Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mask Data Priming Network for Automatic Check-Out

Auto checkout has received more and more attention in recent years and this system automatically generates a shopping bill by identifying the picture of the products purchased by the customers. However, the system is challenged by the domain adaptation problem, where each image of the training set contains only one commodity, whereas the test set is a collection of multiple commodities. The existing solution to this problem is to resynthesize the training images to enhance the training set. Then the composite images are rendered using CycleGAN to make the image distribution of the training set and the test set more similar. However, we find that the detection boxes given by the ground truth of the common dataset contain a large part of the background area, the area will affect the training process as noise. To solve this problem, we propose a mask data priming method. Specifically, we redo the large scale Retail Product Checkout (RPC) dataset and add segmentation annotation information to each item in the training set image based on the original dataset using pixel-level annotation. Secondly, a new network structure is proposed in which we train the network using joint learning of detectors and counters, and fine-tune the detection network by filtering out suitable images from the test set. Experiments on the RPC dataset have shown that our method yields better results. we used an approach that reached 81.87% compared to 56.68% for the baseline approach which demonstrates that pixel-level information helps to improve the detection results of the network.
Research-based doctoral supervision development programme: Learning through peer learning, reflection and case studies

ABSTRACT Supervisors play a crucial role in helping doctoral students to successfully complete their degree. Current practice in the development of doctoral supervisors is mostly focused on regulatory issues rather than on pedagogical topics. Existing research suggests a range of successful strategies for supervisor training including the development of professional and personal skills. This paper discusses the design and piloting of a blended research-based development programme for supervisors, which aimed to expand the institutional capacity and engage supervisors in developing their skills. The evaluation of the programme showed that although participants felt that the modules did not offer ‘new content’, the discussion of case studies, the sharing of experiences with peers and more experienced supervisors, and the reflection on practice were regarded as their most valuable components. Additionally, the modules influenced their practice and perspectives, offering developers an effective strategy on how to support supervisors.
No evidence of eavesdropping on heterospecific alarm calls by captive zebra finches recently descended from wild birds

Alarm calls are vocalisations animals give in response to predators which mainly function to alert conspecifics of danger. Studies show that numerous species eavesdrop on heterospecific calls to gain information about predator presence. Responding to heterospecific calls may be a learned or innate response, determined by whether the response occurs with or without prior exposure to the call. In this study, we investigated the presence of eavesdropping behaviour in zebra finches Taeniopygia guttata. This species is not known to possess a distinct alarm call to warn adult conspecifics of a threat, and could be relying on alarm calls of nearby heterospecifics for predator information. We used a playback experiment to expose captive zebra finches to three heterospecific sounds: an unfamiliar alarm call (from the chestnut‐rumped thornbill Acanthiza uropygialis), a familiar alarm call, and a familiar control (both from the noisy miner Manorina melanocephala). These calls were chosen to test if the birds had learnt to distinguish between the function of the two familiar calls, and if the acoustic properties of the unfamiliar alarm indicated presence of a threat to the finches. Our results showed that in response to the thornbill alarm, the birds reduced the rate of production of short calls. However, this decrease was also seen when considering both short and distance calls in response to the control sound. An increase in latency to call was also seen after the control stimulus when compared to the miner alarm. The time spent scanning increased in response to all three stimuli, but this did not differ between stimuli. There were no significant differences when considering the stimulus by time interaction for any of the three vigilance measures. Overall, no strong evidence was found to indicate that the captive zebra finches were responding to the heterospecific alarm stimuli with anti‐predator behaviour.
CAN BRICS’S CURRENCY BE A HEDGE OR A SAFE HAVEN FOR ENERGY PORTFOLIO? AN EVIDENCE FROM VINE COPULA APPROACH

In this paper, we examine the role of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa’s (BRICS) currency in energy market by using vine copula method. The value-at-risk (VaR) and expected shortfall of two portfolios are calculated. One is a benchmark portfolio which is consisted of only energy prices, the other is a portfolio which adding the BRICS’s exchange rate into the benchmark portfolio. The data period is from 24 August 2010 to 29 November 2019. Our results show the BRICS’s currency can reduce the risk in energy investment.
A linear space adjustment by mapping data into an intermediate space and keeping low level data structures

ABSTRACT One of the most important assumptions in machine learning tasks is the fact that training data points and test data points are extracted from the same distribution. However, this paper assumes the situation in which this fact does no longer hold. Therefore, a task named space adjustment, through which the distribution of the data points in the training-data space and the distribution of the data points in the test-data space become identical, is inevitable. Hereby, authors propose a linear mapping for the space adjustment task in the paper. It considers four approaches for preserving localities among data samples during the space adjustment. Each approach is defined based on a different locality concept. Considering all locality concepts in an objective function, authors transform the space adjustment into an optimisation problem. The paper proposes to optimise the corresponding objective function by an iterative approach. Empirical study shows that the proposed method outperforms the baseline methods. To do experiments, authors employ a large number of real-world datasets.
Influence of Adjuvants on the Surface Tension, Deposition and Effectiveness of Herbicides on Fleabane Plants

ABSTRACT: The use of herbicides is widespread in weed management, and adjuvants are added to the spray solution to improve the effectiveness of applications. The goal was to evaluate the influence of adjuvants added to the herbicides saflufenacil and glyphosate, isolated or in combination, and the effects on the surface tension, deposition and effectiveness in post-emergence applications to control Conyza sumatrensis. Experiments were conducted completely randomized experimental design to evaluate surface tension (TS), deposition and herbicide effectiveness. The treatments were glyphosate, glyphosate + saflufenacil and saflufenacil with or without the adjuvants Natur’al óleo®, Assist®, Aterbane®, Sillwet L-77 and Dash HC® (surface tension). For the experiments about mixture deposition and herbicide effectiveness, the factorial scheme 3 x 5 was adopted in the experiment performed in April, where factor A corresponded to the combination of the herbicieds glyphosate, saflufenacil and glyphosate + saflufenacil, and factor B was the addition of the adjuvants Natur’al óleo®, Assist®, Aterbane®, Sillwet L-77. For experiments conducted in November, the adjuvant Dash HC® was added, and the 3x6 factorial design was adopted. The adjuvants reduced the ST of the herbicide mixture, and Silwet L-77® was the most effective one. However, the ST reduction did not influence the mixture deposition on C. sumatrensis plants. The use of adjuvants did not result in an effective control for the applications with sole glyphosate.
Aquatic Competencies and Drowning Prevention in Children 2–4 Years: A Systematic Review

Aquatic competencies have been proposed as a prevention strategy for children aged 2–4 years who are over-represented in drowning statistics. For this recommendation to be made, exploration of the connection between aquatic competencies and drowning is required. This review critically analyzed studies exploring aquatic competencies and their effect on drowning and/or injury severity in children 2–4 years. English language peer-reviewed literature up to 31 July 2019 was searched and the PRISMA process utilized. Data were extracted from twelve studies that fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Findings from this study included that aquatic competencies were not found to increase risk of drowning and demonstrated children aged 2–4 years are capable of developing age-appropriate aquatic competencies. Age-appropriate aquatic competencies extracted were propulsion/locomotion, flotation/buoyancy, water familiarization, submersion and water exits. The acquisition of these competencies holds benefit for the prevention of drowning. No evidence was found relating to injury severity. There was limited exploration of the relationship between aquatic competencies attainment and age-related developmental readiness. The review highlights the need for consistent measures of exposure, clarity around skills acquisition, better age-specific data (2 years vs. 3 years vs. 4 years), studies with larger sample sizes, further exploration of the dose–response relationship and consistent skill level testing across age groups. Further investigation is required to establish the efficacy of aquatic competencies as a drowning prevention intervention, as well as exploring the relationship between aquatic competencies and age-related developmental readiness. In conclusion, early evidence suggests aquatic competencies can help to reduce drowning.
The effect of quality and leverage on the image transfer model: the moderating role of involvement

PurposeThe aim of this study is to examine the influence of perceived sponsorship leverage on perceived product quality and the image transfer model, under moderation by fan involvement.Design/methodology/approachA self-report online survey was carried out after the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. Responses were received from 422 individuals in 21 countries. The leverage scale was validated using exploratory factor analysis. Then, partial least squares–structural equation modeling was employed to examine the validity and reliability of the scales and test the structural model. Finally, multigroup analysis was used to examine how involvement moderates the influence of leverage.FindingsAttitudes toward sponsorship and purchase intention are influenced by the perceived leverage and quality of the product. The multigroup analysis shows that perceived leverage does not influence the attitudes of individuals with low involvement. The influence of perceived leverage on perceived product quality is greater in individuals with high involvement.Research limitations/implicationsSponsors should use collateral marketing strategies to target specific segments of individuals with high and low involvement separately. Showcasing the sponsoring products of brands renowned for their high quality could positively influence the results of sponsorship.Originality/valueThis article contributes to the sponsorship literature by exploring how sponsors can capitalize on collateral marketing actions. It also contributes to the theory of image transfer by exploring how perceived product quality can influence the effectiveness of sponsorship.
A Review of Literature on Immigration in Developed Countries: Determinants of Employment Discrimination

Despite having endorsed civil rights and equality of all individuals, society nowadays remains segregated in many aspects. Apparently, those with unfamiliar styles (culture, communication, religion, etc.) have always been the centre of this malaise, which is getting even more serious with the recent immigrant crisis in Europe. Hence, the goal of this literature review is to gain an understanding of research into the causes of prejudice and discrimination so far. Specified in this paper are the reasons why such employment discrimination still exists, which may come down to one or more of five major factors: Ethnicity and Religion, Culture Norms and Values, Educational Level, Historical and Contemporary Issues and Organizational Environment. None alone would be solely sufficient to explain the causes; hence, this paper will attempt to connect them into one integrated model. Ethically, this paper pointed out not only the roots but also the solutions to them. Though, it is a complex issue, requiring a systematic solution, societal awareness and action. However, the paper has given details of potential future directions from household to national level that may simplify the complexity of the solutions.
Thermal Degradation of Bonding Strength of Aspen Plywood

The objective of this research was to study the effect of exposure time on the bonding strength of aspen plywood at elevated temperatures. The plywood samples were manufactured under laboratory conditions using two types of adhesive: urea-formaldehyde (UF) and phenol-formaldehyde (PF). The plywood samples were tested after exposure to three different temperatures (150 °C, 200 °C and 250 °C) and three exposure time levels (1, 2 and 3 hours) at each temperature. Additionally, a set of control samples was tested at room temperature. The quality of bonding was assessed by shear strength test in compliance with the requirements of the standard EN 314-1. The mass and density losses as well as colour changes of the plywood samples were also determined. The fi ndings of this study indicated that exposure of plywood panels to elevated temperature caused signifi cant degradation of their bonding strength. PF plywood samples lost 63.2 % of their initial strength after 3 h of exposure at 250 °C, while UF samples lost 65.9 % of their initial strength already after 3 h of exposure at the temperature of 200 °C. Statistical regression-based models were also developed for predicting the loss of plywood bonding strength as functions of mass and density losses and total colour difference. As the mass/density losses or total colour difference of panels increased, the losses in bonding strength increased too.
The Primary Antitumor Activities Study of a Novel Peach Gum Oligosaccharide

The peach gum oligosaccharide (PGOP) we reported is a novel bio-degradation product of peach gum. Because of the bone structure is galactan, PGOP is expected has prebiotic and antitumor activity. This study investigates the activity of PGOP to inhibit the tumor cell proliferation and the tumor cell agglutination. The result showed that when the concentration of PGOP above 25 μg/ ml, the proliferation of Hela cell would be inhibited, and when above 50 μg/ ml, the viability of Hela cell would be inhibited either. PGOP can inhibit the cell agglutination mediated by galectin-3, and has a better inhibition than lactose. Finally, PGOP plays the role of prebiotic to promote the growth of probiotics, assists in anti-tumor.
Developing English Abilities of Autonomous Learning for Undergraduates in the Environment of Ecological Affordance

The research investigates undergraduates’ English abilities of autonomous learning in the environment of ecological affordance. It proves that their abilities are significantly different before and after independent learning in one semester, and they can actively try their own learning strategies and achieve good results in English learning, which reflects the success of cultivating the ability of autonomous learning. And it also holds that it is a good ecological affordance when learners could sense and understand abundant learning resources under their teachers’ effective guidance, and thus arouse enough enthusiasm for English learning to guarantee the quality of College English instruction.
Understanding the relationships between social media influencers and their followers: the moderating role of closeness

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand the role of closeness and the relationships between social media influencers and their followers, and, more specifically, how social media influencers can effectively manage their human brands. Design/methodology/approach Two studies were conducted to explore social media influencers. Qualitative content analysis and modeling with path analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings Results found attractiveness and likeability to positively predict attitudes toward the influencer, word-of-mouth and purchase intentions, whereas similarity only predicted word-of-mouth from the follower. Closeness served as a moderator but had different effects. Closeness positively moderated the effect of attractiveness on purchase intentions; however, it had a negative effect with similarity on purchase intentions. Moreover, closeness moderated the effect of likeability on attitude toward the influencer. Research limitations/implications This study was limited by the student sample as well as the students’ self-identification of a social media influencer. Future research should include experimental design manipulating well-known/followed or fictional social media influencers on different social media. Practical implications This paper explores the characteristics of social media influencers as well as the potential outcomes associated with influencers on social media. The implications for marketers and advertisers include a better understanding of how consumers engage with influencers on social media. Originality/value The role of closeness is identified as a moderator of consumers’ behaviors toward social media influencers.
Torsional Mechanical Oscillator Driven by the Orbital Angular Momentum of Sound

We demonstrate that the orbital angular momentum of radiating waves can be used to drive a mechanical oscillator, an option that has remained elusive to date on experimental grounds whatever the nature of the waves. This is done using an amplitude-modulated ultrasonic wave interacting with a centimeter-size torsional pendulum. Achieved resonant quantitative measurements of the acoustic radiation torque and material properties set the basis for orbital-angular-momentum-based metrology applications and possibly cooling of the rotational degree of freedom of macroscopic objects.
Wideband DOA Estimation on Co-prime Array via Atomic Norm Minimization

This paper introduces a low complexity wideband direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation algorithm on the co-prime array. To increase the number of the detectable signal sources and to prevent an unnecessary increase in complexity, the low dimensional co-prime array vector is constructed by arranging elements of the correlation matrix at every frequency bin. The atomic norm minimization (ANM)-based approach resolves the grid-mismatch, which causes an inevitable error in the compressive sensing (CS)-based DOA estimation. However, the complexity surges when the ANM is exploited to the wideband DOA estimation on the co-prime array. The surging complexity of the ANM-based wideband DOA estimation on the co-prime array is handled by solving the time-saving semidefinite programming (SDP) motivated by the ANM for multiple measurement vector (MMV) case. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm has high accuracy and low complexity compared to compressive sensing (CS)-based wideband DOA estimation algorithms that exploit the co-prime array.
Near-Field Warping Sampling Scheme for Broad-Side Antenna Characterization

In this paper the problem of sampling the field radiated by a planar source observed over a finite planar aperture located in the near-field is addressed. The problem is cast as the determination of the spatial measurement positions which allow us to discretize the radiation problem so that the singular values of the radiation operator are well-approximated. More in detail, thanks to a suitably warping transformation of the observation variables, the kernel function of the relevant operator is approximated by a band-limited function and hence the sampling theorem applied to achieved discretization. It results in the sampling points having to be non-linearity arranged across the measurement aperture and their number can be considerably lowered as compared to more standard sampling approach. It is shown that the proposed sampling scheme works well for measurement apertures that are not too large as compared to the source’s size. As a consequence, the method appears better suited for broad-side large antenna whose radiated field is mainly concentrated in front of the antenna. A numerical analysis is included to check the theoretical findings and to study the trade-off between the field accuracy representation (over the measurement aperture) and the truncation error in the estimated far-field radiation pattern.
Neurocognitive Evidence for Different Problem-Solving Processes between Engineering and Liberal Arts Students

Differences exist between engineering and liberal arts students because of their educational backgrounds. Therefore, they solve problems differently. This study examined the brain activation of these two groups of students when they responded to 12 questions of verbal, numerical, or spatial intelligence. A total of 25 engineering and 25 liberal arts students in Taiwan participated in the experiment. The results were as follows. (i) During verbal intelligence tasks, differences between the two groups were observed in the information flows of verbal message comprehension and contextual familiarity detection in the problem-identifying phase, whereas no significant differences were found in the resolution-reaching phase. (ii) During numerical intelligence tasks, differences between the two groups were observed in the information flows of mental calculation and message comprehensionin the problem-identifying phase and those of verbal perception and analogical reasoning in the resolution-reaching phase. (iii) During spatial intelligence tasks, differences between the two groups were observed in the information flows of spatial relation integration and spatial context memory retrieval in the problem-identifying phase and those ofspatial attentionand contextual relation integration in the resolution-reaching phase.