 125 generations, and the other four (JBs) were ancestral controls. All FEJ and JB populations have been maintained on discrete generations at moderate density, thus eliminating differential selection on stability determining demographic parameters. We derived eight small populations from each FEJ and JB population, and subjected four small populations each to either stabilizing or destabilizing food regimes. Census data on these 64 small populations over 20 generations clearly showed that the FEJ populations have significantly less temporal fluctuations in their numbers in both food regimes compared to their controls. This greater stability of the FEJ populations is probably a by-product of the evolution of reduced fecundity and pre-adult survivorship, as a correlated response to selection for rapid development.
Transformation invariant 3D object recognition based on information complexity

The 3D representation of objects and scenes as a point cloud or range image has been made simple by means of sensors such as Microsoft Kinect, stereo camera or laser scanner. Various tasks, such as recognition, modeling and classification can not be performed on raw measurements because of the curse of high dimensionality, computational and algorithm complexity. Non Uniform Rational Basis Splines (NURBS) are a widely used representation technique for 3D objects in various robotics and Computer Aided Design (CAD) applications. In this paper, a similarity measurement from information theory is employed in order to recognize an object sample from a set of objects. From a NURBS model fitted to the observed point cloud, a complexity based representation is derived which is transformation invariant in the sense of Kolmogorov complexity. Experimental results on a set of 3D objects grabbed by a Kinect sensor indicates the applicability of the proposed method for object recognition tasks. Furthermore, the results of the proposed method is compared to that of some state of the art algorithms.
Fixed Loci of the Anticanonical Complete Linear Systems of Anticanonical Rational Surfaces

We determine the fixed locus of the anticanonical complete linear system of a given anticanonical rational surface. The case of a geometrically ruled rational surface is fully studied, e.g., the monoid of numerically effective divisor classes of such surface is explicitly determined and is minimally generated by two elements. On the other hand, as a consequence in the particular case where $X$ is a smooth rational surface with $K_{X}^{2}>0$, the following expected result holds: every fixed prime divisor of the complete linear system $|-K_X|$ is a $(-n)$-curve, for some integer $n\geq 1$.
Within- and Cross-Country Price Dispersion in the Euro Area

Using a comprehensive data set on retail prices across the euro area, we analyse within- and cross-country price dispersion in European countries. First, we study price dispersion over time, by investigating the time-series evolution of the coefficient of variation, calculated from price levels. Second, since we find that cross-sectional price dispersion by far dominates price dispersion over time, we study price dispersion across space and investigate the role of geographical barriers (distance and national borders). We find that (i) prices move together more closely in locations that are closer to each other; (ii) cross-country price dispersion is by an order of magnitude larger than within-country price dispersion, even after controlling for product heterogeneity; (iii) a large part of cross- country price differences can be explained by different tax rates, income levels and consumption intensities. In addition, we find some indication that price dispersion in the euro area has declined since the inception of the Monetary Union. JEL Classification: E31, F41
MyMultiMediaWorld.com: A benchmark platform for 3D compression algorithms

In this paper we present an on-line platform, called MyMultiMediaWorld.com, designed to help standardization bodies and communities to benchmark compression algorithms for still 3D objects. Based on MPEG standards, this platform provides an easy-to-use API to integrate the algorithms to be evaluated. The platform automatically benchmarks them from the platform extensible 3D database. When uploading new 3D contents, benchmark results for the various available compression schemes are automatically updated. Filtering tools are provided to help performance assessment at scales ranging from individual 3D content to database subsets.
An Efficient Matching Algorithm for Acyclic Regular Expressions with Bounded Depth by

In this paper, we study the regular expression matching problem for a subclass of regular expressions of small depth. A regular expression is acyclic if it is over the basis Σ∪{·, |}. By extending the SHIFT-AND approach by Wu and Manber (JACM 39(2),1992), we present an efficient algorithm that solves the regular expression matching problem for acyclic regular expressions with length m and depth d and an input text of length n in O(nmd/w) time using O(md) preprocessing and O(md/w) space in words on unit-cost RAM model with word length w. When the depth d is constant, typical in real applications, our algorithm runs in O(nm/w) time and O(m/w) space, while the algorithm by Bille (ICALP, 2006) runs in O(nm log w/w) time and O(m log w/w) space. Hence, this achieves O(log m) and O(log w) speed-ups in small automata (m ≤ w) and in large automata (m > w) cases, resp. , still keeping O(m/w) space.
A Systematic Comparison Identifies an ATP-Based Viability Assay as Most Suitable Read-Out for Drug Screening in Glioma Stem-Like Cells

Serum-free culture methods for patient-derived primary glioma cultures, selecting for glioma stem-like cells (GSCs), are becoming the gold standard in neurooncology research. These GSCs can be implemented in drug screens to detect patient-specific responses, potentially bridging the translational gap to personalized medicine. Since numerous compounds are available, a rapid and reliable readout for drug efficacies is required. This can be done using approaches that measure viability, confluency, cytotoxicity, or apoptosis. To determine which assay is best suitable for drug screening, 10 different assays were systematically tested on established glioma cell lines and validated on a panel of GSCs. General applicability was assessed using distinct treatment modalities, being temozolomide, radiation, rapamycin, and the oncolytic adenovirus Delta24-RGD. The apoptosis and cytotoxicity assays did not unequivocally detect responses and were excluded from further testing. The NADH- and ATP-based viability assays revealed comparable readout for all treatments; however, the latter had smaller standard deviations and direct readout. Importantly, drugs that interfere with cell metabolism require alternative techniques such as confluency monitoring to accurately measure treatment effects. Taken together, our data suggest that the combination of ATP luminescence assays with confluency monitoring provides the most specific and reproducible readout for drug screening on primary GSCs.
A comparison of discrete event simulation and system dynamics for modelling health care systems

In this paper we discuss two different approaches to simulation, discrete event simulation and system dynamics. Both have been used widely in the health care domain, although there are fewer applications of system dynamics. The aim of this paper is not to give a comprehensive survey of the literature, but rather to discuss whether the choice of methodology is purely the personal preference of the modeller, or whether there are identifiable features of certain systems that make one methodology superior to the other. We illustrate the use of these techniques by considering two case studies, a simple discrete event simulation model of HIV/AIDS and a system dynamics model of the UK cardiac surgery system. We attempt to draw up some guidelines to assist the modeller in making the choice of technique.
Perceptual and Social Attributes Underlining Age-Related Preferences for Faces

Although aesthetic preferences are known to be important in person perception and can play a significant role in everyday social decisions, the effect of the age of the observer on aesthetic preferences for faces of different ages has not yet been fully investigated. In the present study we investigated whether aesthetic preferences change with aging, with an age-related bias in favoring faces from one’s own age group. In addition, we examined the role of age on both the perceptual qualities and the social attributes of faces that may influence these aesthetic judgements. Both younger and older adult observers provided ratings to images of younger, middle-aged and older unfamiliar faces. As well as attractiveness, the rating dimensions included other perceptual (distinctiveness, familiarity) and social (competence, trustworthiness and dominance) factors. The results suggested a consistent aesthetic preference for youthful faces across all ages of the observers but, surprisingly, no evidence for an age-related bias in attractiveness ratings. Older adults tended to provide higher ratings of attractiveness, competence and trustworthiness to the unfamiliar faces, consistent with the positivity effect previously reported. We also tested whether perceptual factors such as face familiarity or distinctiveness affected aesthetic ratings. Only ratings of familiarity, but not distinctiveness, were positively associated with the attractiveness of the faces. Moreover, ratings of familiarity decreased with increasing age of the face. With regard to the social characteristics of the faces, we found that the age of the face negatively correlated with ratings of trustworthiness provided by all observers, but with the competence ratings of older observers only. Interestingly, older adults provided higher ratings of perceived competence and trustworthiness to younger than older faces. However, our results also suggest that higher attractiveness ratings, together with older aged faces, led to more positive evaluations of competence. The results are discussed within the context of an age-related decline in the differentiation of faces in memory. Our findings have important implications for a better understanding of age-related perceptual factors and cognitive determinants of social interactions with unfamiliar others across the adult lifespan.
A survey on anomaly and signature based intrusion detection system(IDS)

Denial of Service (DoS) and Distributed DoS (DDoS) attacks are evolving continuously. These attacks make network resources unavailable for legitimate users which results in massive loss of data, resources and money. Combination of Intrusion detection System and Firewall is used by Business Organizations to detect and prevent Organizations’ network from these attacks. But this combination cannot prevent network from novel attacks as Signatures to detect them are not available. This paper presents a light-Weight mechanism to detect novel DoS/DDoS (Resource Consumption) attacks and automatic Signature generation process to represent them in real time. Experimental results are provided to support the proposed mechanism.
Characteristics of burn deaths from 2003 to 2009 in a burn center: A retrospective study

Mortality remains one of the most important end-point quality control parameters to evaluate a burn care system. We retrospectively reviewed the characteristics and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) patterns of burn deaths in our center from January 2003 to December 2009. The mortality rate during this time period was 2.3%. Fifty-six patients died, including 49 males and 7 females. The mean survival time was 28.45 ± 24.60 days. The burn percentage was (76.70 ± 26.86) % total burn surface area (TBSA), with (27.74 ± 24.95) % deep-partial thickness burns and (46.88 ± 33.84) % full-thickness burns. Inhalation injury was diagnosed in 36 (64.29%) patients. Patients who had undergone an operation, particularly in the first week post-burn, had a significantly longer survival time. An average of 5.50 ± 1.35 malfunctioning organs per patient and a mean sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score of 13.91 ± 3.65 were observed. The most frequently malfunctioning organs were involved in the respiratory, hematologic, circulatory, and central nervous systems. Most of the organ damage occurred during the first week post-burn, followed by 4 weeks later, with relatively less organ damage observed in the third week. Among patients with a TBSA over 50%, non-survivors had larger burn sizes (particularly larger full-thickness burns) and a higher incidence of inhalation injury compared with survivors; non-survivors were also more likely to have microorganism-positive blood and sputum cultures. In conclusion, burn deaths are related to a higher burn percentage, inhalation injury, MODS, and infection. Early operation may help improve survival duration.
A Bayesian View of Challenges in Feature Selection: Feature Aggregation, Multiple Targets, Redundancy and Interaction

Earlier, we formulated a Bayesian approach to Feature Subset Selection using Bayesian networks, which jointly estimate the posteriors of Markov Blanket Memberships (MBMs), Markov Blanket Sets (MBSs), and Markov Blanket Subgraphs (MBGs) for a given target variable. These results of the Bayesian Multilevel Analysis of relevance (BMLA) correspond respectively to a model-based pairwise relevance, relevance of sets, and to the interaction models of relevant variables. In this paper we discuss applications of the Bayesian approach to new challenges in relevance analysis. First, we formulate refined levels in BMLA by introducing the concepts of k-MBSs and k-MBGs, which are intermediate, scalable model properties expressing relevance. Second, we consider the extension of BMLA to multiple targets. Third, we introduce and investigate a score for feature redundancy and interaction based on the decomposability of the structure posterior. Finally, we overview the problems of conditional and contextual relevance. We demonstrate the concepts and methods in the field of the genomics of asthma.
Weld metal revelation for machine vision applications

Modeling and optimization of welding processes is one of the important topics for welding researches. In such research, it is necessary to measure the weld bead geometry. Nowadays, machine vision has a widespread use in measurement applications. In order to use machine vision in weld bead geometry measurement, it is necessary to acquire the desired images of cross section of welded plates with desirable separation of weld and base metal regions. This separation is performed by suitable solution to etch cross section of welded plates. In this paper, it has been tried to determine suitable solution to etch cross section of welded plates (made from API X56 steel) for obtaining the best revelation of weld metal regions. This solution can be utilized to obtain desired image of welded plate's cross section for machine vision measurement of weld bead geometry.
Influence of Pb and La Contents on the Lattice Configuration of La-Substituted Pb(Zr0.65, Ti0.35)O3 Films

The systematic investigation of the influence of Pb and La contents on the lattice configuration in La-substituted Pb(Zr0.65,Ti0.35)O3 (La-PZT) films was carried out. La-PZT films with various La and Pb contents were fabricated on Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates by chemical solution deposition (CSD). In the La-PZT films with a Pb content ratio of 125% relative to a stoichiometric value, La ions were substituted for not only A-site ions but also B-site ions at La contents over 3 mol%. La substitution for B-site seems to cause larger reduction of the unit cell size. In addition, we found that in the La-PZT films with a La content of 3 mol%, the Pb content of 116 mol% (120% relative to a stoichiometric value) was optimum from the view point of site occupancy. This suggests that excess Pb prevented the A-site substitution of La ions.
Influence of Oxidative Stress on Biocontrol Activity of Cryptococcus laurentii against Blue Mold on Peach Fruit

The limitations of chemical fungicides for the control of postharvest diseases have recently become more apparent. The utilization of antagonistic microorganisms is a promising alternative to that of fungicides to control postharvest decay. In previous studies, the antagonistic yeast Cryptococcus laurentii has shown excellent effects of biocontrol and great potential for practical application. Adverse conditions, such as oxidative stress, limit the practical application of antagonistic yeast. In this study, we investigated the oxidative stress tolerance of C. laurentii and the associated mechanisms. The results indicated that exogenous oxidative stress has a significant effect on the viability and biocontrol efficiency of C. laurentii. H2O2-induced oxidative stress led to the accumulation of reactive oxygen species. The results of flow cytometric analysis suggested that apoptosis is responsible for the reduced survival rate of C. laurentii under oxidative stress. Using tests of antioxidant activity, we found that C. laurentii could employ enzymatic systems to resist exogenous oxidative stress. The addition of exogenous glutathione, a non-enzymatic antioxidant, to the media can significantly enhance oxidative tolerance and biocontrol efficiency of C. laurentii.