Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Digital images and human vision

Part 1 Image coding and compression: local frequency representations for image sequence processing and coding, Todd R. Reed wavelet-based image coding, Philippe M. Cassereau scalable (extensible, interoperable) digital video representations, V. Michael Bove Jr incorporating visual factors into vector quantizers for image compression, Robert M. Gray et al a practical approach to fractal-based image compression, Alex Pentland and Bradley Horowitz. Part 2 Perceptual aspects of image coding: digital image compression based on visual perception, William E. Glenn image quality and image compression - a psychophysicist's viewpoint, Stanley A. Klein the significance of eye movements and image acceleration for coding television image sequences, Michael P. Eckert and Gershon Buchsbaum visual system considerations in the coding of natural colour images, Gershon Buchsbaum the importance of intrinsically two-dimensional image features in biological vision and picture coding, Christof Zetzsche et al. Part 3 Measurement and prediction of visual quality: image quality - a multidimensional problem, Albert J. Ahumada Jr and Cynthia H. Null achieving and confirming optimum image quality, Paul J. Hearty the use of psychophysical data and models in the analysis of display system performance, Jeffrey Lubin the visible differences predictor - an algorithm for the assessment of image fidelity, Scott Daly what's wrong with mean-squared error? , Bernd Girod.
Adaptive H/sub /spl infin// channel equalization for wireless personal communications

In this paper, a new adaptive H/sub /spl infin// filtering algorithm is developed to recursively update the tap-coefficient vector of a decision feedback equalizer (DFE) in order to adaptively equalize the time-variant dispersive fading channel of a high-rate indoor wireless personal communication system. Different from conventional L/sub 2/ (such as the recursive least squares (RLS)) filtering algorithms which minimize the squared equalization error, the adaptive H/sub /spl infin// filtering algorithm is a worst case optimization. It minimizes the effect of the worst disturbances (including input noise and modeling error) on the equalization error. Hence, the DFE with the adaptive H/sub /spl infin// filtering algorithm is more robust to the disturbances than that with the RLS algorithm. Computer simulation demonstrates that better transmission performance can be achieved using the adaptive H/sub /spl infin// algorithm when the received signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is larger than 20 dB.
An improved PSO algorithm coupling with prior information for classification of large scale dataset

An improved particle swarm optimization(PSO) algorithm coupling with prior information for classification of large scale dataset is proposed in this paper. The prior information derived from the data set is used to determine the initialposition of the particles. In the new algorithm, neural network is first trained by improved PSO and then by back-propagation (BP). The prior information narrows the search space and guides the movement direction of the particles, so the convergence rate and the generalization performance are improved. Experimental results demonstrate that the new algorithm is more effective than traditional methods.
A new adaptive MAC layer protocol for wireless ATM networks in harsh fading and interference environments

A new media access protocol is proposed for sharing a high speed radio channel among a number of small wireless packet access units, some of which may be stationary and some of which may be within moving vehicles. Such a system could provide fixed point, pedestrian and remote users with wireless access to CPU and database resources of an underlying ATM wireline network, essentially extending the ATM bandwidth-upon-demand interface directly to the wireless units and enabling delivery of multimedia services (albeit at the lower peak rate afforded by the radio channel). A primary goal of the proposed media access protocol is the pre-delivery of a signal from each packet access unit as needed to enable the deployment of a rapidly adaptive array antenna at the base station, thereby protecting the packet flow in each direction from the effects of both multipath propagation and adjacent channel interference arising in neighboring radio cells. An impairment-robust direct sequence spread spectrum-based polling signal is invoked to stimulate a pilot tone from a given remote immediately prior to packet transfer in either direction, thereby permitting the base station to determine a good set of antenna element combining or power splitting weights to be used for that packet. Reasonable approximations are invoked to study the performance of the proposed protocol, and link utilization efficiency and average message delay are found. By proper choice of protocol parameters, a radio resource utilization efficiency of about 95% is readily achieved. The accuracy of the approximations is confirmed by extensive computer simulations.
Voiceband data compression at 16 kb/s

The effects of waveform coding on voiceband data are explored. In particular, voiceband data compression at 16 kb/s is considered, and the performance and attributes of several 16 kb/s compression algorithms (APC, ATC, CELPC, PCM, SBC, and VQ) are discussed. Three mechanisms for improving performance are noted: decreasing the error variance, increasing the correlation between signal and error, and limiting the maximum excursion of the error. It is shown that PCM (pulse code modulation) successfully capitalizes on the latter two mechanisms to deliver performance comparable or superior to much more complicated coders. It is shown that good performance for speech does not imply good performance for data and that coders optimized for voiceband data significantly outperform their speech-specific counterparts. <<ETX>>
Building Predictive Models in R Using the caret Package

The caret package, short for classification and regression training, contains numerous tools for developing predictive models using the rich set of models available in R. The package focuses on simplifying model training and tuning across a wide variety of modeling techniques. It also includes methods for pre-processing training data, calculating variable importance, and model visualizations. An example from computational chemistry is used to illustrate the functionality on a real data set and to benchmark the benefits of parallel processing with several types of models.
Analysis of learner performance on a tutoring system for Java

This chapter presents a teaching methodology, programmed instruction, that provides a series of interactive and cumulative learning experiences that teach a student how to understand and write a simple Java Applet. Fine-grain performance records of three students' interactions with the tutoring system show the individual patterns of skill acquisition and retention over five successive observational occasions. The tutoring system is also used as the first technical exercise in a course entitled "Graphical User Interface Systems Using Java. " Performance and self-reported ratings of programming confidence by 17 graduate students show the benefit of programmed instruction to generate a history of competency and confidence in all students. The positive initial experience prepares and motivates information systems students for the presentation and mastery of advanced programming techniques.
FLEXIBLE, POLICY-BASED REFERENCE COUNTING

Reference counting is a common solution to the memory and resource management problem. It is used when multiple client objects need to share a pointer or a reference to another object and the responsibility for its cleanup is not clear or defined. There are many schemes and variants to the basic reference counting principle, some general purpose, others designed for specific situations. In large or heterogeneous systems it is sometimes difficult to choose the most appropriate implementation for a concrete class at design time. In those languages that do not support garbage collection inherently, like C++ one needs to use a custom implementation of reference count. This article presents a policy-based variant of reference counting, which allows to switch the concrete counter implementations even on live objects, during the run-time, thus allowing fine grained control and optimization in various situations, without introducing severe performance slowdowns.
Physics-based modelling of nonrigid objects for vision and graphics

This thesis develops a physics-based framework for 3D shape and nonrigid motion modeling for computer vision and computer graphics. In computer vision it addresses the problems of complex 3D shape representation, shape reconstruction, quantitative model extraction from biomedical data for analysis and visualization, shape estimation, and motion tracking. In computer graphics it demonstrates the generative power of our framework to synthesize constrained shapes, nonrigid object motions and object interactions for the purposes of computer animation. Our framework is based on the use of a new class of dynamically deformable primitives which allow the combination of global and local deformations. It incorporates physical constraints to compose articulated models from deformable primitives and provides force-based techniques for fitting such models to sparse, noise-corrupted 2D and 3D visual data. The framework leads to shape and nonrigid motion estimators that exploit dynamically deformable models to track moving 3D objects from time-varying observations. We develop models with global deformation parameters which represent the salient shape features of natural parts, and local deformation parameters which capture shape details. In the context of computer graphics, these models represent the physics-based marriage of the parameterized and free-form modeling paradigms. An important benefit of their global/local descriptive power in the context of computer vision is that it can potentially satisfy the often conflicting requirements of shape reconstruction and shape recognition. The Lagrange equations of motion that govern our models, augmented by constraints, make them responsive to externally applied forces derived from input data or applied by the user. This system of differential equations is discretized using finite element methods and simulated through time using standard numerical techniques. We employ these equations to formulate a shape and nonrigid motion estimator. The estimator is a continuous extended Kalman filter that recursively transforms the discrepancy between the sensory data and the estimated model state into generalized forces. These adjust the translational, rotational, and deformational degrees of freedom such that the model evolves in a consistent fashion with the noisy data. We demonstrate the interactive time performance of our techniques in a series of experiments in computer vision, graphics, and visualization.
Visual servo control for a class of mobile robot

Application of vision based control of mobile robots is a very promising area, however, solutions to real problems are almost always hampered by the difficulties associated with computational effort and robustness of image processing tasks. In the paper, an implementation for visual servo control based on off-the-shelf software and hardware components for wheeled nonholonomic robots is presented. All the algorithms are based on well established methodologies selected with simplicity as a fundamental criterion. The image processing tasks are implemented using mathematical morphology operators and the transformation from image parameters to 3D velocities is based on the interaction matrix approach. The results obtained are satisfactory and there is still a good margin of improvement in terms of execution performance.
Current Survey of Routing Protocols in MANETS

Several routing protocols have been proposed in recent years for possible deployment of Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANETs) in military, government and commercial applications. MANET uses locationcentric paradigm rather than identity-centric paradigm that are used in most of the networks. Using this paradigm is well suited for privacy in hostile and suspicious mobile ad-hoc networks. For achieving privacy and security, various protocols are proposed. This paper presents a survey on various protocols that are used in mobile ad-hoc networks for achieving privacy and security under hostile and suspicious scenarios.
The Omnidirectional Acquisition of Stereoscopic Images of Dynamic Scenes

This thesis analyzes the problem of acquiring stereoscopic images in all gazing directions around a reference viewpoint in space with the purpose of creating stereoscopic panoramas of non-static scenes. The generation of immersive stereoscopic imagery suitable to stimulate human stereopsis requires images from two distinct viewpoints with horizontal parallax in all gazing directions, or to be able to simulate this situation in the generated imagery. The available techniques to produce omnistereoscopic imagery for human viewing are not suitable to capture dynamic scenes stereoscopically. This is a not trivial problem when considering acquiring the entire scene at once while avoiding self-occlusion between multiple cameras. In this thesis, the term omnidirectional refers to all possible gazing directions in azimuth and a limited set of directions in elevation. The acquisition of dynamic scenes restricts the problem to those techniques suitable for collecting in one simultaneous exposure all the necessary visual information to recreate stereoscopic imagery in arbitrary gazing directions. The analysis of the problem starts by defining an omnistereoscopic viewing model for the physical magnitude to be measured by a panoramic image sensor intended to produce stereoscopic imagery for human viewing. Based on this model, a novel acquisition model is proposed, which is suitable to describe the omnistereoscopic techniques based on horizontal stereo. From this acquisition model, an acquisition method based on multiple cameras combined with the rendering by mosaicking of partially overlapped stereoscopic images is identified as a good candidate to produce omnistereoscopic imagery of dynamic scenes. Experimental acquisition and rendering tests were performed for different multiple-camera configurations. Furthermore, a mosaicking criterion between partially overlapped stereoscopic images based on the continuity of the perceived depth and the prediction of the location and magnitude of unwanted vertical disparities in the final stereoscopic panorama are two main contributions of this thesis. In addition, two novel omnistereoscopic acquisition and rendering techniques were introduced. The main contributions to this field are to propose a general model for the acquisition of omnistereoscopic imagery, to devise novel methods to produce omnistereoscopic imagery, and more importantly, to contribute to the awareness of the problem of acquiring dynamic scenes within the scope of omnistereoscopic research.
What is the relationship between second language learners' and tutor's beliefs about writing in an academic environment?

How are second language learners‟ beliefs about writing academic texts related to those of their language tutors? This study compares learners‟ and tutors‟ beliefs on writing in an academic context. The findings suggest that whilst the majority of the learners‟ beliefs seem to concord with their tutors‟, some learners may also hold beliefs about L2 writing strategies that are paradoxical or which can frustrate the language tutor. In addition, tutors may need to increase their awareness of the academic writing tasks learners are required to complete to achieve academic success.
A model for evaluating textbooks

Teaching culture and developing intercultural sensitivity have become the main concerns for language educators who prepare learners for the challenges of a ‘globalised’ world. This paper presents a model which can be used for evaluating language textbooks in terms of their efficiency and adequacy in teaching culture and in developing intercultural skills. The model is based on current theories of culture, theories of language learning, and of interculturality. Although the discussion is placed within the context of English language learning and teaching, the model is also useful for teachers of other languages and language program developers who need to select appropriate materials for enhancing cultural learning as part of language learning. It can be equally valuable in the context of culturally diverse groups of students and monolingual homogeneous classes where exposure to the target culture or other cultures is highly restricted. While it is recognised that cultural phenomena cannot be restricted to and fitted nicely into a rigid framework, the proposed model offers a starting point for discussion on culture teaching through language textbooks.
Improved PLL structures for single-phase grid inverters

Phase, amplitude and frequency of the utility grid are critical information for the operation of the grid-connected power conditioning equipments. In such applications, an accurate and fast detection of the phase angle of the utility voltage is essential to assure a correct generation of the reference signals. This paper presents two improved phase-locked-loop (PLL) methods for single-phase grid connected systems. The investigated PLL methods are based on a transport delay method and an inverse Park transformation method. The improvements in the case of using the delay-based PLL are: non-frequency dependent and better filtering of the harmonics. For the other investigated PLL method based on inverse Park transformation the improvement consists of better filtering of the harmonics. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the two proposed methods. Index Terms — Phase-Locked-Loop (PLL), single-phase distributed generation system, grid connected power converter.
The contributions of visual flow and locomotor cues to walked distance estimation in a virtual environment

Traversed distance perception involves estimating the extent of self-motion as one travels from one position in space to another. As such, it is a multi-modal experience in which information from both visual flow and locomotor cues (i.e. proprioceptive, efference copy and vestibular cues) jointly specify the magnitude of self-motion. While recent evidence has demonstrated the extent to which each of these cues can be used independently to estimate traversed distance, relatively little is known about how they are integrated when simultaneously present. Evaluating multi-modal cue integration in the context of dynamic locomotor behaviour is important to both understanding issues related to self-motion perception, as well as perceptual-motor coupling in real and virtual environments.
Writing tools : 50 essential strategies for every writer

Tools Not Rules' says Roy Peter Clark, vice president and senior scholar at the Poynter Institute, the esteemed school for journalists and teachers of journalists. Clark believes that everyone can write well with the help of a handful of useful tools that he has developed over decades of writing and teaching. If you google 'Roy Peter Clark, Writing Tools', you'll get an astonishing 1.25 million hits. That's because journalists everywhere rely on his tips to help them write well every day - in fact he fields emails from around the world from grateful writers. 'Writing Tools' covers everything from the basics (Tool 5: Watch those Adverbs) to the more complex (Tool 34: Turn your notebook into a camera) and uses more than 300 examples from literature and journalism to illustrate the concepts. For students, aspiring novelists and writers of memos, emails, PowerPoint presentations and love letters, here are 50 indispensible, memorable and usable tools.
The Sounds of Silence: A Structural Analysis of Academic "Writer's Block"

The Sounds of Silence: A Structural Analysis of Academic “Writer’s Block” by Lara B. Birk David A. Karp, PhD (Dissertation Chair) A qualitative study based on forty four in-depth interviews with undergraduates experiencing severe difficulties with academic writing, this dissertation examines how structural factors—social class and race in particular—contribute to academic “writer’s block. ” Writing block is more than the “personal trouble” it is typically conceived of being, it is also a “public issue” with definitive structural contributors. All of my subjects perceived writing as a high stakes performance, and their writing blocks can be understood as instances of “choking” in the face of these high stakes. For many working class students, writing block is an expression of dominant cultural capital disadvantage; while for many upper middle class students, writing block represents the psychological costs of privilege. For students with unusual class-race identifications, writing block embodies their liminal social status. In the current economic climate of uncertainty, class status for students across the socioeconomic spectrum has become relatively unstable given individuals’ increased risk of downward mobility. As such, academic writing blocks may be construed as angst experienced at the intersection of psychology and structure. This study contributes to and extends the literature on social reproduction in higher education as well as the literature on the price of privilege.
Automatic Test Case Generation for web service processes Using a SAT Solver

Such useful properties of web services as access from any platform, great interoperability with other web services, ability to combine several web services into a larger application relatively quickly have made them an important category of software systems. One of the techniques used to increase the quality of software is testing. The adequacy of test cases and possible automation of the testing process greatly influence the quality of the produced software and timeliness of the software development process. Even though a great deal of work has been done in adapting test case generation techniques to the peculiarities of web services (e.g. [11][12][13]) we believe our work makes a useful contribution in this area. This paper proposes a novel approach to generate test cases based on the process definition model of a web service. A process definition model defines a sequence of activities that can be performed by orchestrating the capabilities of a web service. A SAT solver (such as Alloy [10]) is used to extract the paths from the process definition model. These paths are used to generate test case specifications that will test all web service capabilities involved in a process. In our opinion the main contribution of the work is an application of a static analysis method for generation of test cases for a web service guided by a goodness metric of process coverage.
Comparison between various diversity techniques of the pre-RAKE combining system in TDD/CDMA

This paper studies the performance of time division duplex (TDD) code division multiple access (CDMA) system with pre-RAKE transmission in a generalized Rayleigh fading multipath channel. We present a comparison between three various diversity combining techniques, namely, maximal ratio combining (MRC), equal gain combining (EGC) and zero-forcing equalization (ZFE), all supplemented by a selection diversity for the strongest paths in gain. We also consider the effect of imperfect channel estimation on the system performance.
Emergence of nest-based foraging strategies in ecosystems of neural networks

Keywords: Evolutionary Robotics Note: J.-A. Meyer, H. L. Roitblat, and S. Wilson (eds.) Reference LIS-CONF-1993-003 URL: http://www.isab. org.uk/confs/sab92.php Record created on 2006-01-12, modified on 2016-08-08