Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Comparative Study on Region-Based Moments for Facial Expression Recognition

Automatic facial expression is a challenging task of intelligent human-computer interaction. In this paper, we present a comparative study on moments based feature extraction methods in terms of their capability to recognize facial expression images. The moments include Hu’s moments, Zernike moments, Wavelet moments and Krawtchouk moments. Krawtchouk moments are applied to facial expression analysis for the first time. Experiments are conducted on Cohn-Kanade facial expression database. The test images are original images, localized images and edge detected images. Experimental results show that wavelet moments outperform other moments based methods in facial expression recognition.
Elementary schoolteachers’ use of Twitter: exploring the implications of learning through online social media

ABSTRACT Teachers’ use of online social networking to support their learning may have important implications for classroom teaching practices. This mixed methods study investigated how elementary schoolteachers used Twitter professionally. Teachers described what they learned from Twitter and how they applied their new learning to their teaching. Technology integration techniques emerged as a key finding for what teachers reportedly learned. Teachers also described using information they learned to alter their teaching practices and to identify other educational opportunities. With demand for technology integration in schools and related professional development on the rise, these findings have implications for teachers, school leaders, and policymakers. This study’s findings suggest Twitter may hold value as a legitimate platform for continuous teacher learning. However, information adopted from Twitter must be critically evaluated for evidence-based practices as opposed to responding to the latest fads.
Adaptación del Empathy Quotient (EQ) en una muestra española

espanolEl objetivo de este estudio consistio en adaptar el cuestionario autoaplicado Empathy Quotient en poblacion espanola. El cuestionario se aplico a 471 estudiantes universitarios. Los analisis psicometricos mostraron un buen ajuste para una estructura factorial de 23 items en tres dimensiones, similar a la propuesta por otros autores. Ademas se encontraron valores adecuados de consistencia interna, asi como correlaciones con otras medidas de empatia y de desempeno emocional. Se concluye que el EQ es una medida fiable y valida para evaluar empatia en muestras no clinicas, aunque se recomienda realizar una validacion con una muestra mas grande y heterogenea e incluir alguna medida de fiabilidad test-retest y de ejecucion. EnglishThe aim of the study consisted of adapting the self-report questionnaire Empathy Quotient to the Spanish population. A sample of 471 university students answered the questionnaire. The psychometric analysis showed a good fit for 23-item three factor model, similar to those proposed by other authors. Furthermore, the internal consistency was adequated and correlations with other empathy and emotional measures were found. In conclusion, EQ is a reliable and valid measure to evaluate empathy in non clinical samples, but a validation with a larger and more heterogeneous sample is recommended, together with test-retest and ejecution measures.
Agent-Based Soft Computing Society Applied in the Research of Reservoir Sedimentary Facies in Oil Fields

The type of sedimentary facies in oil fields is a primary factor affecting the performance of the reservoir accumulation. The sedimentary facies research is the indispensable foundation work in process of exploring and developing the oil fields, which is determined by the many kinds of generalized analysis methods such as the geology, the earthquake, the oil well logging and so on. The technology of Agent is a new method that applies the agent-based hybrid intelligent methodology, which is suitable for studying the integrative system. This paper presents a multi-Agent-based soft computing society model by methodology of Gaia, based on the research of reservoir sedimentary facies.
Veiled Sentiments: Honor and Poetry in a Bedouin Society

understand the complete prophecy, therefore holding onto what they find to be sensible and possible to grasp’ (104). While that describes the philosophers’ attitude toward the commoners reasonably well, it misses Ibn al-Qayyim’s description of the philosophers’ esotericism entirely. Overall, Ovadia has given us a preliminary guide to a very large and difficult theological text from a figure – Ibn al-Qayyim – who is not yet well known. It is extremely disappointing that the author did not give this monograph adequate time to ripen before it was published. It deserved to be a much better piece of work.
A time delay radial basis function network for phoneme recognition

This paper presents the time delay radial basis function network (TDRBF) for recognition of phonemes. The TDRBF combines features from time delay neural networks (TDNN) and radial basis functions (RBF). The ability to detect acoustic features and their temporal relationship independent of position in time is inherited from TDNN. The use of RBFs leads to shorter training times and less parameters to adjust, which makes it easier to apply TDRBF to new tasks. The recognition of three phonemes with about 750 training and testing tokens each was chosen as an evaluation task. The results suggest an equivalent performance of TDRBF and TDNN presented in Waibel et al. (1989), but TDRBF require much less training time to reach a good performance and in addition have a clear indication when the minimum error is reached, therefore no danger of overtraining exists. <<ETX>>
Direct Mapping of Massive Compact Objects in Extragalactic Dark Halos

A significant fraction of nonbaryonic or baryonic dark matter in galactic halos may consist of massive compact objects (MASCOs) with mass M = 101-104 M☉. Possible candidates for such compact objects include primordial black holes or remnants of primordial (Population III) stars. We propose a method for directly detecting MASCOs in extragalactic halos, using the VLBI techniques with extremely high resolution that would be achieved by the next-generation mission of the VLBI Space Observatory Program such as VSOP-2. If a galactic halo comprising a large number of MASCOs produces multiple images of a background radio-loud QSO by gravitational lensing, then a high-resolution radio map of each macrolensed image should reveal microlensing effects by MASCOs. To assess their observational feasibility, we simulate microlensing of the radio-loud, four-image lensed QSO, B1422+231, assuming angular resolution of ~0.01 mas. MASCOs are represented by point masses. For comparison, we also simulate microlensing of B1422+231 by singular isothermal spheres. We find that the surface brightness of the macrolensed images shows distinct spatial patterns on the scale of the Einstein radius of the perturbers. In the case of point-mass perturbers, many tiny dark spots also appear in the macrolensed images associated with a decrease in the surface brightness toward the fringe of the original QSO image, whereas no such spots are available in the SIS models. Because such spatial patterns in each macrolensed image cannot be linearly mapped to those in other macrolensed images if they are relevant to lensing perturbers, it is fairly easy to discriminate them from intrinsic substructures within a QSO. Based on the size, position, and magnified or demagnified patterns of images, we shall be able to determine the mass and density profile of an individual MASCO as well as its spatial distribution and abundance in a galactic halo.
A hybrid observer approach for driver drowsiness detection

This paper discusses an algorithm for driver drowsiness detection based on the theory of hybrid observers. A hybrid observer is designed on the basis of a driver's model whose parameters change according to the assumed drowsiness levels which are identified on-line from measurements of relevant vehicle signals. Simulations have been undertaken with Carsim to verify the capability of the proposed methodology to correctly identify on-line the current driver's drowsiness level.
Usingsalienceto rank documents

Theideadescribedin thispaperis to improve searcheson the Internetby using thesyntacticstructureof sentences. We implementeda methodwhich with help of context factorsis ableto capturethe importanceof a word betterthana simpleoccurrencecount.Theprototypedevelopedis slow andwith thefunctionality limited to simplecases.Furthersuggestionsof improvementof themethod aregiven.
Feedback and positive feedback stabilizability and holdability

Consider the following problem. Given a discrete-time linear system, find, if possible, linear state-feedback control laws such that under these laws all trajectories originating in the non-negative orthant of the state space remain non-negative while asymptotically deteriorating to the origin. This problem is called feedback stabilizability-holdability problem (FSH). If, in addition, the requirement of nonnegativity is imposed on controls, the problem is a positive feedback stabilizabilityholdability (PFSH}. The feedback stabilizability-holdability problem has been studied for continuous-time linear systems with scalar controls in [1, 2], where conditions requiring that all principal minors of the closed-loop system matrix are positive or, equivalently, the closed-loop system matrix is a non-singular M-matrix have been obtained. Related results are given in [3] for discrete-time periodic linear systems. Stabilization of positive linear systems by state-feedback is considered in [5] but the author does not take into account the restriction on non-negativity of controls in the closed loop. This restriction is essential because the control variables in many real-life systems represent quantities, which do not have meaning unless being non-negative. In all the aforementioned works the requirement on positivity (non-negativity) of controls in the closed loop is not considered. The geometry of the problems and the related computational aspects are not at all exposed either. At the same time the requirement on positivity of controls is important since it imposes additional restrictions on the closed-loop system dynamics. The computational aspects of the problem are also quite important for the design of stable and holdable systems.
Government Intervention in Postsecondary Education in Bulgaria

In this paper, based on report published by the Bulgarian National Audit Office with reference to public university graduates entering the labor market, I try to outline possible ways to overcome labor market failure problem forced by inefficient public university funding. It is the Bulgarian Government and in particular Ministry of Education, Youth and Science that perform policy to contribute to achieve postsecondary labor market equilibrium. Based on the report findings, I argue that the subsidies allocated for public universities are quite high compared to the funds adopted for health services for example. It is not the high acceptance rate that are being achieved, but the admission quotas that are being defined by universities. I consider this as a precondition for the labor market failure problem. Thus supply and demand on specialists with university degree on labor market is unbalanced. This creates risk for inadequate managerial decisions when developing strategies and policies in the fields of labor market and university education. As a result labor market is saturated with specialists with some occupations, and shortage with others.
On Applied Research in Machine Learning

Common arguments for including applications papers in the Machine Learning literature are often based on the papers' value for advertising success stories and for morale boosting. For example, high-proole applications can help to secure funding for future research and can help to attract high caliber students. However, there is another reason why such papers are of value to the eld, which is, arguably, even more vital. Application papers are essential in order for Machine Learning to remain a viable science. They focus research on important unsolved problems that currently restrict the practical applicability of machine learning methods. Much of the \science" of Machine Learning is a science of engineering. 1 By this we mean that it is dedicated to creating and compiling veriiable knowledge related to the design and construction of artifacts. The scientiic knowledge comprises theoretical arguments, observational categorizations, empirical studies, and practical demonstrations. The artifacts are computer programs that use data to build models that are practically or theoretically useful. Because the objects of study are intended to have practical utility, it is essential for research activities to be focused (in part) on the elimination of obstacles that impede their practical application. Most often these obstacles take the form of restrictive simplifying assumptions commonly made in research. Consider as an example the assumption, common in classiier learning research, that misclassiication errors have equal costs. The vast majority of classiier learning research in Machine Learning has been conducted under this assumption, through the use of classiication accuracy as the primary (or sole) evaluation metric. Is this a reasonable assumption under which we should be operating? The answer is unclear. It is diicult to imagine a real-world classii-cation problem where error costs are equal, and researchers come in from the eld time after time citing problems dealing with unequal misclassiication costs. Nevertheless , we continue to press on with research on increasing classiication accuracy. In the Machine Learning literature isolated studies suggest that it is possible to weaken this assumption and still learn eeectively (Turney 1997), but there have been no comprehensive studies. This is but one small example of a common simplifying assumption that may be too strong. Of course it is not clear that even a very solid applications paper pointing out the inapplicability of this assumption would be suucient to convince the eld to shift its scientiic paradigm (Kuhn 1970). In fact, with respect to this particular …
What Will the Family Composition of Older Persons Be Like Tomorrow? A Comparison of Canada and France*

RÉSUMÉ L’ensemble des sociétés occidentales connaissent actuellement une croissance considérable des personnes âgées de 75 ans et plus. De nombreux changements familiaux affectant ces sociétés, il est pertinent de se demander qui prendra en charge les aînés de demain en cas de besoin d’assistance. Cet article compare les projections démographiques du réseau familial des personnes âgées de 75 ans et plus jusqu’en 2030 au Canada et en France. Au cours des 25 années prochaines, le vivier des aidants familiaux potentiels, constitué des conjoint(e)s et des enfants, s’élargira en raison des effets du Baby Boom (dont l’ampleur a été particulièrement forte au Canada) et de la proportion croissante de femmes qui ont un conjoint. Les populations les plus tributaires de l’aide formelle – sans soutien potentiel provenant d’un enfant ou d’un conjoint – augmenteront à un rythme beaucoup plus soutenu au Canada (123 pour cent) qu’en France (34 pour cent), mais moins rapidement toutefois que l’ensemble des personnes âgées. Les politiques publiques de ces deux pays devront être adaptées afin de soutenir adéquatement des effectifs croissants de personnes âgées confrontés à la dépendance de leurs conjoints. Au Canada, ces politiques devront, de plus, faire face à une hausse, plus forte qu’en France, du nombre d’aînés qui dépendront des services d’aide formelles. ABSTRACT Western societies are experiencing a dramatic growth in the population aged 75 and older. Changes in family composition raise questions about who will care for those who need assistance. We compared population projections to the year 2030 of those families aged 75 and older in Canada and France. Over the next 25 years, the pool of potential family carers, (i.e., spouses and children), will broaden from the effect of the baby boom and increased proportion of women with spouses. The populations most dependent on formal care, with no potential support from a child or a spouse, will increase more sharply in Canada (123%) than in France (34%) but at a slower rate than the total population. Policy and programs in both countries will need to prepare for a greater number of elderly spouses providing care and in Canada, at least, a significant increase in the number that will need to rely on formal services.
Cointegrated Commodity Pricing Model

In this paper, we propose a commodity pricing model that extends Gibson-Schwartz two-factor model to incorporate the effect of linear relations among commodity prices, which include co-integration under certain conditions. We derive futures and call option pricing formulae, and show that unlike Duan and Pliska (2004), the linear relations among commodity prices, or the error correction term, should affect the commodity derivative prices even if volatilities of commodity returns are constant. Using crude oil and heating oil market data, we estimate the proposed model. The result suggests that the error correction between these commodity prices partly explains the deviation of drifts from risk-free rate, which has been treated as "convenience" yield in preceding models, in commodity returns, and hence affects their derivative prices empirically.
LOYALTY PROGRAMMES IN BRAZILIAN RETAIL : A CRITICAL EVALUATION

The Brazilian economy has endured some important changes in recent years requiring businesses to improve their market awareness, flexibility and speed. Many have introduced a range of new policy initiatives and one of particular interest to the retail sector is the use of loyalty programmes. Based on empirical research, this article discusses the important concepts of ‘search’ and ‘credence’ products and evaluates the impact and utility of loyalty programmes on overall performance. The basic argument presented in the paper is that loyalty programmes and similar initiatives can be effective, but only if targeted discriminatingly at a specific market sector or customer base.
Absorption of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate and its enzymatic conversion to d-amphetamine

These studies investigated the absorption and metabolic conversion of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate (LDX), a prodrug stimulant that requires conversion to d-amphetamine for activity. Oral absorption of LDX was assessed in rat portal and jugular blood, and perfusion of LDX into isolated intestinal segments of anesthetized rats was used to assess regional absorption. Carrier-mediated transport of LDX was investigated in Caco-2 cells and Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells expressing human peptide transporter-1 (PEPT1). LDX metabolism was studied in rat and human tissue homogenates and human blood fractions. LDX was approximately10-fold higher in portal blood versus systemic blood. LDX and d-amphetamine were detected in blood following perfusion of the rat small intestine but not the colon. Transport of LDX in Caco-2 cells had permeability apparently similar to cephalexin and was reduced with concurrent PEPT1 inhibitor. Affinity for PEPT1 was also demonstrated in PEPT1-transfected CHO cells. LDX metabolism occurred primarily in whole blood (rat and human), only with red blood cells. Slow hydrolysis in liver and kidney homogenates was probably due to residual blood. The carrier-mediated absorption of intact LDX, likely by the high-capacity PEPT1 transporter, and subsequent metabolism to d-amphetamine in a high-capacity system in blood (ie, red blood cells) may contribute to the consistent, reproducible pharmacokinetic profile of LDX.
Aero-acoustics source separation with sparsity inducing priors in the frequency domain

The characterization of acoustic sources is of great interest in many industrial applications, in particular for the aeronautic or automotive industry for the development of new products. While localization of sources using observations from a wind tunnel is a well-known subject, the characterization and separation of the sources still needs to be explored. We present here a Bayesian approach for sources separation. Two prior modeling of the sources are considered: a sparsity inducing prior in the frequency domain and an autoregressive model in the time domain. The proposed methods are evaluated on synthetic data simulating noise sources emitting from an airfoil inside a wind tunnel.
Facial Landmarking Localization for Emotion Recognition Using Bayesian Shape Models

This work presents a framework for emotion recognition, based in facial expression analysis using Bayesian Shape Models (BSM) for facial landmarking localization. The Facial Action Coding System (FACS) compliant facial feature tracking based on Bayesian Shape Model. The BSM estimate the parameters of the model with an implementation of the EM algorithm. We describe the characterization methodology from parametric model and evaluated the accuracy for feature detection and estimation of the parameters associated with facial expressions, analyzing its robustness in pose and local variations. Then, a methodology for emotion characterization is introduced to perform the recognition. The experimental results show that the proposed model can effectively detect the different facial expressions. Outperforming conventional approaches for emotion recognition obtaining high performance results in the estimation of emotion present in a determined subject. The model used and characterization methodology showed efficient to detect the emotion type in 95.6% of the cases.
ProRATE: Obtaining the potential throughput from the system view in two-way relay networks

The wireless condition is time-varying and difficult to predict, especially in two-way relay networks (TWRN) with physical-layer network coding (PLNC) performed. This paper proposes a prompt and optimized rate adaptation algorithm (ProRATE) in this situation, which performs the real-time rate adaptation based on data-flows instead of point-to-point links. By using the signal dispersions and the history of the ratio of successfully decoded units, ProRATE adjusts the transmission rates of the terminal nodes into a matching state, thus increases the system throughput. Simulation results verify the effectiveness of ProRATE by showing that it brings outstanding end-to-end throughput gain over the conventional statistical-SNR-based rate adaptation. Moreover, as a byproduct, the jitter of BER of the whole system has been alleviated.
A Digital Communications Primer1 EE682L

Students in EE682 will design and implement a wireless digital communications link. This tutorial document provides an elementary overview of the basic elements of a digital communications system. The sections are intended to introduce the reader to the basic functional components of a digital communications systems, provide one or more candidate strategies for implementing the functions, and give references for further information. In addition, comments are given specific to the EE682 design challenges. The document in no way provides a complete manual for implementing a digital modem, nor does it provide the best strategies for implementing any specific communications system. Thus, this document provides a starting point for EE682 students in researching information for their modem design and assumes only a familiarity with introductory signals and systems, including Fourier transforms and convolution. The generic functional components of any digital communications system are shown in Figure 1 [12]. The first three blocks comprise the transmitter.