Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Gender and Ethnicity Classification Using Partial Face in Biometric Applications

As the number of biometric applications increases, the use of non-ideal information such as images which are not strictly controlled, images taken covertly, or images where the main interest is partially occluded, also increases. Face images are a specific example of this. In these non-ideal instances, other information, such as gender and ethnicity, can be determined to narrow the search space and/or improve the recognition results. Some research exists for gender classification using partial-face images, but there is little research involving ethnic classifications on such images. Few datasets have had the ethnic diversity needed and sufficient subjects for each ethnicity to perform this evaluation. Research is also lacking on how gender and ethnicity classifications on partial face are impacted by age. If the extracted gender and ethnicity information is to be integrated into a larger system, some measure of the reliability of the extracted information is needed. This study will provide an analysis of gender and ethnicity classification on large datasets captured by non-researchers under day-to-day operations using texture, color, and shape features extracted from partial-face regions. This analysis will allow for a greater understanding of the limitations of various facial regions for gender and ethnicity classifications. These limitations will guide the integration of automatically extracted partial-face gender and ethnicity information with a biometric face application in order to improve recognition under non-ideal circumstances. Overall, the results from this work showed that reliable gender and ethnic classification can be achieved from partial face images. Different regions of the face hold varying amount of gender and ethnicity information. For machine classification, the upper face regions hold more ethnicity information while the lower face regions hold more gender information. All regions were impacted by age, but the eyes were impacted the most in texture and color. The shape of the nose changed more with respect to age than any of the other regions.
Teaching Pro-Cite

In the Fall of 1988, a committee, working under the University of Maryland at Baltimore's IAlMS initiative, reviewed several reprint file management packages in order to select one software package which the campus would support. Pro-Cite was the sofiware ultimately selected. The Information Services Division of the Health Sciences Library was given the responsibility for Pro-Cite education and support on campus. This article relates the experiences of the authors in developing and teaching a Pro-Cite class.
Genetic and reinforcement-based rule extraction for regulator control

This paper proposes a novel system for rule extraction of regulator control problems. The system employs a hybrid genetic search and reinforcement learning. The learning strategy requires no supervision and no reference model. The extracted rules are weighted microrules with a discrete nature that constitute a rule-based/table look-up structure capturing control actions. As an example of what the proposed algorithm can learn. The authors chose the problem of the trailer truck backer-upper. The system is capable of extracting rules that back up the trailer truck from arbitrary initial positions and show improved performance compared to a neural network controller trained with backpropagation through time. <<ETX>>
Relation regularized matrix factorization

In many applications, the data, such as web pages and research papers, contain relation (link) structure among entities in addition to textual content information. Matrix factorization (MF) methods, such as latent semantic indexing (LSI), have been successfully used to map either content information or relation information into a lower-dimensional latent space for subsequent processing. However, how to simultaneously model both the relation information and the content information effectively with an MF framework is still an open research problem. In this paper, we propose a novel MF method called relation regularized matrix factorization (RRMF) for relational data analysis. By using relation information to regularize the content MF procedure, RRMF seamlessly integrates both the relation information and the content information into a principled framework. We propose a linear-time learning algorithm with convergence guarantee to learn the parameters of RRMF. Extensive experiments on real data sets show that RRMF can achieve state-of-the-art performance.
Dancing Diseases : an applied theatre response to the challenge of conveying emotionally contradictory messages in HIV education

Health educators face an unusual challenge in relation to HIV: the need to convey two emotionally contradictory messages. On the one hand, there is currently no cure for HIV, which eventually leads to death (emotionally negative message). On the other hand, people with HIV can live long, healthy and productive lives (emotionally positive message). In developing countries where HIV prevalence is high, it is imperative that both messages are conveyed effectively. This article reports on a specific form, Dancing Diseases, implemented as one component of the Life Drama pilot study on Karkar Island, Papua New Guinea. Life Drama is an applied theatre and performance approach to HIV education. The article discusses Dancing Diseases as an example of applied theatre and performance practice, reflects on the participant group’s engagement with the form, and offers some ways in which the form could be refined and used in other health education contexts.
Reviews : van Rijsbergen, C. J. Information retrieval. 2nd edn. London, Butterworths, I978. 208pp

workers. It makes simple use of some advanced mathematics, and certainly expects a mathematical orientation on the part of the reader. This second edition incorporates a new chapter on probabilistic retrieval, to supplement the original coverage of automatic text analysis, automatic classification, file structures, search strategies and evaluation. There is a copious bibliography. The value of a text such as this for the practising designer, operator or searcher of a retrieval system is to provide insights into basic characteristics of the entities and processes involved-words in documents, keywords, queries, files, search, feedback, output-and in particular their &dquo;computable&dquo; characteristics on which
Silent speech recognition from articulatory motion

Silent speech recognition is the process of converting motion data of articulators (e.g., tongue, lips, and jaw) into speech in the form of text. The primary objective of this dissertation was to develop new approaches for silent speech recognition from segmented and continuous input of tongue and lip movement data at three levels of speech units with increasing conceptual complexity—phonemes, words, and sentences. At each level, unique theoretical issues were addressed and plans for use in specific applications were described. This dissertation is motivated by the need for (1) speech movement-based treatment options for people with speech and voice impairments and (2) computational approaches for recognizing speech when acoustic data are not available or extremely noisy. Machine learning and statistical shape analysis were used to classify and quantify the articulatory distinctiveness of phonemes, words, and sentences. The approach is unique in that it maps the motion data directly (instead of articulatory features) to speech units. Procrustes analysis, a statistical shape matching approach, provided an index of articulatory distinctiveness of vowels and consonants, which was used to derive quantitative articulatory vowel and consonant spaces. The derived vowel space resembles long-standing descriptions of articulatory vowel space. The theoretical properties and practical applications in speech pathology (e.g., motor speech decline in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) of these spaces were also discussed. In addition, support vector machine, Procrustes analysis, and Eigenspace approaches were used to classify a set of phonetically balanced words and functional sentences from articulatory motion. The direct mapping approaches resulted high classification accuracy levels, which were adequate for practical applications. A near-time algorithm (Holistic Articulatory Recognition, HAR) to recognize the whole words and sentences from continuous (unsegmented) articulatory motion was proposed and evaluated. The accuracy and speed of HAR demonstrated its potential for practical applications. HAR is based on classification probabilities and hence any classifier that could estimate them can be incorporated seamlessly. HAR can serve as the recognition component of an articulation-based silent speech interface that may provide an alternate oral communication modality for persons with speech impairments.
Cultural Knowledge for Named Entity Disambiguation: A Graph-Based Semantic Relatedness Approach

One of the ultimate aims of Natural Language Processing is to automate the analysis of the meaning of text. A fundamental step in that direction consists in enabling effective ways to automatically link textual references to their referents, that is, real world objects. The work presented in this paper addresses the problem of attributing a sense to proper names in a given text, i.e., automatically associating words representing Named Entities with their referents. The method for Named Entity Disambiguation proposed here is based on the concept of semantic relatedness, which in this work is obtained via a graph-based model over Wikipedia. We show that, without building the traditional bag of words representation of the text, but instead only considering named entities within the text, the proposed method achieves results competitive with the state-of-the-art on two different datasets.
Wide-band services in a DS-CDMA based FPLMTS system

Two methods used to implement variable-rate services in a DS-CDMA based FPLMTS system are studied, multi-code transmission and single-code transmission using a variable spreading factor. The methods are compared in terms of performance, complexity, and flexibility. It is found that none of the methods is, in general, superior to the other and the choice of method depends on the importance of different criteria.
A theory of error-based testing

Testing is the process of inferring the correctness of a program based on information collected during program execution. This process is called error-based when the information collected is used to infer that certain errors are not in a program. It is assumed here that a program can only be incorrect in a limited fashion specified by associating alternate expressions with program expressions. Substitution of an alternate expression for a program expression yields an alternate program that is potentially correct. The goal of error-based testing is to differentiate the program from each of its alternates. Two types of error-based testing are given. In static error-based testing the code is analyzed to produce two conditions. A creation condition describes when a class of alternate expressions will affect the program state. A propagation condition describes when an alternate program state will affect the output. If the output of the program is correct and both conditions are satisfied, all alternatives are faults detected by the test set. In dynamic error-based testing information is first collected from test executions. It is then proved that certain alternate programs are eliminated. A particular form of dynamic error-based testing based on symbolic execution is presented. In symbolic testing program expressions are replaced by symbolic alternatives that represent classes of alternate expressions. The output from the system is an expression in terms of the input and the symbolic alternative. Equating this with the output from the original program yields a propagation equation whose solutions are those alternatives which are not differentiated by this test. Since an alternative set can be infinite, it is possible that no finite test differentiates the program from all its alternates. Circumstances are described as to when this is decidable. Program faults can interact in such a way that error-based testing declares each correct in the presence of the others. Such interaction is shown to occur rarely for a limited class of programs.
The Retention Puzzle Reconsidered: Second Year Student Attitudes and Experiences with Advising

College student retention has been described as a puzzle because retention rates have stagnated, and in some cases declined, despite over seventy years of research into the problem. The magnitude of the problem is that 50 percent of college students will leave their institution before obtaining a degree (Braxton, Hirschy, & McClendon, 2011). In an effort to improve retention rates, colleges and universities have concentrated their attention on first year students. But this concentrated strategy may have simply transferred the retention problem into the second year where retention rates for many schools are as low as first year rates (Amaury, Barlow, & Crisp, 2005). While advising practices have been identified as one of the three top contributors to increasing retention, major gaps exist about the role academic advising might play in the retention of second year students. The present correlational study was undertaken to fill gaps in the mostly conceptual second year literature base which implies second year students differ from first year and upper division students. Advising formed the focus of the study because advising has been identified as one of the most important methods for putting students into a mentoring relationship with college staff and faculty, a practice with strong ties to retention (Habley &McClanahan, 2004; Kuh, 2008). Six research questions were posed in the study which asked whether second year students differed from first year and upper division students and whether retained second year students differed from not retained second year students in their attitudes toward and experiences with advising. Retention Reconsidered ii Using simultaneous and logistic regression models, and controlling for confounding variables, statistically significant differences were found between second year students and their first year and upper division peers as well as between retained second year students and not retained second year students. The findings of difference between second year and other students provide the growing second year retention literature with an empirical basis to support previously held assumptions about difference between class years which had also formed the basis for presumptions about practice for second year success and retention. Many of the findings in this study also support present retention and second year research and prescriptions for practice provided by that research. Retention Reconsidered iii
Prevalence of β-Lactamase Production and Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Multidrug Resistant Clinical Isolates of Non-Fermenting Gram Negative Bacteria From Hospitalized Patients in Kerman/Iran

Implication for health policy/practice/research/medical education: Detection of the frequency and type of extended spectrum β -lactamases (ESBL) involved in resistance to antimicrobial agents is important from a clinical and epidemiological point of view. Reporting the presence of highly resistant isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa producing ESBLs in this area will help physicians to select appropriate antimicrobials for empirical therapy. Background: Non-fermenting Gram–negative bacteria are unable to ferment sugars in order to generate energy. They are ubiquitous in nature, and have a wide geographic distribution. They are also common in hospital settings, and may be isolated from humidifiers, ventilator machines, dialysis machines and other equipment, as well as from the skin of hospital personnel. Objectives: This study focused on the isolation of multidrug resistant (MDR) non-fermenting Gram negative bacteria from clinical samples. Antimicrobial susceptibility, detection of extended spectrum β -lactamases (ESBL), and the presence of CTX-M and Metallo β -lactamase (MBL) in the
Modified Transarticular External Skeletal Fixation for Support of Achilles Tenorrhaphy in Four Dogs

Summary Achilles tendon ruptures in four dogs were treated with tenorrhaphy using a modified Kessler locking loop suture pattern and postoperative immobilization in partial extension of the tibiotarsal joint. The temporary immobilization of the tibiotarsal joint was achieved with a modified transarticular external skeletal fixation (MTESF). After predrilling the bone, the first fixation pin was placed in the distal tibia and the second in the calcaneus; they were connected with medial and lateral connecting bars. This immobilization method was easy to apply and to maintain during the postoperative period. The modified transarticular external skeletal fixation was removed between five and eight weeks after the operation. All four tendons healed, and all of the dogs returned to normal function. Modified transarticular external skeletal fixation is an alternative method of immobilization of the tibiotarsal joint for support of healing Achilles tenorrhaphies in dogs. Achilles tendon ruptures in four dogs were treated with tenorrhaphy and postoperative temporary immobilization of the tibiotarsal joint. The immobilization was achieved using a modified bilateral transarticular external skeletal fixation connecting the distal tibia and the calcaneus. All four tendons healed, and all of the dogs returned to normal function.
A Comprehensive Approach to the Assessment of Cancer Patients' Rehabilitation Needs

This article describes a comprehensive approach to needs assessment for cancer patients that was developed to provide specific rehabilitation interventions. Twenty-four patients were evaluated independently using a comprehensive, structured interview and the Cancer Inventory of Problem Situations (CIPS). General content areas and specific items from both instruments were compared for each patient, and a rate of agreement between the two instruments was calculated. Overall, the two instruments showed a high rate of agreement for physical and treatment-related problems; however, the rate of agreement was lower for more personal and sensitive areas such as marital distress, finances, and sexual dysfunction. In these content areas, each of the two instruments contributed independent information about the patient. Overall, the CIPS appeared to be a more sensitive screening instrument for rehabilitation needs, but the personal interview provided useful background information about the patient that is important .
Labeling of Surface Discontinuities through the Integration of Vision Modules

We assume that a major goal of the early vision modules and their integration is to deliver a cartoon of the discontinuities in the scene and to label them in terms of their physical origin. The output of each of the vision modules is noisy, possibly sparse and sometimes not unique. We have used a coupled Markov Random Field (MRF) at the output of each module - stereo, motion, color, texture - to achieve two goals: first, to counteract the noise and fill sparse data and second, to integrate the image within each MRF to find the mod ale discontinuities and align them with the intensity edges. In this work we discuss the extension of this scheme for the integration of all the low-level modules and the labeling of discontinuities in terms of depth, orientation, albedo, illumination and specular discontinuities. We present labeling results using a simple linear classifier operating on the output of the MRF associated with each vision module and coupled to the usage data. The classifier has been trained on a small set of a mixture of synthetic and real data.
STUDY OF ADAPTIVE MATHEMATICAL MODELS FOR DERIVING AUTOMATED PILOT PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT TECHNIQUES. VOLUME I. MODEL DEVELOPMENT.

Abstract : The report documents research on a new approach to deriving human performance measures and criteria for use in automatically evaluating trainee performance. The ultimate application of the research is to provide methods for automatically measuring pilot performance in a flight simulator or from recorded in-flight data. An efficient method of representing performance data within a computer is described. A system of adaptive mathematical and computer models is developed to examine representative performance data corresponding to known skill-levels and to independently develop a unique method of performance evaluation. Three types of models are developed, each of which is designed to derive and use (in an adaptive performance evaluation scheme) unique types of performance measures. (Author)
Assistive technology, computers and Internet may decrease sense of isolation for homebound elderly a

In an interesting twist to the initial fear that the access to internet would result in a more isolative community, the CHIPs program (Computers for Homebound and Isolated Persons) inspired an online community for individuals who were homebound. The subjects began to get to know one another through the Internet, thereby making virtual friends with others in similar circumstances. Elderly citizens, disabled individuals and caregivers found themselves with a new sense of camaraderie and friendship. A one-year follow up to a questionnaire indicates that the subjects’ level of satisfaction in the amount of contact with others increased significantly. These results suggest that the intervention may cause significant changes in the lives of isolated individuals, a change worthy of more formalized research.
Use of Dietary Supplements by Military Personnel

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Article Omission: across Child Languages and across Special Registers

"In this paper, we look at two new languages, Catalan and Dutch, beside Italian, and try to establish which factors influence children’s omission of articles. The paper starts with a description of the system of articles and of the syntax/semantics of nouns in the three languages. Then, it presents the investigation of the speech of 9 children (3 for each language). It ends with a discussion of the results"
Avaliação de Desempenho, Consumo de Energia e Gerenciadores de Frequência em Sistemas Transacionais

Empresas como a IBM e Intel adicionaram suporte em hardware para memoria transacional em seus ultimos processadores. Semelhante as pesquisas iniciais com memoria transacional em software, analises preliminares conduzidas com o suporte em hardware focaram na avaliacao do tempo de execucao. Dada a importância do consumo de energia em sistemas computacionais modernos, e vital que tambem sejam avaliados seu comportamento e respective correlacao desempenho/energia. Com isso em mente, este trabalho avalia nao apenas o tempo de execuccao, mas tambem o consumo de energia de uma implementacao em software de memoria transacional e o novo suporte em hardware presente no processador Haswell da Intel. Alem disso, este artigo tambem avalia o impacto de cinco gerenciadores de frequencia presentes no kernel do Linux, observando ganhos em EDP (Produto Energia-Latencia) de ate 20% em 2 de 8 aplicacoes estudadas.