Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Exploiting temporal correlation with adaptive block-size motion alignment for 3D wavelet coding

This paper proposes an adaptive block-size motion alignment technique in 3D wavelet coding to further exploit temporal correlations across pictures. Similar to B picture in traditional video coding, each macroblock can motion align from forward and/or backward for temporal wavelet de-composition. In each direction, a macroblock may select its partition from one of seven modes - 16x16, 8x16, 16x8, 8x8, 8x4, 4x8 and 4x4 - to allow accurate motion alignment. Furthermore, the rate-distortion optimization criterions are proposed to select motion mode, motion vectors and partition mode. Although the proposed technique greatly improves the accuracy of motion alignment, it does not directly bring the coding efficiency gain because of smaller block size and more block boundaries. Therefore, an overlapped block motion alignment is further proposed to cope with block boundaries and to suppress spatial high-frequency components. The experimental results show the proposed adaptive block-size motion alignment with the overlapped block motion alignment can achieve up to 1.0 dB gain in 3D wavelet video coding. Our 3D wavelet coder outperforms the MC-EZBC for most sequences by 1~2dB and we are doing up to 1.5 dB better than H.264.
Random-Collage Model for Natural

We study a model for scale invariance of natural images based on the idea of images as collages of statistically independent objects. The model takes occlusions into account, and shows an excellent qualitative, and good quantitative agreement with empirical data from natural images. At this point, the random-collage model is the only model which comes close to duplicating the simplest, elementary statistics of natural images | for example, the scale invariance property, the full co-occurrence statistics of two pixels, and the joint statistics of pairs of Haar wavelet responses.
International Conference on Computational Science , ICCS 2013 An experience of e-assessment in an introductory course on computer organization

This work describes how the CTPracticals Moodle module can be used for e-assessment in an introductory course on computer organization, where the practical content consists of the design and simulation of a basic CPU implemented using Logisim, a schematic-based educational tool for the design and simulation of digital circuits. A previous work extended this module to support the verification of codes written in Matlab. This work shows how this feature can be exploited to invoke external tools, i.e. Logisim, not only for the automatic verification of the student submissions, but also for a detailed analysis of the results that improves the assessment. The paper will also present some customization of Logisim that was necessary to improve its batch mode simulation in order to add some useful options that make it generate a richer output format.
Risk analysis of combustion system using vague ranking method

A new approach for vague risk analysis based on the ranking of trapezoidal vague sets is proposed. Firstly, a new method for ranking of vague sets is presented. Then, the proposed method is applied to developed a new method for dealing with vague risk analysis problems. This analysis helps us to find out the probability of failure of each components of combustion system, which could be used for managerial decision making and future system maintenance strategy. The proposed method provides a useful way for handling vague risk analysis problems.
EXTERNAL NORMS AND RATIONALITY OF CHOICE

Ever since Sen criticized the notion of internal consistency of choice, there exists a widespread perception that the standard rationalizability approach to the theory of choice has difficulties in coping with the existence of external norms. We introduce a concept of norm-conditional rationalizability and show that external norms can be made compatible with the methods underlying the traditional rationalizability approach. To do so, we characterize norm-conditional rationalizability by means of suitable modifications of revealed preference axioms that are well established in the theory of rational choice on general domains as analysed in contributions by Richter and Hansson, for example. We compare our approach to alternative suggestions that have appeared in response to Sen's criticisms, and we discuss its links to Sen's notion of self-imposed choice constraints.
Sense of agency : an investigation in typical, atypical and clinical populations

The sense of agency (SoA) refers to the feeling of control towards our actions and their effects in the outside world. The aim of this thesis was to study SoA to gain a better understanding of it and how it originated, particularly in light of the cue integration approach to SoA. Additionally, this work aimed to bring greater understanding of agency changes in populations where there has been little or no agency research. To achieve this, we used paradigms that created agentic uncertainty by modulating external agency cues. We found that the susceptibility to manipulation of external agency cues predicted schizotypy scores in healthy adults. We also showed that SoA in patients with anosognosia for hemiplegia is overall dominated by their intention to move, while external agency cues are discounted. When examining changes in SoA throughout adulthood, our results suggested that older adults rely more on internal agency cues and discount external cues; we showed that this is potentially a result of increased reliance on internal agency cues. For the first time, we investigated changes in SoA in people with Mirror-touch synaesthesia. We found that their experience of agency is more malleable than in non-synaesthetes, perhaps due to an enhanced saliency of external cues in the creation of SoA. Having tested SoA in these groups, we looked at the neural mechanisms that might be responsible for the observed SoA changes. We used transcranial Direct Current Stimulation to test the contribution of right Temporo Parietal Junction to agency processing, in response to the same tasks used in the previous chapters. Lastly, we investigated the relationship between sense of agency and sense of ownership, a theme running throughout this thesis. We suggest that the cue integration approach is a valid framework to understand SoA and discuss future directions.
Location-Based Skyline Queries in Wireless Sensor Networks

Skyline query is a typical multi-attributes query and very useful in sensor networks application including environment monitoring, etc. This paper defines location-based skyline queries in wireless sensor networks and proposes an energy-efficient snapshot location-based skyline query processing approach (Ring-Skyline, RS). RS divides the monitoring area into several rings and adopts in-network query processing to reduce energy consumption. In each ring, some sensor nodes are selected as server nodes and responsible for distributing query and aggregating data with information of one-hop range neighbor nodes. RS also can progressively returns the query results so as to improve response time. Simulation results show RS scheme can achieve lower energy consumption and smaller response time while keeping the precision of querying.
Reinvestigating the Impact of Final Ritardandi on Music Evaluation and Felt Musical Tension

According to Huron’s (2006) expectancy-based model, final ritardandi elicit background feelings of tension that contrast with, and thereby heighten, the positive feelings that result when the music resolves as expected. In a recent study, Kleinsmith, Friedman, and Neill (2016) tested this hypothesis by asking participants to evaluate musical stimuli that either included or failed to include final ritardandi. However, their results showed no impact of these timing variations on music preference. In Experiment 1 of the present study, we constructively replicated the Kleinsmith et al. (2016) study, appending two new conditions, one in which final ritardandi were performed in conjunction with diminuendi and another in which they were exaggeratedly slow. Results revealed that music ending in exaggerated ritardandi sounded less pleasant; yet, standard ritardandi again failed to make the music sound more pleasant. In Experiments 2 and 3, we assessed whether final ritardandi indeed heighten feelings of tension, which is one of the fundamental assumptions of the expectancy-based model. Results provided no evidence for this proposition; if anything, continuous ratings of tension declined during ritardandi. However, a follow-up study (Experiment 4) suggested that these declines may be triggered by the closing harmonic progression rather than the ritardando itself. Together, our results fail to support the expectancy-based model of ritardando function, whereas they are consistent with, albeit not directly supportive of, the traditional notion that these timing variations serve to communicate the hierarchical structure of the music.
The potential of letrozole use for priming in vitro maturation cycles

Objective: To compare the pregnancy rates with two different methods of priming for in vitro maturation cycles (IVM). Cycles using letrozole together with hCG were compared to cycles using FSH together with hCG in 75 cycles in patients being treated for infertility by IVM. Study design: Retrospective cohort non-inferiority trial Results: Using letrozole for priming was found to not be inferior to using FSH for priming cycles. The live birth rate per transfer was 31.6% in letrozole primed cycles compared to 20.8% in FSH primed cycles (not significant). However, FSH priming produced more oocytes that were mature on the day of retrieval (p = 0.004) and also resulted in more high quality embryos than did letrozole priming (p = 0.004). Conclusion: Letrozole may be used for priming in IVM cycles in which the clinician views the characteristics of letrozole as more desirable than FSH.
High frequency oscillation in patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To determine clinical and physiological effects of high frequency oscillation compared with conventional ventilation in patients with acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Design Systematic review and meta-analysis. Data sources Electronic databases to March 2010, conference proceedings, bibliographies, and primary investigators. Study selection Randomised controlled trials of high frequency oscillation compared with conventional ventilation in adults or children with acute lung injury/ARDS. Data selection Three authors independently extracted data on clinical, physiological, and safety outcomes according to a predefined protocol. We contacted investigators of all included studies to clarify methods and obtain additional data. Analyses used random effects models. Results Eight randomised controlled trials (n=419 patients) were included; almost all patients had ARDS. Methodological quality was good. The ratio of partial pressure of oxygen to inspired fraction of oxygen at 24, 48, and 72 hours was 16-24% higher in patients receiving high frequency oscillation. There were no significant differences in oxygenation index because mean airway pressure rose by 22-33% in patients receiving high frequency oscillation (P≤0.01). In patients randomised to high frequency oscillation, mortality was significantly reduced (risk ratio 0.77, 95% confidence interval 0.61 to 0.98, P=0.03; six trials, 365 patients, 160 deaths), and treatment failure (refractory hypoxaemia, hypercapnoea, hypotension, or barotrauma) resulting in discontinuation of assigned therapy was less likely (0.67, 0.46 to 0.99, P=0.04; five trials, 337 patients, 73 events). Other risks were similar. There was substantial heterogeneity between trials for physiological (I2=21-95%) but not clinical (I2=0%) outcomes. Pooled results were based on few events for most clinical outcomes. Conclusion High frequency oscillation might improve survival and is unlikely to cause harm. As ongoing large multicentre trials will not be completed for several years, these data help clinicians who currently use or are considering this technique for patients with ARDS.
The effects of sleep extension on the athletic performance of collegiate basketball players.

STUDY OBJECTIVES To investigate the effects of sleep extension over multiple weeks on specific measures of athletic performance as well as reaction time, mood, and daytime sleepiness. SETTING Stanford Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Laboratory and Maples Pavilion, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. PARTICIPANTS Eleven healthy students on the Stanford University men's varsity basketball team (mean age 19.4 ± 1.4 years). INTERVENTIONS Subjects maintained their habitual sleep-wake schedule for a 2-4 week baseline followed by a 5-7 week sleep extension period. Subjects obtained as much nocturnal sleep as possible during sleep extension with a minimum goal of 10 h in bed each night. Measures of athletic performance specific to basketball were recorded after every practice including a timed sprint and shooting accuracy. Reaction time, levels of daytime sleepiness, and mood were monitored via the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and Profile of Mood States (POMS), respectively. RESULTS Total objective nightly sleep time increased during sleep extension compared to baseline by 110.9 ± 79.7 min (P < 0.001). Subjects demonstrated a faster timed sprint following sleep extension (16.2 ± 0.61 sec at baseline vs. 15.5 ± 0.54 sec at end of sleep extension, P < 0.001). Shooting accuracy improved, with free throw percentage increasing by 9% and 3-point field goal percentage increasing by 9.2% (P < 0.001). Mean PVT reaction time and Epworth Sleepiness Scale scores decreased following sleep extension (P < 0.01). POMS scores improved with increased vigor and decreased fatigue subscales (P < 0.001). Subjects also reported improved overall ratings of physical and mental well-being during practices and games. CONCLUSIONS Improvements in specific measures of basketball performance after sleep extension indicate that optimal sleep is likely beneficial in reaching peak athletic performance.
Co-creating embodied sketches playing as a method to design with children

Designing body games, games in which the main source of enjoyment comes from bodily engagement, is not an easy task. This article reports on a holistic design approach that considers the social and physical setting of the activity as design resources, together with the technology. We introduce the concept of embodied sketching as a method to gauge how different configurations of resources make for a good design. We report on the experience of using embodied sketching in exploratory workshops with children, as a way to co-create design ideas. The explorations were based on simple games implemented in a technological prototype, which allowed organizers and children to collectively explore game variations by changing the rules of the game, the physical configurations, and the roles of players. We report on our takeaways from four workshops at four different schools in three different countries.
Catch me if you can: Predicting mobility patterns of public transport users

Direct and easy access to public transport information is an important factor for improving the satisfaction and experience of transport users. In the future, public transport information systems could be turned into personalized recommender systems which can help riders save time, make more effective decisions and avoid frustrating situations. In this paper, we present a predictive study of the mobility patterns of public transport users to lay the foundation for transport information systems with proactive capabilities. By making use of travel card data from a large population of bus riders, we describe algorithms that can anticipate bus stops accessed by individual riders to generate knowledge about future transport access patterns. To this end, we investigate and compare different prediction algorithms that can incorporate various influential factors on mobility in public transport networks, e.g., travel distance or travel hot spots. In our evaluation, we demonstrate that by combining personal and population-wide mobility patterns we can improve prediction accuracy, even with little knowledge of past behavior of transport users.
Prediction of transcription terminators in bacterial genomes.

This study describes an algorithm that finds rho-independent transcription terminators in bacterial genomes and evaluates the accuracy of its predictions. The algorithm identifies terminators by searching for a common mRNA motif: a hairpin structure followed by a short uracil-rich region. For each terminator, an energy-scoring function that reflects hairpin stability, and a tail-scoring function based on the number of U nucleotides and their proximity to the stem, are computed. A confidence value can be assigned to each terminator by analyzing candidate terminators found both within and between genes, and taking into account the energy and tail scores. The confidence is an empirical estimate of the probability that the sequence is a true terminator. The algorithm was used to conduct a comprehensive analysis of 12 bacterial genomes to identify likely candidates for rho-independent transcription terminators. Four of these genomes (Deinococcus radiodurans, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae and Vibrio cholerae) were found to have large numbers of rho-independent terminators. Among the other genomes, most appear to have no transcription terminators of this type, with the exception of Thermotoga maritima. A set of 131 experimentally determined E. coli terminators was used to evaluate the sensitivity of the method, which ranges from 89 % to 98 %, with corresponding false positive rates of 2 % and 18 %.
Flaw in SVD-based Watermarking

In the recent years, many papers have been published on the use of singular value decomposition (SVD) for watermarking because of its robust nature. The singular values that are produced are very stable and vary very little under attacks. This introduces an ideal medium for which a watermark is embedded for robust watermarking. Nevertheless a severe flaw has been discovered by Zhang and Li in (X. Zhang et al., 2005) which is based on an image watermarking technique proposed by Liu and Tan in (R. Liu et al., 2002). In this paper the discovered flaw is explored and tested for a SVD-based audio watermarking technique proposed by Ozer et al. in (H. Zer et al., 2005) Ozer proposed a technique in which the audio signal is first transformed into matrix form using the short-time Fourier transform (STFT). The SVD is then used to decompose the STFT matrix in order to produce its singular values. As the watermark is embedded, two matrices are formed as a byproduct of the watermark and sent to the detector along with the watermarked signal. The flaw arises in the detection stage of this technique. Experiments show that the detection stage depends primarily on the passed information and depends very little on the watermarked signal. Therefore by altering the watermarked signal with various attacks gives a false sense of robustness and can easily be seen as an extremely robust system
The Promise of Teacher Inquiry and Reflection: Early Childhood Teachers as Change Agents

Abstract In this article, a preschool teacher and an early childhood teacher educator describe and analyze their work co-creating and co-facilitating an early childhood inquiry group over seven years. The group consisted of veteran lead teachers, assistant teachers, instructional coaches, and an outside teacher educator at an urban, public preschool in San Francisco, California. Using the framework of narrative inquiry and portraiture, the article tells the story of the group’s formation, its structure, and its benefits for the participants’ personal and professional growth. The authors argue that an inquiry group is a highly viable, home-grown form of professional growth that relies on the group as a forum for self-study and reflection. The inquiry group provided the teachers with an increased understanding of child development and instructional strategies, a trusting public forum for sharing and validating their inquiry and teaching, and a communal opportunity to make visible the voices of teachers, children, and families.
The objective and perceived built environment: What matters for happiness?

Abstract Subjective well-being, or a positive evaluation of one’s own life, is an important component of human health. The concept is regularly used as a policy measure for social progress, with proponents promoting the idea of the ‘happy city’. But empirical research on ways to nurture subjective well-being through urban planning remains limited. Previous relevant research has considered the impact of specific aspects of the built environment on components of subjective well-being, but a gap exists in literature on the exploration of multiple built environment effects on multiple components of subjective well-being. This study fills this gap. It presents a quantitative analysis of results from a survey of 562 households in Sydney, Australia. The relative influence of objective and perceived built environment variables are analysed with multiple elements of subjective well-being to show a more comprehensive picture of the impacts of place on subjective well-being. We found perceived evaluations of built environment characteristics were more often associated with subjective well-being, with perceptions of aesthetics and community cohesion particularly important. The paper concludes with recommendations for policy and research, including the need to incorporate perceived measures of built environment and health variables in analyses of links between built environments and health.
INS-camera calibration without ground control points

In this paper we present an approach for performing system calibration of a sensor suite consisting of a fixed mounted camera and an inertial navigation system without the usage of a photogrammetric calibration site. The aim of the presented work is to obtain accurate direct georeferencing of camera images collected with manned or unmanned aerial systems for search and rescue tasks. These time-critical missions require a straightforward calibration which can be performed without additional equipment. This induces an in-flight calibration of the intrinsic camera parameters in addition to the mounting offsets between the camera and the inertial navigation system. The optimization of these values can be done by introducing them as parameters into a bundle adjustment process. We show how to solve this by exploiting a graph optimization framework. The evaluation of the proposed approach with data from flight experiments leads to an improvement of roughly factor six compared to a terrestrial calibration.
Emergent Behavior and Mobile Agents

Naturally occurring multi-agent systems exhibit remarkable problem solving capabilities even in the absence of centralized planning. These syst ems exhibit complex, emergent behavior that is robust with respect to the failure of indi vidual agents. Such systems are usually characterized by the interaction of a large n umber of simple agents that sense and change their environment locally. In this paper, we di scuss mobile agents and how they represent a novel problem solving paradigm that can exploit naturally occurring multi agent system (biological) metaphors. We introduce the principle of synthetic ecologies of chemically inspired agents in order to model problem solvin g behavior in networks. We demonstrate the utility of the architectural principles by describing example applications for problem solving in the communications domain.