Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Deploying a quantum annealing processor to detect tree cover in aerial imagery of California

Quantum annealing is an experimental and potentially breakthrough computational technology for handling hard optimization problems, including problems of computer vision. We present a case study in training a production-scale classifier of tree cover in remote sensing imagery, using early-generation quantum annealing hardware built by D-wave Systems, Inc. Beginning within a known boosting framework, we train decision stumps on texture features and vegetation indices extracted from four-band, one-meter-resolution aerial imagery from the state of California. We then impose a regulated quadratic training objective to select an optimal voting subset from among these stumps. The votes of the subset define the classifier. For optimization, the logical variables in the objective function map to quantum bits in the hardware device, while quadratic couplings encode as the strength of physical interactions between the quantum bits. Hardware design limits the number of couplings between these basic physical entities to five or six. To account for this limitation in mapping large problems to the hardware architecture, we propose a truncation and rescaling of the training objective through a trainable metaparameter. The boosting process on our basic 108- and 508-variable problems, thus constituted, returns classifiers that incorporate a diverse range of color- and texture-based metrics and discriminate tree cover with accuracies as high as 92% in validation and 90% on a test scene encompassing the open space preserves and dense suburban build of Mill Valley, CA.
Single-row equidistant facility layout as a special case of single-row facility layout

In this paper we discuss two particular layout problems, namely the Single-Row Equidistant Facility Layout Problem (SREFLP) and the Single-Row Facility Layout Problem (SRFLP). Our aim is to consolidate the two respective branches in the layout literature. We show that the SREFLP is not only a special case of the Quadratic Assignment Problem but also a special case of the SRFLP. This new connection is relevant as the strongest exact methods for the SRFLP outperform the best approaches specialised to the SREFLP. We describe and compare the exact approaches for the SRFLP, the SREFLP and Linear Arrangement that is again a special case of the SREFLP. In a computational study we showcase that the strongest exact approach for the SRFLP clearly outperforms the strongest exact approach tailored to the SREFLP on medium and large benchmark instances from the literature.
Differences in Muscle Activation Between Submaximal and Maximal 6-Minute Rowing Tests

Gerževič, M, Strojnik, V, and Jarm, T. Differences in muscle activation between submaximal and maximal 6-minute rowing tests. J Strength Cond Res 25(9): 2470-2481, 2011—This study aimed to establish the differences in muscle activation between a 6-minute simulated race (all-out test) and a submaximal (blood lactate [LA] concentration 4 mmol·L−1) 6-minute effort (submax test) on a rowing ergometer. Eleven healthy, well-trained subjects performed the submax test followed after 1-hour rest by the all-out test. Surface electromyographic (sEMG) signal of muscles gastrocnemius medialis (GC), rectus femoris (RF), vastus lateralis (VL), biceps femoris, gluteus maximus (GM), erector spinae (ES), lower latissimus dorsi (LD_lo), upper latissimus dorsi (LD_up), brachioradialis (BR) and biceps brachii (BB), and other biomechanical, biochemical, and respiratory parameters were monitored during rowing. During the all-out test, the subjects covered a longer distance with larger average power output, higher stroke frequency, LA concentration, and oxygen consumption compared to the submax test (p < 0.05). During the submax test, the average rectified values (ARVs) of sEMG signal increased significantly only in the RF and LD_lo muscles. During the all-out test, the ARVs of the RF, VL, and GM muscles increased (p < 0.05), whereas the MDFs of the RF, ES, and LD_lo muscles decreased (p < 0.05). Compared to the submax test, the ARVs of the GC, RF, VL, LD_lo, LD_up, and BB muscles were significantly higher during the all-out test. However, only for the RF muscle, the all-out test resulted in a significantly lower MDF value compared to the submax test. The most involved muscles that would need special attention in training seem to be the leg and shoulder girdle extensors and arm flexors but not the trunk and hip extensors.
Effects of Engine Operating Parameters on Lean Combustion Limit of Hydrogen Enhanced Natural Gas Engine

An experimental study was conducted on a S.I. engine fueled by compressed natural gas and hydrogen blends (HCNG), in order to test different engine operating parameters that affect lean combustion limit (L.C.L) of HCNG engine. Firstly, constant ignition timing and ignition timing under maximum L.C. L (L.L.T) conditions were compared, then L.L. T conditions were adopted in this paper. The results indicated that for each condition, neither over-retarded nor over-advanced ignition timing are advised in order to achieve leaner combustion. L.C. L increases with hydrogen fraction in the blends, and slightly increases with throttle opening, while decreases when the engine speed is raised
Passive Fluidic Chip Composed of Integrated Vertical Capillary Tubes Developed for On-Site SPR Immunoassay Analysis Targeting Real Samples

We have successfully developed a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) measurement system for the on-site immunoassay of real samples. The system is composed of a portable SPR instrument (290 mm(W) × 160 mm(D) × 120 mm(H)) and a microfluidic immunoassay chip (16 mm(W) × 16 mm(D) × 4 mm(H)) that needs no external pump system. An integrated vertical capillary tube functions as a large volume (150 μL) passive pump and a waste reservoir that has sufficient capacity for several refill operations. An immunoassay was carried out that employed the direct injection of a buffer and a test sample in sequence into a microfluidic chip that included 9 antibody bands and 10 reference reagent bands immobilized in the flow channel. By subtracting a reliable averaged reference sensorgram from the antibody, we effectively reduced the influence of the non-specific binding, and then our chip successfully detected the specific binding of spiked IgG in non-homogeneous milk. IgG is a model antigen that is certain not to be present in non-homogeneous milk, and non-homogeneous milk is a model of real sample that includes many interfering foreign substances that induce non-specific binding. The direct injection of a real sample with no pretreatment enabled us to complete the entire immunoassay in several minutes. This ease of operation and short measuring time are acceptable for on-site agricultural, environmental and medical testing.
Video-aware time-domain resource partitioning in heterogeneous cellular networks

Heterogenous cellular networks (HCN) consist of macrocells and small cells that are overlaid in the same geographical area. Hence, is critical that the high power macrocell shuts off its transmissions for a fraction of the time to allow the low power small cells to transmit without interference. This is the time-domain resource partitioning (TDRP) mechanism. In this paper we investigate video communication in HCNs when TDRP is employed. More specifically we consider the problem of maximizing the average video quality of all users, by jointly optimizing the rate allocated to each specific video stream and the quality that it is streamed. The resulting mixed integer linear program (MILP) formulation is solved numerically. Simulation results indicate clearly that as the small cells and the users are increased the proposed system can improve significantly the video quality.
High-performers ’ Required Competencies in Automobile Industry

The use of competency systems for evaluation, reward, and promotion has become commonplace in many organizations in recent years. Competency development and management are widely regarded as vital tools to enhance competitiveness for organizations. The aim of this research was to distinguish the differences in competencies among high-, mediumand low-performers in the automobile industry. Data were collected from Ford-Right Co., Ltd., a Ford Car dealer in southern Taiwan. In doing so, a large number of required competencies can be reduced into a compact set that focuses on significant competencies of high-performers. Based on the literature, we propose that Ford-Right employees have ten competencies: analytical thinking, flexibility, innovation, leadership, socialization, positive responsibility, implementation, cooperative spirit, communication, and achievement orientation. The results of the MANOVA help us to explore high-performers’ required competencies. An empirical study is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed method. Based on our findings, conclusions and implications for management are presented.
Acoustic Microscopy of Ceramic Surfaces

Mechanical properties of ceramic surfaces such as hard- ness, indentation fracture toughness, and wear resistance are largely influenced by the behavior of small flaws and defects, such as micro- cracks, delaminations, voids, and inclusion located beneath the sur- face. Acoustic microscopy is particularly suited to study this phenom- enon because it can image microscopic subsurface features without sectioning. Furthermore, it has been revealed that the velocity and at- tenuation of the leaky surface wave can be measured; these are ex- pected to have close correlation with the mechanical properties of ma- terials. New results on the nondestructive observation of subsurface cracks of Si,N, and ZrO, and delamination of TIN coatings introduced by Vickers indentation or sliding contacts are presented. The mecha- nism of delamination and wear of these materials is discussed. It is shown that the velocity and attenuation of the leaky surface wave of TIN coatings and sintered AlzOn actually have close correlation with the hardness and wear resistance of these materials. The reason for these correlations is also discussed.
Bayesian Paragraph Vectors

Word2vec (Mikolov et al., 2013) has proven to be successful in natural language processing by capturing the semantic relationships between different words. Built on top of single-word embeddings, paragraph vectors (Le and Mikolov, 2014) find fixed-length representations for pieces of text with arbitrary lengths, such as documents, paragraphs, and sentences. In this work, we propose a novel interpretation for neural-network-based paragraph vectors by developing an unsupervised generative model whose maximum likelihood solution corresponds to traditional paragraph vectors. This probabilistic formulation allows us to go beyond point estimates of parameters and to perform Bayesian posterior inference. We find that the entropy of paragraph vectors decreases with the length of documents, and that information about posterior uncertainty improves performance in supervised learning tasks such as sentiment analysis and paraphrase detection.
A Graph-Based Approach for Mining Closed Large Itemsets

Data Mining means a process of nontrivial extraction of implicit, previously and potentially useful information from data in databases. Mining closed large itemsets is a further work of mining association rules, which aims to find the set of necessary subsets of large itemsets that could be representative of all large itemsets. In this paper, we design a graph-based approach, considering the character of data, to mine the closed large itemsets efficiently. Two features of market basket analysis are considered –the number of items is large; the number of associated items for each item is small. Combining the cut-point method and the clique concept, the new algorithm can find the closed large itemsets efficiently. The simulation results show that the new algorithm outperforms the FP-Growth algorithm in the execution time and the space of storage.
Fabrication and Characterization of High-density Polyethylene - Coconut Coir Composites with Stearic Acid as Compatibilizer

Composites of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with coconut coir as the fiber and stearic acid (SA) as the coupling agent were fabricated by compression molding. Coconut coir in the form of braided fibers and whiskers were used for the study. Incorporation of the coir, buckled the composites and decreased their tensile strength and elongation at break. The extent of buckling and deterioration in the mechanical properties was proportional to the amount of coir loaded as filler. Treatment of the coir with SA as the coupling agent enhanced the mechanical properties and the thermal stability of the composites. It also reduced the extent of buckling and prevented aging of the composites to certain extent in aqueous and strong acidic and alkaline media. Scanning electron micrographs of the fractured samples showed improved adhesion between coir and HDPE matrix upon treatment with SA.
Genetic Algorithm for Structural Optimization of Tubular Nanostructures

Why can metals or oxides form nanotubes, sometimes even chiral ones? How could silicon, which has little or no propensity for sp2 hybridization, form nanotubes akin with the well understood carbon nanotubes in which the atoms are unequivocally sp2 hybridized? It would be perhaps beneficial, if not expected, for the theory to step up to the plate and engage in the discovery of credible growth mechanisms and atomic structures for the tubular and multi‐shell structures that can determine future directions in nanoscience and nanotechnology. In an effort to contribute to answering these questions, we present here a global optimization method designed specifically for tubular structures. Due to the recent success of the genetic algorithms in elucidating structures of 1‐ and 2‐dimensional nanoscale materials, we base our optimization procedure on the same evolutionary principles. We have found that the cross‐over operations based on planar cuts (which were so successful previously) are not sufficient to ensure c.
AFM Studies of Thin Films as Nanobiosensor for Early Detection of Prostate Cancer

India has the highest incidences of prostate cancer in the world. The elevated occurrence of prostate cancer in India has long been linked with the lifestyle and family history. The survival rate of prostate cancer is 6080% when detected during its early stages; however, this number drops to 3040% when the cancer is diagnosed during the advanced stages. A sol-gel based nanobio sensor can be developed for the detection of prostate cancer from blood using Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), a prostate cancer marker. Solgel-derived materials can be exploited for the manufacturing of various optoelectronic devices, including sensors optodes and their protective layers, as well as other kinds of coatings. One of the objectives of present study is to explicate the changes in the internal environment of the sol-gel.
Human Posterior Parietal Cortex Plans Where to Reach and What to Avoid

In this time-resolved functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study, we aimed to trace the neuronal correlates of covert planning processes that precede visually guided motor behavior. Specifically, we asked whether human posterior parietal cortex has prospective planning activity that can be distinguished from activity related to retrospective visual memory and attention. Although various electrophysiological studies in monkeys have demonstrated such motor planning at the level of parietal neurons, comparatively little support is provided by recent human imaging experiments. Rather, a majority of experiments highlights a role of human posterior parietal cortex in visual working memory and attention. We thus sought to establish a clear separation of visual memory and attention from processes related to the planning of goal-directed motor behaviors. To this end, we compared delayed-response tasks with identical mnemonic and attentional demands but varying degrees of motor planning. Subjects memorized multiple target locations, and in a random subset of trials targets additionally instructed (1) desired goals or (2) undesired goals for upcoming finger reaches. Compared with the memory/attention-only conditions, both latter situations led to a specific increase of preparatory fMRI activity in posterior parietal and dorsal premotor cortex. Thus, posterior parietal cortex has prospective plans for upcoming behaviors while considering both types of targets relevant for action: those to be acquired and those to be avoided.
Sub-band-gap photoconductivity of individual α-Si3N4 nanowires

Single-crystalline α-Si3N4 nanowires with diameters of a few tens of nanometres were grown by combustion synthesis, and the I–V characteristics in individual α-Si3N4 nanowires upon different light exposure were investigated. The conductance exhibits a sharp and marked rise (about one order of magnitude) upon 254 nm ultraviolet (UV) light exposure; in contrast, it does not respond to a 532 nm green laser. The fast response and recovery as well as the good reversibility between the high and low conductivity states make α-Si3N4 nanowires promising candidates for solar-blind photodetectors.
Body Mass and Physical Activity and Risk of Gastric Cancer in a Population-Based Cohort Study in Norway

There is a relation between excess body mass index and overall cancer incidence and mortality, but the relation to noncardia gastric cancer is inconsistent. A high physical activity level decreases the risk of several cancers, but few studies have focused on gastric cancer. We conducted a population-based, prospective cohort study in Nord-Trondelag county in Norway. During 1984 to 1986, all adult residents were invited to participate in a health survey, where body height and weight were measured, and frequency, duration, and intensity of recreational physical activity, together with potential confounding factors, were assessed by questionnaires. New gastric cancers occurring during follow-up in 1984 to 2002 were identified by linkage to the Cancer Registry of Norway. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to calculate hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for age, sex, occupation, salt intake, smoking, and alcohol drinking. Follow-up of 73,133 cohort members (88% of all inhabitants) revealed 313 gastric cancers, including 264 noncardia cancers. No statistically significant associations were revealed between different levels of body mass index and risk of noncardia gastric cancer. A statistically significant 50% risk reduction among persons reporting at least a moderate level of recreational physical activity, based on a summary score of physical activity (hazard ratio, 0.5; 95% confidence interval, 0.3-0.9), and a dose-response relation was indicated (P for trend = 0.01). It is concluded that recreational physical activity might have a protective effect against gastric cancer. The sedentary lifestyle gaining ground in western societies might counteract the ongoing decrease in incidence of gastric cancer. (Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2008;17(1):135–40)
A Customized Metal Oxide Semiconductor-Based Gas Sensor Array for Onion Quality Evaluation: System Development and Characterization

A gas sensor array, consisting of seven Metal Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) sensors that are sensitive to a wide range of organic volatile compounds was developed to detect rotten onions during storage. These MOS sensors were enclosed in a specially designed Teflon chamber equipped with a gas delivery system to pump volatiles from the onion samples into the chamber. The electronic circuit mainly comprised a microcontroller, non-volatile memory chip, and trickle-charge real time clock chip, serial communication chip, and parallel LCD panel. User preferences are communicated with the on-board microcontroller through a graphical user interface developed using LabVIEW. The developed gas sensor array was characterized and the discrimination potential was tested by exposing it to three different concentrations of acetone (ketone), acetonitrile (nitrile), ethyl acetate (ester), and ethanol (alcohol). The gas sensor array could differentiate the four chemicals of same concentrations and different concentrations within the chemical with significant difference. Experiment results also showed that the system was able to discriminate two concentrations (196 and 1964 ppm) of methlypropyl sulfide and two concentrations (145 and 1452 ppm) of 2-nonanone, two key volatile compounds emitted by rotten onions. As a proof of concept, the gas sensor array was able to achieve 89% correct classification of sour skin infected onions. The customized low-cost gas sensor array could be a useful tool to detect onion postharvest diseases in storage.
Improved TMSE with imperfect CSI in MU- MIMO

Although tremendous progress has been made in the past years on MU-MIMO systems, there still exist a number of problems. We believe that the most important one is related to the channel state information (CSI). In wireless communications "Evaluation of Imperfect CSI Criterion in Multi User MIMO Transceiver System" is still area of concern. Multiple transmit and receive antennas can be used to form multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) channels to increase the capacity by a factor of the minimum number of transmit and receive antennas. In this paper, we propose a novel joint linear transceiver design for single-user multiple-input, multiple-output (SU-MIMO) systems and Multi-user multiple-input, multiple-output (MU-MIMO) systems employing improper signal constellations. A novel contribution in this paper is to derive a closed-form optimum linear pre coder and decoder for both the downlink and uplink MU-MIMO systems with improper modulation by solving the non convex optimization problem under total power constraint. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed design is improved over the previous design.
On fast approximate submodular minimization

We are motivated by an application to extract a representative subset of machine learning training data and by the poor empirical performance we observe of the popular minimum norm algorithm. In fact, for our application, minimum norm can have a running time of about O(n7) (O(n5) oracle calls). We therefore propose a fast approximate method to minimize arbitrary submodular functions. For a large sub-class of submodular functions, the algorithm is exact. Other submodular functions are iteratively approximated by tight submodular upper bounds, and then repeatedly optimized. We show theoretical properties, and empirical results suggest significant speedups over minimum norm while retaining higher accuracies.
Qualitative Spatial Modelling of Human Route Instructions to Mobile Robots

This paper describes our work on improving interaction between humans and mobile robots on navigation tasks. To represent and reason about humans' route instructions, a user-centered qualitative spatial model -- the Conceptual Route Graph -- is introduced. Three reasoning strategies based on this conceptual model are discussed, which enable a mobile robot to generate different clarification responses if spatial mismatches are detected in route instructions. Moreover, results of an empirical study to evaluate and compare their effects on people's navigation activities are presented.