Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visual Quality Assessment of Panoramic Video

—In contrast with traditional video, panoramic video enables spherical viewing direction with support for head- mounted displays, providing an interactive and immersive experience. Unfortunately, to the best of our knowledge, there are few visual quality assessment (VQA) methods, either subjective or objective, for panoramic video. This paper proposes both subjec- tive and objective methods for assessing quality loss in impaired panoramic video. Speciﬁcally, we ﬁrst establish a new database, which includes the viewing direction data from several subjects watching panoramic video sequences. Then, from our database, we ﬁnd a high consistency in viewing direction across different subjects. The viewing directions are normally distributed in the center of the front regions, but they sometimes fall into other regions, related to video content. Given this ﬁnding, we present a subjective VQA method for measuring different mean opinion score (DMOS) of the whole and regional panoramic video, in terms of overall DMOS (O-DMOS) and vectorized DMOS (V-DMOS), respectively. Moreover, we propose two objective VQA methods for panoramic video, in light of human perception characteristics of panoramic video. One method weighs the distortion of pixels with regard to their distances to the center of front regions, which considers human preference in a panorama. The other method predicts viewing directions according to video content, and then the predicted viewing directions are leveraged to assign weights to the distortion of each pixel in our objective VQA method. Finally, our experimental results verify that both the subjective and objective methods proposed in this paper advance state-of-the-art VQA for panoramic video.
"RETROSPECTIVE ANALYSIS OF XPERT MTB/RIF IN IRL KARNATAKA UNDER RNTCP"

— Background: India is one of the high burden countries for Tuberculosis and accounts for one-fourth of the global case load. The vital challenges faced by the Revised National TB Control Programme (RNTCP) in achieving its objectives are initial default and loss during follow-up. Objective: Diagnostic delays with MDR-TB usually due to the traditional methods, are associated with adverse clinical outcomes and an increase in transmission of the infection. The Xpert MTB/RIF assay (Cartridge Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test - CBNAAT), is a new diagnostic device, used to rapidly detect tuberculosis infection and rifampicin resistance. The method now is a part of the widely recommended universal DST by RNTCP, which requires that all clinical samples should be tested first using the CBNAAT. It was hence, decided to assess the performance of Xpert MTB/RIF (CBNAAT) assay for detecting rifampicin resistance against the conventional drug susceptibility testing in liquid culture, using the automated BD MGIT 960 liquid culture system. Materials and Methods: A total of 2500 specimens were included in the assessment. using the version 4 cartridges, following the manufacturer's recommendations. The samples were further processed and cultured in liquid using the BD MGIT liquid culture the first-line phenotypic DST was performed using the SIRE in the BD MGIT Dickinson, USA) according to the recommendations of the manufacturer and the proportion method of drug susceptibility testing using the gold standard of solid culture using the Lowenstein Jensen Solid Culture Medium (LJ medium). A molecular test for detection of drug resistance, Genotype MDR plus Assay (Line Probe Assay -LPA) was also performed for the 2500 samples. The results of all the methods were compared and their respective sensitivities and specificities were calculated for comparison.
Establishing a Paradigm: A Systematic Analysis of Interactive Advertising Research

ABSTRACT This study presents a review of the advertising literature published in the Journal of Interactive Advertising (JIAD) through the application of a paradigm funnel. The technique is designed to systematically explore, classify, and analyze a body of work to gain insight into the current status of a research paradigm. Subsequently, interactive advertising is defined within a scholarly framework and more than 186 research articles are evaluated. The results provide a foundation for helping advertising scholars identify patterns, existing gaps in the literature, and research opportunities for the future that will expand our understanding of interactive advertising.
Arbeitspolitische Verankerung des deutschen Windkraftanlagenbaus? Empirische Befunde zu ausgewählten Fallunternehmen

Über die personal- und arbeitspolitischen Besonderheiten in den Unternehmen der Erneuerbaren Energiewirtschaft ist vergleichsweise wenig bekannt. Dabei bieten insbesondere diese neu entstehenden bzw. entstandenen Branchen eine hervorragende Möglichkeit, die Verankerung in arbeitspolitischen Institutionen im Allgemeinen und im deutschen Kontext kollektiver Arbeitsbeziehungen im Besonderen zu erkunden. Der vorliegende Beitrag zielt daher auf die Beantwortung der Frage, ob und auf welche Weise im Zuge einer sich herausbildenden Personalpolitik auch eine arbeitspolitische Verankerung erfolgt und inwieweit inner- und überbetriebliche Kontextbedingungen auf diese Entwicklung einwirken.
Monokristal-monokristal eraldaketak polioxometalatoetan oinarritutako sistemetan: termikoki aktibatutako zenbait adibide

EuskaraKanpo-estimuluen bitartez aktibatutako fase-trantsizioak, eta haien artean kristal bakun izaera mantentzen duten kasuak, hots monokristal-monokristal (MKMK) eraldaketak, interes handikoak dira; izan ere, gai dira i) ezaugarri berriak dituzten produktuak emateko eta ii) materialaren propietateetan gertatzen diren aldaketak, egitura kristalinoak jasaten dituenekin erlazionatzeko. Polioxometalatoen (POMen) kasuan bezala, egiturei zurruntasuna ematen dieten oinarrizko unitateak erabiltzea bide egokia da prozesuan zehar gerta litekeen kristalinitatearen galera saihesteko. Gaur egun POMetan oinarritutako sistemetan aurki daitezkeen MKMK eraldaketa urrien artean, aipatzekoak dira termikoki aktibatutako adibideak. Lan honetan azken hauek laburbilduko dira eta bereziki gure ikerketa taldean prestatutako konposatuak eta haien erabilerak (katalisia eta gasen xurgapen selektiboa) goraipatuko ditugu. EnglishPhase transitions induced by external stimuli in which crystallinity is retained, so-called single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformations (SCSC), are being widely studied because they allow for i) obtaining products with novel characteristics and ii) correlating structural changes with how a given property of the material is modified. The use of building blocks that provide robustness to the system such as polyoxometalates (POM) are a suitable option to avoid the loss of crystallinity throughout the process. Among the scarce SCSC transformations reported to date for POM-based systems, it is worth highlighting the temperature-triggered examples. This work reviews the later cases with strong focus on the compounds obtained in our research group and their applications (catalysis and selective gas sorption).
Summary of SPT based field case history data of CETIN (2016) database

Most methods for assessment of in situ seismic soil liquefaction potential require evaluation of the earthquake-induced cyclic shear stress ratio (CSR). Estimates of the in situ CSR can be developed directly, using dynamic response analyses, but it is common in ‘simplified’ analysis methods to develop estimates of the in situ CSR using empirical relationships. Unfortunately, the most widely used existing empirical relationships are based on limited response analyses and do not take full advantage of current knowledge of factors affecting this response problem. As a result, they are both biased and unnecessarily imprecise. This paper presents the results of a relatively comprehensive suite of site response studies (2153 site response analyses), performed using carefully selected suites of site conditions and input time histories, to provide an improved basis for development of estimates of in situ CSR using the rd-approach. The resulting empirical correlations, developed using the Bayesian updating method, provide a much improved basis for simplified empirical evaluation of CSR as a function of (1) depth; (2) earthquake magnitude; (3) intensity of shaking; and (4) site stiffness. q 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
B-SLIM Model as an English Teaching Model in Thaialnd

In the business world, English language is considered as an important language for communication among people. According to the Act of Thai Education during B.E. (2008-2015:39), the sustainable development for Thai people has become the main focus in this era. To transform the education especially in the 21 st century is needed to be integrated the new methodology in language teaching into three main areas. They are: education development, education extension and cooperation in services and educational management. The objectives of the study were: 1) to develop learning activities in and outside classroom context by using B-SLIM Model with the University students in Thailand 2) to compare the results of learning with the B-SLIM Model in the course of listening and speaking in Business English II after using B-SLIM Model 3) to investigate the level of listening and speaking of students following B-SLIM Model. The conceptual framework applied in the study was the development of Listening and Speaking skills by using B-SLIM Model as a teaching model in the course of Listening and Speaking in Business English II The qualitative method was mainly used, combined with the quantitative data collected from 27 students studying at Chandrakasem Rajabhat University and registering in the course of BENG 1102 Listening and Speaking in Business English II. The normal classes of Listening and Speaking course II in and outside university campus such as Suvarnnabhumi International Airport was a place of data collection. In addition, B-SLIM Model (Bilash’s Second Language Instructional Method) was applied and used in creating the criteria for data analysis by means of experimental step and teaching step by step according to B-SLIM Model. The method of data analysis was the use of basic statistics.
Images and Memory : A Literature Review of Issues in the Use of Images to Aid Vocabulary Acquisition and Reading Comprehension and Recall

Many Japanese high school teachers of English do not make use of images in classes, despite the fact that images have been shown to be more memorable than text. This article covers research in memory, L1 (first language) reading, and multimedia learning to see understand how images can aid in the acquisition of written language and reading comprehension ability in preparation for designing studies on the use of images in EFL (English as a foreign language) teaching and learning situations. Introduction: Could a thousand written words be better? A picture is worth a thousand words. This bit of popular wisdom suggests that images contain more information than text and that this information can be more easily processed and understood by the observer. More than ever before, written prose is likely to be accompanied with images (David, 1998), suggesting that the effectiveness of images in communicating—or at least getting attention—is widely accepted. Textbooks in schools make extensive use of images to facilitate learning. And new multimedia materials for use in classrooms, on PCs, or in e-books for mobile devices go beyond that, integrating text with both still and moving images. The combination is often visually stunning. But does it improve language learning? Open any English language textbook in Japan and you will find images—lots of them. A quick survey of the main units of two of the most popular EFL textbooks in Japan (used for English I with first year high school students) found an average of 2 images per page, occupying in some cases as much as 40 to 90 percent of some pages. And textbook makers are employing greater use of images in their materials it seems. A similar quick survey of two popular EFL textbooks for English I used 25 years ago, found an average of 1.02 images used per page. Publishers must think images are more important these days; they are using twice as many as 25 years ago. In contrast, teachers at high schools in Kanagawa in Japan do not seem to be making significant use of textbook images or other images in their classes, according to observations done in and around November of 2012. Classroom observations and examinations of teaching
Professional Standards in Russia for the Practice of Audiology

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN COMMUNICATION SCIENCE AND DISORDERS • Volume 33 • 172–181 • Fall 2006 © NSSLHA 1092-5171/06/3302-0172 ABSTRACT: This article compares professional standards in the field of audiology in Russia to standard practices for audiologists in the United States. Information was obtained by analyzing legal documents and statistical reports pertaining to audiology and by completing interviews with professionals who practice in the field of audiology during a visit to Russia in the summer of 2005. Findings revealed a significant difference in educational background, scope of practice, and qualification standards between American audiologists and their Russian colleagues. Furthermore, the study demonstrated different approaches in each country for the delivery of audiologic services to the general population.
Cell segmentation and tracking via proposal generation and selection

Biology and medicine rely heavily on images to understand how the body functions, for diagnosing diseases and to test the effects of treatments. In recent decades, microscopy has experienced rapid improvements, enabling imaging of fixed and living cells at higher resolutions and frame rates, and deeper inside the biological samples. This has led to rapid growth in the image data. Automated methods are needed to quantitatively analyze these huge datasets and find statistically valid patterns. Cell segmentation and tracking is critical for automated analysis, yet it is a challenging problem due to large variations in cell shapes and appearances caused by various factors, including cell type, sample preparation and imaging setup. This thesis proposes novel methods for segmentation and tracking of cells, which rely on machine learning based approaches to improve the performance, generalization and reusability of automated methods. Cell proposals are used to efficiently exploit spatial and temporal context for resolving detection ambiguities in high-cell-density regions, caused by weak boundaries and deformable shapes of cells. This thesis presents two cell proposal methods: the first method uses multiple blob-like filter banks for detecting candidates for round cells, while the second method, Cell Proposal Network (CPN), uses convolutional neural networks to learn the cell shapes and appearances, and can propose candidates for cells in a wide variety of microscopy images. CPN first regresses cell candidate bounding boxes and their scores, then, it segments the regions inside the top ranked boxes to obtain cell candidate masks. CPN can be used as a general cell detector, as is demonstrated by training a single model to segment images from histology, fluorescence and phase-contrast microscopy. This work poses segmentation and tracking as proposal selection problems, which are solved optimally using integer linear programming or approximately using iterative shortest cost path search and non-maximum suppression. Additionally, this thesis presents a method which utilizes graph-cuts and an off-the-shelf edge detector to accurately segment highly deformable cells. The main contribution of this thesis is a cell tracking method which uses CPN to propose cell candidates, represents alternative tracking hypotheses using a graphical model, and selects the globally optimal sub-graph providing cell tracks. It achieves state-of-the-art tracking performance on multiple public benchmark datasets from both phase-contrast and fluorescence microscopy containing cells of various shapes and appearances.
Automatic Question and Answer Generation from Course Materials

This paper presents a Question and Answer Generating System based on the approach of Natural Language Processing. As an examiner needs to ask suitable and good questions and prepare correct answers. The potential benefits this system may assist examiners meeting appropriate questions and answers. When a text input is given, this system deeply analyzes the text content and generates a set of questions and suitable answers.
Missing Value Imputation and Normalization Techniques in Myocardial Infarction

Missing Data imputation is an important research topic in data mining. In general, real data contains missing values. The presence of the missing value in the data set has a major problem for precise prediction. The objective of this paper is to highlight possible improvement of existing algorithm for medical data. KNBP imputation method based on KNN and BPCA is proposed and evaluate MSE and RMSE estimates. Normalization is done by comparing three algorithms namely min-max normalization, Z-score and decimal scaling. The experiment is done with standard bench mark data and real time collected data. KNBP imputation method and Decimal Scaling Algorithm for Normalization got lower error rate.
Application of image processing to calculate the number of fish seeds using raspberry-pi

Many fish cultivator in Indonesia who suffered losses due to the sale and purchase of fish seeds did not match the agreed amount. The loss is due to the calculation of fish seed still using manual method. To overcome these problems, then in this study designed fish counting system automatically and real-time fish using the image processing based on Raspberry Pi. Used image processing because it can calculate moving objects and eliminate noise. Image processing method used to calculate moving object is virtual loop detector or virtual detector method and the approach used is “double difference image”. The “double difference” approach uses information from the previous frame and the next frame to estimate the shape and position of the object. Using these methods and approaches, the results obtained were quite good with an average error of 1.0% for 300 individuals in a test with a virtual detector width of 96 pixels and a slope of 1 degree test plane.
A Review on Mitigating the Problem of Packet Dropping & Energy Management in AD-HOC Wireless Network

-In mobile ad hoc network communication is performed usually by using only send and receive messages and every node is powered by limited energy from low capacity battery. Devices in Mobile Ad hoc Networks (MANET) i.e. called nodes are typically battery-powered or energy dependent. The sources of power are providing the capability of working and measures in joules unit that’s why it also called energy. Every send or receive message takes particular amount of energy from the node. So node’s total energy level gradually decreases each time while it is sending or receiving something. In this way node will die out and packets coming from the source will be dropped since one of the routing node on the current route is no longer functioning. These packet loss events are observed and minimized in this project. In the proposed approach, when source receives Warning Message from any routing node on the ongoing route then it will stop sending packets on the ongoing route. Critical energy level of routing node has been defined to generate a Warning Message when routing node’s energy level reduces to critical energy level. The growing need for energy efficiency in cable less networks, in general, and in mobile ad hoc networks in particular, calls for energy enhancement features. Energy aware scheme can be applied in MANET routing protocols. Average change in energy over time in the unmodified protocols show a steady increase with time, while the energy aware protocols show an increase in the starting, then it
Efficient Query of Quality Correlation for Service Composition

As enterprises around the globe embrace globalization, strategic alliances among enterprises have become an important means to gain competitive advantages. Enterprises cooperate to improve the quality or lower the prices of their services, which introduce quality correlations, i.e., the quality of a service is associated with other services. Existing approaches for service composition have not fully and systematically considered the quality correlations between services. In this paper, we propose a novel approach named Q2C (Query of Quality Correlation) to systematically model quality correlations and enable efficient queries of quality correlations for service compositions. Given a service composition and a set of candidate services, Q2C first preprocesses the quality correlations among the candidate services and then constructs a quality correlation index graph to enable efficient queries for quality correlations. Extensive experiments are conducted on a real-world web service dataset to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of Q2C.
The Impact of a Trade War: Assessment of the Current Tariffs and Alternative Scenarios

This note uses Charbonneau and Landry’s (2018) framework to assess the direct impact of the current trade tensions on the Canadian and global economies, as well as possible implications if the conflict escalates further. Overall, my findings show that the estimated impact of current tariffs on real gross domestic product (GDP) remains relatively small, which is in line with the literature on gains from trade, but the impact on trade is much larger.
An Analysis of Promotional Programs for Cloud Computing: Coupons or Free Trials?

ABSTRACT Offering promotional programs is a common strategy for firms to induce consumers to make purchases. This paper investigates promotional programs in the market of cloud computing. We identified the following two popular forms of promotional programs for cloud computing services in this paper: the coupon and the free trial promotional program. We first studied the cloud provider’s promotional strategies in the market with complete information and identified the conditions under which each promotional strategy is optimal. The results show that targeted promotional programs are more profitable than untargeted programs. Further, the provider should offer a targeted coupon program in the case of a higher usage cost, weaker network effects and a lower quantity of clients’ tasks to process. In addition, this paper explores the case of incomplete information and finds that the provider will offer untargeted coupons, untargeted trials, or no promotional programs for optimal profits. Finally, this paper studies the scenario in which clients are uncertain about the valuations of the cloud service a priori. We show that trial programs will be more advantageous under such scenario compared to the scenario when clients exhibit no uncertainty.