Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Schur Complement Preconditioners for Surface Integral-Equation Formulations of Dielectric Problems Solved with the Multilevel Fast Multipole Algorithm

Surface integral-equation methods accelerated with the multilevel fast multipole algorithm (MLFMA) provide a suitable mechanism for electromagnetic analysis of real-life dielectric problems. Unlike the perfect-electric-conductor case, discretizations of surface formulations of dielectric problems yield $2 \times 2$ partitioned linear systems. Among various surface formulations, the combined tangential formulation (CTF) is the closest to the category of first-kind integral equations, and hence it yields the most accurate results, particularly when the dielectric constant is high and/or the dielectric problem involves sharp edges and corners. However, matrix equations of CTF are highly ill-conditioned, and their iterative solutions require powerful preconditioners for convergence. Second-kind surface integral-equation formulations yield better conditioned systems, but their conditionings significantly degrade when real-life problems include high dielectric constants. In this paper, for the first time in the context of surface integral-equation methods of dielectric objects, we propose Schur complement preconditioners to increase their robustness and efficiency. First, we approximate the dense system matrix by a sparse near-field matrix, which is formed naturally by MLFMA. The Schur complement preconditioning requires approximate solutions of systems involving the (1,1) partition and the Schur complement. We approximate the inverse of the (1,1) partition with a sparse approximate inverse (SAI) based on the Frobenius norm minimization. For the Schur complement, we first approximate it via incomplete sparse matrix-matrix multiplications, and then we generate its approximate inverse with the same SAI technique. Numerical experiments on sphere, lens, and photonic crystal problems demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed preconditioners. In particular, the results for the photonic crystal problem, which has both surface singularity and a high dielectric constant, shows that accurate CTF solutions for such problems can be obtained even faster than with second-kind integral equation formulations, with the acceleration provided by the proposed Schur complement preconditioners.
Multi-objective Evolutionary Algorithms for filter Based Feature Selection in Classification

Feature selection is a multi-objective problem with the two main conflicting objectives of minimising the number of features and maximising the classification performance. However, most existing feature selection algorithms are single objective and do not appropriately reflect the actual need. There are a small number of multi-objective feature selection algorithms, which are wrapper based and accordingly are computationally expensive and less general than filter algorithms. Evolutionary computation techniques are particularly suitable for multi-objective optimisation because they use a population of candidate solutions and are able to find multiple non-dominated solutions in a single run. However, the two well-known evolutionary multi-objective algorithms, nondominated sorting based multi-objective genetic algorithm II (NSGAII) and strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm 2 (SPEA2) have not been applied to filter based feature selection. In this work, based on NSGAII and SPEA2, we develop two multi-objective, filter based feature selection frameworks. Four multi-objective feature selection methods are then developed by applying mutual information and entropy as two different filter evaluation criteria in each of the two proposed frameworks. The proposed multi-objective algorithms are examined and compared with a single objective method and three traditional methods (two filters and one wrapper) on eight benchmark datasets. A decision tree is employed to test the classification performance. Experimental results show that the proposed multi-objective algorithms can automatically evolve a set of non-dominated solutions that include a smaller number of features and achieve better classification performance than using all features. NSGAII and SPEA2 outperform the single objective algorithm, the two traditional filter algorithms and even the traditional wrapper algorithm in terms of both the number of features and the classification performance in most cases. NSGAII achieves similar performance to SPEA2 for the datasets that consist of a small number of features and slightly better results when the number of features is large. This work represents the first study on NSGAII and SPEA2 for filter feature selection in classification problems with both providing field leading classification performance.
Extending the PPM branch predictor

In superscalar architectures, branch prediction techniques are necessary to handle control dependences, boosting the instruction fetch and increasing the number of available useful instructions for parallel execution. Nowadays, most of branch predictors use a kind of table containing branch histories and target addresses. These histories generate different patterns that appear many times with probabilities that depend on the program execution flow. The PPM (prediction partial matching) predictor, which works with branch pattern probabilities, was analyzed and used as base for the development of a more aggressive model, denominated TDPP (Transition Dependent Probability Predictor). This new model was analyzed and evaluated on the SimpleScalar Tool Set Platform. The results obtained in the SPEC 2000 benchmarks reached average hit rates about 98% for 16-bits history sizes. The TDPP model was more efficient than PPM and appropriate for real implementation in the near future.
An Incremental Implementation of the Utterance-Boundary Approach to Speech Segmentation

The problem of speech segmentation is a well-known challenge for various studies, such as language acquisition: how do children correctly infer the position of word boundaries in the continuous stream of speech? One solution to this problem, referred to as the utterance-boundary strategy , is to reuse the information provided by the occurrence of spe-ciﬁc phonemes sequences at utterance edges in order to hypothesize boundaries inside utterances. In this paper, we describe a probabilistic and incremental implementation of this approach and discuss the results observed for a word segmentation task on a phonemically transcribed and child-oriented French corpus. We show in particular that the ﬁrst boundaries inferred by this algorithm seem to be reliable enough to make useful generalizations for later decisions
Error Analysis of Laplacian Eigenmaps for Semi-supervised Learning

We study the error and sample complexity of semi-supervised learning by Laplacian Eignmaps at the limit of infinite unlabeled data. We provide a bound on the error, and show that it is controlled by the graph Laplacian regularizer. Our analysis also gives guidance to the choice of the number of eigenvectors k to use: when the data lies on a d-dimensional domain, the optimal choice of k is of order (n/ log(n)) d d+2 , yielding an asymptotic error rate of (n/ log(n))− 2 2+d .
Automated quantification of inherited phenotypes from color images: a twin study of the variability of optic nerve head shape.

PURPOSE Discovery and description of heritable optic nerve head (ONH) phenotypes have been haphazard. In this preliminary study, the authors test the hypothesis that inheritable phenotypes can be discovered and quantified computationally by estimating three-dimensional ONH shape parameters from stereo color photographs from the Twins Eye Study in Tasmania and determining how much of the variability in ONH shape is accounted for by genetic influence. METHODS Three-dimensional ONH shape was estimated by an automated algorithm from stereoscopic optic disc color photographs of a random sample of 172 subjects (344 eyes, 45 pairs of monozygotic [MZ] and 41 dizygotic [DZ] twins). Shape resemblances between eyes were quantified with a distance metric. The heritability of the shape resemblance was determined both through the distribution of the discongruence indices and through structural equation modeling techniques (ACE model). RESULTS Significantly different discongruence indices were found for MZ (1.0286; 95% CI, 0.9872-1.0701) and DZ twins (1.4218; 95% CI, 1.2631-1.5804); larger indices for DZ twins indicated that variability was substantially determined by genetic factors. The standardized variances of the A(dditive genetic), C(ommon environmental), and (nonshared) E(nvironmental) components were 0.80, 2.00 × 10(-15) and 0.20, respectively, for all OD, and 0.79, 3.24 × 10(-14), and 0.21 for all OS. CONCLUSIONS This preliminary study shows that quantitative phenotyping of the ONH shape from color images leads to phenotypes that can be measured and are largely under genetic control. The association of these inherited phenotypes with genotypes deserves confirmation and further study.
A prospective, randomised, controlled study examining binaural beat audio and pre‐operative anxiety in patients undergoing general anaesthesia for day case surgery *

Pre‐operative anxiety is common and often significant. Ambulatory surgery challenges our pre‐operative goal of an anxiety‐free patient by requiring people to be ‘street ready’ within a brief period of time after surgery. Recently, it has been demonstrated that music can be used successfully to relieve patient anxiety before operations, and that audio embedded with tones that create binaural beats within the brain of the listener decreases subjective levels of anxiety in patients with chronic anxiety states. We measured anxiety with the State‐Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaire and compared binaural beat audio (Binaural Group) with an identical soundtrack but without these added tones (Audio Group) and with a third group who received no specific intervention (No Intervention Group). Mean [95% confidence intervals] decreases in anxiety scores were 26.3%[19–33%] in the Binaural Group (p = 0.001 vs. Audio Group, p < 0.0001 vs. No Intervention Group), 11.1%[6–16%] in the Audio Group (p = 0.15 vs. No Intervention Group) and 3.8%[0–7%] in the No Intervention Group. Binaural beat audio has the potential to decrease acute pre‐operative anxiety significantly.
A two-step Hilbert transform method for 2D image reconstruction

The paper describes a new accurate two-dimensional (2D) image reconstruction method consisting of two steps. In the first step, the backprojected image is formed after taking the derivative of the parallel projection data. In the second step, a Hilbert filtering is applied along certain lines in the differentiated backprojection (DBP) image. Formulae for performing the DBP step in fan-beam geometry are also presented. The advantage of this two-step Hilbert transform approach is that in certain situations, regions of interest (ROIs) can be reconstructed from truncated projection data. Simulation results are presented that illustrate very similar reconstructed image quality using the new method compared to standard filtered backprojection, and that show the capability to correctly handle truncated projections. In particular, a simulation is presented of a wide patient whose projections are truncated laterally yet for which highly accurate ROI reconstruction is obtained.
“ Cultural Fit ” : Individual and Societal Discrepancies in Values , Beliefs , and Subjective Well-Being

The author examined the relationship between cultural values, beliefs, and subjective well-being (SWB) in the context of the " cultural fit " proposition with 3 diverse Chinese samples from Taiwan and Mainland China (N = 581). The author found that beliefs regarding the independent self, the interdependent self, active control, and relationship harmony as forming individual-level culture were consistently related to SWB. Furthermore, the author found that the magnitude of cultural fit was associated with SWB for certain groups of the Chinese people. It is most interesting that the direction of cultural fit regarding independent self was also important for SWB. Specifically, people who endorsed higher independent self but expected lower societal endorsement of such views were better off in SWB than those of the opposite combination. SUBJECTIVE WELL-BEING (SWB; a term that is often used interchangeably with happiness)—researchers generally operationalize it as both a predominance of positive affect over negative affect and a global satisfaction with life (Argyle, Martin, & Lu, 1995; Diener, 1984), thus encompassing both affective and cogni-tive elements. More recently, because of developments in the field, researchers have started to focus on cross-cultural samples and on the influence of culture on SWB. In the present article, I will propose a " cultural fit " to conceptualize culture at multiple levels and examine its relationship with SWB.
A Genetic Based Pattern Mining approach for Search engine optimization

Generation of query oriented relevant information from search engine is always an interesting research issue in the field of information retrieval because of billions of relevant and irrelevant information available over internet. Satisfying the user search goal is a complex task when searching for a user specific query because of billions of related and unrelated data available over the network. In this proposed approach we are proposing an empirical model of search mechanism with FP Tree for finding frequent set of patterns (sequence of urls) and evolutionary algorithm for optimal results from efficient feedback sessions (based on query clicks) that are constructed from user click-through logs and can efficiently reflect the information needs of the users.
Human and humanoid robot interaction using 6-axis force torque sensors

This paper presents a human and humanoid robot interaction method using 6-axis force/torque sensors. The Zero Moment Point (ZMP) can be calculated in real time when external forces from human act on the robot. Then the robot will perceive the human intention and walk along the direction where ZMP is moving. We develop a unified formulation of real-time ZMP detection system using 6-axis force/torque sensor in the framework of Lie group. Then the robot is controlled to walk along the ZMP moving direction. Experiment is conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed human-robot interaction control system.
Digital Beauty: The good, the bad, and the (not-so) ugly.

Today, digital retouching of your pictures is made possible in the latest smartphones and cameras at the touch of a button. What is more, all of this can be achieved transparently to the user, in real time, just as the image is acquired or added afterwards, allowing users to manipulate and enhance individual faces according to their personal preferences.
Prediction of the Mechanism of Action of Fusaricidin on Bacillus subtilis

Long-term use of antibiotics has engendered a large number of resistant pathogens, which pose a serious threat to human health. Here, we investigated the mechanism of fusaricidin antibacterial activity toward Bacillus subtilis and characterized the pathways responsible for drug resistance. We found that σw, an extracytoplasmic function sigma factor, plays an important role in the resistance to fusaricidins during the initial 5 minutes of drug addition. Approximately 18 genes were induced more than 3-fold, of which 66.7% are known to be regulated by σw. Over the following 3 h, fusaricidins induced 194 genes more than three-fold, and most were associated with classes of antibiotic-responsive stimulons. Moreover, the fusaricidin treatment increased the catabolism of fatty and amino acids but strongly repressed glucose decomposition and gluconeogenesis. In summary, our data provide insight into the mechanism of fusaricidin activity, on which we based our suggested strategies for the development of novel antibiotic agents.
Stated Preferences for Dog Characteristics and Sources of Acquisition

Simple Summary How people choose to acquire dogs and the characteristics they seek may provide insight into perceptions of ethical and socially responsible dog ownership, as acquiring a dog is the first step in dog ownership. Even if one does not intend to acquire a dog, perceptions of acquisition methods may impact views of pet industries and/or voting behaviors related to animal welfare regulation. This analysis (1) investigates the relationships between U.S. resident demographics and their level of agreement regarding statements related to dog acquisition and welfare considerations, (2) analyzes the relationships between U.S. resident demographics and their views on dog characteristics, and (3) analyzes U.S. residents’ relative ranking (in terms of most ethical) ways to acquire a dog. The findings of the current study affirm that appearance, compatibility with owner lifestyles, previous experience, and cost inform people’s decisions about dog acquisition. The relative importance of these criteria varied across respondents; as has been previously observed, women favored rescue/adoption more than men. Our results collectively indicate the growing appeal of adopting dogs from shelters and rescue organizations for many respondent segments. Different segments of the companion animal industry and those with different dog interests may want to consider tailoring their education and/or marketing communications to these groups accordingly. Abstract People’s preferences for where they acquire dogs and the characteristics they focus on may provide insight into their perceptions of socially responsible pet ownership, as acquiring a dog is the first step in dog ownership. An online survey of 1523 U.S. residents was used to aid understanding of public perceptions of dog acquisition. Likert-scale questions allowed respondents to assign a level of agreement, within the given scale, to ten statements related to dog acquisition. A significantly higher percentage of women (39.6%) than men (31.7%) agreed that the only responsible way to acquire a dog is through a shelter/rescue. More women (71.3%) than men (66.4%), as well as those with a higher household income (71%), identified source as important. Best-worst methodology was used to elicit perceptions regarding the most/least ethical ways to acquire a dog. Three subgroups were identified, one of which had an overwhelmingly large preference share (96%) for adoption. The second group had more evenly distributed preference shares amongst the various dog acquisition methods, while the third indicated a preference for “homeless” pets. Additional investigation of the values/beliefs underlying the preferences of these groups is necessary to design appropriately tailored companion animal-focused communication strategies for these different groups.
Decision Algorithms for Fibonacci-Automatic Words, with Applications to Pattern Avoidance

We implement a decision procedure for answering questions about a class of infinite words that might be called (for lack of a better name) "Fibonacci-automatic". This class includes, for example, the famous Fibonacci word f = 01001010. , the fixed point of the morphism 0 -> 01 and 1 -> 0. We then recover many results about the Fibonacci word from the literature (and improve some of them), such as assertions about the occurrences in f of squares, cubes, palindromes, and so forth. As an application of our method we prove a new result: there exists an aperiodic infinite binary word avoiding the pattern x x x^R. This is the first avoidability result concerning a nonuniform morphism proven purely mechanically.
An Experimental Study on Density Log Correction for Plastic Cased Slim Boreholes

The stand-off errors due to the different separations between the sonde and the borehole wall were measured and analyzed in 4 physical borehole models located in Kangwon National University having different densities with cylindrical and half cylindrical PVC and/or acrylic casings. The analysis of the stand-off error data based on the "spine and ribs" technique suggests a well defined rib line for each model irrespectively of the types and thicknesses of the casing, and that the gradients of the ribs are proportional to the densities of the models. By using these characteristics successful density correction could be made for the plastic casings in NX sized boreholes.
Health‐related quality of life among persons with irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review

Aim : To perform a systematic review of the literature with three objectives: (1) to compare the health related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with irritable bowel syndrome with that of healthy controls; (2) to compare the HRQoL of irritable bowel syndrome patients to those with other diseases; and (3) to examine therapy‐associated changes in HRQoL of irritable bowel syndrome patients.
Counselling in primary care: a systematic review of the evidence

Abstract Primary objective: To undertake a systematic review which aimed to locate, appraise and synthesise evidence to obtain a reliable overview of the clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and user perspectives regarding counselling in primary care. Main results: Evidence from 26 studies was presented as a narrative synthesis and demonstrated that counselling is effective in the short term, is as effective as CBT with typical heterogeneous primary care populations and more effective than routine primary care for the treatment of non-specific generic psychological problems, anxiety and depression. Counselling may reduce levels of referrals to psychiatric services, but does not appear to reduce medication, the number of GP consultations or overall costs. Patients are highly satisfied with the counselling they have received in primary care and prefer counselling to medication for depression. Conclusions and implications for future research: This review demonstrates the value of counselling as a valid.
Studi Penyediaan Nanokristal Selulosa dari Tandan Kosong Sawit (Tks)

Isolation and characterization cellulose nanocrystal of alpha cellulose from Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) have been performed. Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) was delignificated with 3,5% HNO 3 and NaNO 2 , precipitated with17.5% NaOH, bleaching process with 10% H 2 O 2 . Nanocrystal obtained through the hydrolysis of alpha cellulose using 45% H 2 SO 4 . Nanocrystal surface structures cellulose analyzed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the results show that the resulting cellulose Nanocrystal size 79 nm. Analysis of thermal degradation using Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) showed that cellulose Nanocrystal starting temperature of 160 o C decomposes. It shows the process of cellulose Nanocrystal isolation of alpha cellulose has occurred. Keywords: empty fruit bunches palm, hydrolisys, nanocrystal cellulose
An Augmented Autoregressive Approach to HTTP Video Stream Quality Prediction

HTTP-based video streaming technologies allow for flexible rate selection strategies that account for time-varying network conditions. Such rate changes may adversely affect the user's Quality of Experience; hence online prediction of the time varying subjective quality can lead to perceptually optimised bitrate allocation policies. Recent studies have proposed to use dynamic network approaches for continuous-time prediction; yet they do not consider multiple video quality models as inputs nor consider forecasting ensembles. Here we address the problem of predicting continuous-time subjective quality using multiple inputs fed to a non-linear autoregressive network. By considering multiple network configurations and by applying simple averaging forecasting techniques, we are able to considerably improve prediction performance and decrease forecasting errors.