Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Video Person Re-identification with Competitive Snippet-Similarity Aggregation and Co-attentive Snippet Embedding

In this paper, we address video-based person re-identification with competitive snippet-similarity aggregation and co-attentive snippet embedding. Our approach divides long person sequences into multiple short video snippets and aggregates the top-ranked snippet similarities for sequence-similarity estimation. With this strategy, the intra-person visual variation of each sample could be minimized for similarity estimation, while the diverse appearance and temporal information are maintained. The snippet similarities are estimated by a deep neural network with a novel temporal co-attention for snippet embedding. The attention weights are obtained based on a query feature, which is learned from the whole probe snippet by an LSTM network, making the resulting embeddings less affected by noisy frames. The gallery snippet shares the same query feature with the probe snippet. Thus the embedding of gallery snippet can present more relevant features to compare with the probe snippet, yielding more accurate snippet similarity. Extensive ablation studies verify the effectiveness of competitive snippet-similarity aggregation as well as the temporal co-attentive embedding. Our method significantly outperforms the current state-of-the-art approaches on multiple datasets.
Behavioral Oscillations in Verification of Relational Role Bindings

Human understanding of relations between objects depends on the ability to code meaningful role bindings. Computational models of relational reasoning have proposed that neural oscillations provide a basic mechanism enabling working memory to code the bindings of objects into relational roles. We adapted a behavioral oscillation paradigm to investigate moment-to-moment changes in representations of semantic roles. On each trial, a picture was presented showing an action (chasing) relating two animals, one animal playing an agent role (chaser) and the other playing a patient role (chased). After the picture disappeared, the inter-stimulus interval (ISI) was varied in densely-sampled increments followed by a verbal probe indicating an animal in a role. Reaction time (RT) to decide the validity of the verbal probe was recorded. We found that RTs varied systematically with ISI in an oscillatory fashion. A task that required memory for a relational role evoked stronger thetaand alpha-band oscillations than did a memory task not involving relational roles. The behavioral oscillation patterns in the role-identification task revealed a phase shift between the two semantic roles in the alpha band.
Study of the impact of Polarizations for DInSAR Displacement Measures

This paper has the purpose to address the problem of the choice of polarization configuration for DInSAR applications. In order to do that the standard linear polarizations (HH,VV and HV) the Hybrid polarizations (RH and RV) and the circular polarizations (RL,LL and RR) have been taken in consideration. Starting from a Quad-Pol ALOS PALSAR stack all the polarization combinations have been derived. Then processing every single stack an analysis of the results obtained on the point targets in different polarizations has been as first carried out. Then in order to asses also the potential of SAR interferometry on distributed targets the decorrelation process varying the polarization configuration has also been studied.
Fast-to-Converge PoW-like Consensus Protocol

As the fundamental component of various bitcoin-derived blockchains, proof-of-work (PoW) scheme has been widely leveraged to provide consensus for maintaining a distributed public ledger. However, the long confirmation time, and hence the slow convergence rate, is far from satisfactory. Alternative paradigms with improved performance have been proposed. Nevertheless, the modification of the underlying mechanism of proof-of-work is relatively less considered. We find that the slow rate of convergence in original proof-of-work is caused by the insufficient measurement of computational power which only gets one bit of information by judging whether attained hash value is smaller than a given target or not. Due to this, we propose the Demo-of-Work (DoW) that assigns the computation work with a score depending on the hash value. We treat an existing blockchain – bitcoin as a global “clock”, according to whose block generations our protocol execution is divided into rounds. Thereby, a synchronization is attained to make sure that each participant takes part in DoW for roughly the same time interval so that the fairness can be formalized and proved. Afterwards, we construct an alternative blockchain – AB-chain with DoW and the “clock”. This blockchain provides a convergence rate significantly faster than the existing PoW-powered blockchains, without compromising communication complexity or fairness.
Uniform rates of the Glivenko–Cantelli convergence and their use in approximating Bayesian inferences

This paper deals with the problem of quantifying the approximation a probability measure by means of an empirical (in a wide sense) random probability measure, depending on the first n terms of a sequence of random elements. In Section 2, one studies the range of oscillation near zero of the Wasserstein distance $\ud^{(p)}_{\pms}$ between $\pfrak_0$ and $\hat{\pfrak}_n$, assuming that the $\xitil_i$'s are i.i. d. with $\pfrak_0$ as common law. Theorem 2.3 deals with the case in which $\pfrak_0$ is fixed as a generic element of the space of all probability measures on $(\rd, \mathscr{B}(\rd))$ and $\hat{\pfrak}_n$ coincides with the empirical measure. In Theorem 2.4 (Theorem 2.5, respectively) \pfrak_0 is a d-dimensional Gaussian distribution (an element of a distinguished type of statistical exponential family, respectively) and $\hat{\pfrak}_n$ is another $d$-dimensional Gaussian distribution with estimated mean and covariance matrix (another element of the same family with an estimated parameter, respectively). These new results improve on allied recent works (see, e.g., [31]) since they also provide uniform bounds with respect to $n$, meaning that the finiteness of the p-moment of the random variable $\sup_{n \geq 1} b_n \ud^{(p)}_{\pms}(\pfrak_0, \hat{\pfrak}_n)$ is proved for some suitable diverging sequence b_n of positive numbers. In Section 3, under the hypothesis that the $\xitil_i$'s are exchangeable, one studies the range of the random oscillation near zero of the Wasserstein distance between the conditional distribution--also called posterior--of the directing measure of the sequence, given $\xitil_1, \dots, \xitil_n$, and the point mass at $\hat{\pfrak}_n$. In a similar vein, a bound for the approximation of predictive distributions is given. Finally, Theorems from 3.3 to 3.5 reconsider Theorems from 2.3 to 2.5, respectively, according to a Bayesian perspective.
Sample-to-sample fluctuations of the overlap distributions in the three-dimensional Edwards-Anderson spin glass

We study the sample-to-sample fluctuations of the overlap probability densities from large-scale equilibrium simulations of the three-dimensional Edwards-Anderson spin glass below the critical temperature. Ultrametricity, stochastic stability, and overlap equivalence impose constraints on the moments of the overlap probability densities that can be tested against numerical data. We found small deviations from the Ghirlanda Guerra predictions, which get smaller as system size increases. We also focus on the shape of the overlap distribution, comparing the numerical data to a mean-field-like prediction in which finite-size effects are taken into account by substituting delta functions with broad peaks.
Mapping social activities and concepts with social media (Twitter) and web search engines (Yahoo and Bing): a case study in 2012 US Presidential Election

We introduce a new research framework for analyzing the spatial distribution of web pages and social media (Twitter) messages with related contents, called Visualizing Information Space in Ontological Networks (VISION). This innovative method can facilitate the tracking of ideas and social events disseminated in cyberspace from a spatial-temporal perspective. Thousands of web pages and millions of tweets associated with the same keywords were converted into visualization maps using commercial web search engines (Yahoo application programming interface (API) and Bing API), a social media search engine (Twitter APIs), Internet Protocol (IP) geolocation methods, and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) functions (e.g., kernel density and raster-based map algebra methods). We found that comparing multiple web information landscapes with different keywords or different dates can reveal important spatial patterns and “geospatial fingerprints” for selected keywords. We used the 2012 US Presidential Election candidates as our case study to validate this method. We noticed that the weekly changes of the geographic probability of hosting “Barack Obama” or “Mitt Romney” web pages are highly related to certain major campaign events. Both attention levels and the content of the tweets were deeply impacted by Hurricane Sandy. This new approach may provide a new research direction for studying human thought, human behaviors, and social activities quantitatively.
Personalised Management of Prostate Cancer

Despite recent advances, prostate cancer continues to be a leading cause of cancer-related death among men. While the standard management options of surgery, radiotherapy, and androgen deprivation therapy are well established, there are still significant unmet needs. For example, which patients would best be served by active surveillance at the time of diagnosis versus proceeding with definitive therapy is still not well understood. Additionally, more accurate means of monitoring patients’ responses to therapy and remission statuses following therapy are needed. Since all patients with metastatic disease ultimately progress to castration-resistant prostate cancer, new treatment options for this population are also required. As in other areas of oncology, greater personalisation of care holds the potential for more effective treatment while also reducing the risk of adverse effects and morbidity. This review addresses three topics currently under investigation related to the personalised management of prostate cancer: the use of circulating tumour cells in both diagnosis and treatment at all stages of the disease, the introduction of poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase inhibitors for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer, and the emerging role of genomic assays for risk stratification at the time of diagnosis.
Many-Objective Software Engineering using Preference-based Evolutionary Algorithms : A Case Study in Software Refactoring

Recently, researchers have proposed several solution approaches to tackle many-objective optimization problems (e.g., objective reduction, new preference ordering relations, decomposition, etc.). However, these techniques are not yet widely explored in SBSE. In this paper, we discuss the different challenges and potential benefits of many-objective optimization techniques in software engineering. In addition, we propose the use of preference-based evolutionary manyobjective optimization technique (P-EMO) for automating code refactoring to fix design defects. Very promising results are presented on three large open source systems. More than 85% of suggested refactorings are valid and fixes around 82% of code-smells.
A cavity-mediated quantum CPHASE gate between NV spin qubits in diamond

While long spin coherence times and efficient single-qubit quantum control have been implemented successfully in nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond, the controlled coupling of remote NV spin qubits remains challenging. Here, we propose and analyze a controlled-phase (cphase) gate for the spins of two NV centers embedded in a common optical cavity and driven by two off-resonant lasers. In combination with previously demonstrated single-qubit gates, cphase allows for arbitrary quantum computations. The coupling of the NV spin to the cavity mode is based upon Raman transitions via the NV excited states and can be controlled with the laser intensities and relative phase. We find characteristic laser frequencies at which the scattering amplitude of a laser photon into the cavity mode is strongly dependent on the NV center spin. A scattered photon can be reabsorbed by another selectively driven NV center and can generate a conditional phase (cphase) gate. Gate times around 200 ns are within reach, nearly two orders of magnitude shorter than typical NV spin coherence times of around 10 $\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$. The separation between the two interacting NV centers is limited only by the extension of the cavity.
Film tourism: the pre-production perspective. A case study of Visit Somerset and the Hollywood story of Glastonbury

Film tourism has been researched now for many years and the consequences of post-production are clear. However, there has been little opportunity to explore the perceptions of filming, pre-production, until now. Using a case study approach to the making of one particular Hollywood film on a rural location, the paper focuses on evaluating the business of film tourism and establishing the perceived impacts of film tourism from advanced practitioners and local residents, respectively. Two stages of data collection were adopted during pre-production: elite interviews and focus groups. The findings reveal that the role of each practitioner shapes their level of understanding and knowledge about the myths of Glastonbury, and their evaluation of the debate surrounding creative accuracy versus commercial creativity. Concern over the costs of film-induced travel were also noted, and echoed by residents. However, for residents, uncertainty, a lack of detailed knowledge, and scepticism about the film’s content proved more significant, rather than pre-existing issues faced by the town and expressed by the practitioners. Therefore, it is suggested that practitioners should forge partnerships through tourism collaboration but at the same time they need to manage local residents to ensure they respond to their concerns surrounding corporate takeovers and the commercialisation of their culture, rather than just issues of congestion and transportation.
Computational Investigations on IR, UV-VIS and NMR Spectra of Copper(II) Phenanthroline Complexes with DFT Method

Iki Cu(II) kompleksleri uzerine hesapsal arastirmalar yapildi. Literaturde, bu kompleksler hakkinda herhangi bir bilgi yada spektral sonuclar yoktur. Bu calismada, hibrit DFT fonksiyonellerinden biri olan B3LYP soz konusu komplekslerin hesaplarinda kullanildi. Soz konusu komplekslerin optimize yapilari hesaplandi ve IR, UV-VIS ve NMR spektrumlari hesaplandi ve detayli bir sekilde incelendi. Ilaveten, dogrusal olmayan optik ozellikler, molekuler elektrostatik potansiyel (MEP) haritalari, MEP konturlari ve tek dolu molekuler orbitalleri analiz edildi. Ligand ve metal atom arasindaki etkilesim enerjileri, olusum entalpileri ve Gibbs serbest enerjisi arastirildi. Geometrik yapi ve yapisal parametreler hesapsal tekniklerle belirlendi ve komplekslerin yapilari spektral analizler ile desteklendi. Soz konusu komplekslerin en aktif bolgeleri MEP haritalari ve MEP kontorlari ile belirlendi.
Internal‐model‐based control to reject an external signal generated by a class of infinite‐dimensional systems

In this paper, an internal‐model‐based controller (IMBC) is designed to reject an external signal generated by a class of infinite‐dimensional systems for a class of nonlinear systems. First, a new description of the external signal is proposed. By this new description, the IMBC is designed, and the resulting closed‐loop error dynamics are analyzed with the help of a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional. Compared with existing IMBCs, the designed IMBC provides the flexibility to cope with more types of external signals as well as to choose controller parameters to achieve a tradeoff between rejection performance and stability. Finally, the method is applied to attitude control of a quadrotor aircraft. Effectiveness of the IMBC is demonstrated by simulation. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATION OF MULTI-WAVELENGTH AIRBORNE LASER SCANNING DATA

Abstract. Airborne laser scanning (ALS) is a widely used technique for the sampling of the earth's surface. Nowadays a wide range of ALS sensor systems with different technical specifications can be found. One parameter is the laser wavelength which leads to a sensitivity for the wavelength dependent backscatter characteristic of sensed surfaces. Current ALS sensors usually record next to the geometric information additional information on the recorded signal strength of each echo. In order to utilize this information for the study of the backscatter characteristic of the sensed surface, radiometric calibration is essential. This paper focuses on the radiometric calibration of multi-wavelength ALS data and is based on previous work on the topic of radiometric calibration of monochromatic (single-wavelength) ALS data. After a short introduction the theory and whole workflow for calibrating ALS data radiometrically based on in-situ reference surfaces is presented. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that this approach for the monochromatic calibration can be used for each channel of multi-wavelength ALS data. The resulting active multi-channel radiometric image does not have any shadows and from a geometric viewpoint the position of the objects on top of the terrain surface is not altered (the result is a multi-channel true orthophoto). Within this paper the approach is demonstrated by three different single-wavelength ALS data acquisition campaigns (532nm, 1064nm and 1550nm) covering the area of the city Horn (Austria). The results and practical issues are discussed.
An Open Data-Based Discrete Simulation Environment for Testing Smart Grid Messaging

Including more renewable energy sources in the energy mix will increase the necessity for a finer grained, automatic control of changes in the energy level. Any such software needs extensive testing before it can be released for general availability. Simulation environments will be a part in these testing stacks, but need realistic input data in order to yield expressive and therefore useful results. However, comprehensive input data is often not available or fragmented. We therefore propose a simulation environment that can use open data sources, switch them dynamically, and attribute the testing results with a possible data quality impact. Keywords—smart grid; simulation; messaging; open data; renewable energy sources
MDE Support for Process-Oriented Health Information Systems : from Theory to Practice

Governments, insurance organizations, hospital boards, physicians and patient organizations support the relevance of rigorous engineering methods for the development and certification of information systems in healthcare. This paper leverages model-driven engineering techniques to improve (the use of) health information systems that are process-oriented (e.g., clinical decision support systems and workflow components in electronic health record systems). We focus further on model-driven techniques since they enable the separation of medical and organizational concepts from system implementation details. This is important since information system architectures vary significantly within and between care institutions while at the conceptual level patients cross the institutional and system boundaries. To set a baseline, we derive from literature a simple classification framework for process-oriented models in healthcare. We then demonstrate how that theoretical baseline has triggered the development of a practical tool-chain for making the development of decision support apps more evidence-based. We discuss where current MDE techniques have supported us most such that practitioners can focus on these techniques but also suggest to MDE researchers where additional support is needed in practice.
Multifunctional Metasurfaces Based on the “Merging” Concept and Anisotropic Single-Structure Meta-Atoms

Metasurfaces offer great opportunities to control electromagnetic (EM) waves, attracting intensive attention in science and engineering communities. Recently, many efforts were devoted to multifunctional metasurfaces integrating different functionalities into single flat devices. In this article, we present a concise review on the development of multifunctional metasurfaces, focusing on the design strategies proposed and functional devices realized. We first briefly review the early efforts on designing such systems, which simply combine multiple meta-structures with distinct functionalities to form multifunctional devices. To overcome the low-efficiency and functionality cross-talking issues, a new strategy was proposed, in which the meta-atoms are carefully designed single structures exhibiting polarization-controlled transmission/reflection amplitude/phase responses. Based on this new scheme, various types of multifunctional devices were realized in different frequency domains, which exhibit diversified functionalities (e.g., focusing, deflection, surface wave conversion, multi-beam emissions, etc.), for both pure-reflection and pure-transmission geometries or even in the full EM space. We conclude this review by presenting our perspectives on this fast-developing new sub-field, hoping to stimulate new research outputs that are useful in future applications.
Ballistic near-field heat transport in dense many-body systems

Radiative heat transport mediated by near-field interactions is known to be superdiffusive in dilute, many-body systems. Here we use a generalized Landauer theory of radiative heat transfer in many-body planar systems to demonstrate a nonmonotonic transition from superdiffusive to ballistic transport in dense systems. We show that such a transition is associated to a change of the polarization of dominant modes. Our findings are complemented by a quantitative study of the relaxation dynamics of the system in the different regimes of heat transport. This result could have important consequences on thermal management at nanoscale of many-body systems.
A Decision Frameworkon Small and Medium Enterprises to Adopt Cloud Software as a Service

Software as a service (SaaS)is the future trend in software services. However, only a few successful SaaS providerscurrently exist. This study investigated how Taiwanese small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can utilize SaaS, giveSaaSprovidersbusiness strategy references, and supply a basis for information system operators to transfer service mode in order to innovate the provision of SaaS. The study is based on survey results obtained from 474 SMEs for a telecom company in Taiwan to determine the reasons SMEs utilizeSaaS. Taking the technology acceptance model (TAM) as the fundamental theoretical foundation, we explored the perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and SaaS system features as external variables. In addition, we analyzed each system characteristic on the Likert scale and found that, in addition to the necessary consideration for cost and convenience, SaaS also provides information and communication technology applications in system characteristics,which are including online sharing services, customer relationship management services, and business operation and orders purchasing services. The fact that SMEs wish to utilize SaaS has a positive and direct impact on business.