Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
One-shot Learning for Human Action Recognition

Action recognition has a wide range of applications, including interactive games, human computer interaction, intelligent video surveillance, and so on. Traditional studies on human action recognition typically need a large amount of training data, which is inconvenient or even impractical for many real-world applications. In this paper we present a one-shot learning-based approach for action concept learning and recognition, inspired by the intrinsic ability of humans to learn new concepts from a small number of or even one example(s). The key idea of our approach is based on Bayesian Program Learning (BPL). We compared our model with existing well-known action recognition models on the publicly available CMU Mocap dataset. We found that our solution can achieve higher recognition accuracies than the state of the art, with few training samples.
Application of Computational Fluid Dynamics to the Flow Mixing and Heat Transfer in Rod Bundle

A Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis is performed to predict flow mixing and heat transfer in a 4x4 rod bundle with a mixing-vane grid. The diameter of the rod is 25.4 mm and the pitch-to-diameter ratio is 1.35. The average flow velocity of water is 1.5 m/s and the surface heat flux in a heated rod is 104 kW/m 2 . The CFD analysis predicted a swirl inside the subchannel and crossflow between adjacent subcahnnels, which were generated by the mixing-vane grid. The CFD predictions of axial and lateral velocity distributions agree with the experimental results well. The cold and hot spots were predicted in a heated rod downstream of the mixing vane owing to a non-uniform flow mixing. The CFD prediction of the wall temperature in a heated rod shows a somewhat large difference with the measured one in a narrow gap region, and far downstream of the vane grid.
Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene A1298C polymorphism and gene-environment interactions are associated with carotid plaque in a south Chinese population.

OBJECTIVE Our primary objective was to evaluate the associations of conventional risk factors and methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene polymorphisms with the risk of carotid plaque in a south Chinese population. Our secondary objective was to explore gene-environment interactions and potential relationship with carotid plaque. METHOD We enrolled 229 patients suffer from carotid plaque and 180 controls in this case-control study. We measured the carotid intima-media thickness by ultrasound and investigated conventional risk factors, biomarkers and C677T/A1298C MTHFR genotypes. Logistic analysis was used to evaluate the association between conventional risk factors and carotid plaque. The SNPstats platform was used to investigate the association between MTHFR gene polymorphisms and carotid plaque under 5 genetic models (dominant, recessive, codominant, over dominant and additive models). Gene-environment interactions analysis was then performed by multifactor dimensionality reduction. RESULTS Age and hypertension were identified as independent risk factors of carotid plaque. C677T and A1298C demonstrated associations with carotid plaque under the recessive model (C677T: P = 0.03, odds ratio = 3.14, 95% confidence interval = 1.04-11.21; A1298C: P = 0.018, odds ratio = 2.40, 95% confidence interval = 1.13-5.10). Neither C677T nor A1298C polymorphism was associated with stable or vulnerable plaques. Additionally, Significant multiplicative and additive interactions were observed in terms of carotid plaque between A1298C polymorphism and diabetes, age, and smoking (P = 0.013). CONCLUSION MTHFR gene C677T and A1298C polymorphisms may act as modifiers of carotid plaque risk in south Chinese population. In addition, the combined effect of gene-environment interactions between A1298C polymorphism and conventional risk factors may promote the progression of carotid plaque.
Conditions for reservoir computing performance using semiconductor lasers with delayed optical feedback

Photonic implementations of reservoir computing (RC) have been receiving considerable attention due to their excellent performance, hardware, and energy efficiency as well as their speed. Here, we study a particularly attractive all-optical system using optical information injection into a semiconductor laser with delayed feedback. We connect its injection locking, consistency, and memory properties to the RC performance in a non-linear prediction task. We find that for partial injection locking we achieve a good combination of consistency and memory. Therefore, we are able to provide a physical basis identifying operational parameters suitable for prediction. c © 2017 Optical Society of America OCIS codes: (190.3100) Instabilities and chaos; (320.7085) Ultrafast information processing; (200.4560) Optical data processing; (250.5960) Semiconductor lasers.
Optimization of swift protocols

Swift, an increasingly-popular programming language, advocates the use of protocols, which define a set of required methods and properties for conforming types. Protocols are commonly used in Swift programs for abstracting away implementation details; e.g., in a large industrial app from Uber, they are heavily used to enable mock objects for unit testing. Unfortunately, heavy use of protocols can result in significant performance overhead. Beyond the dynamic dispatch often associated with such a feature, Swift allows for both value and reference types to conform to a protocol, leading to significant boxing and unboxing overheads. In this paper, we describe three new optimizations and transformations to reduce the overhead of Swift protocols. Within a procedure, we define LocalVar, a dataflow analysis and transformation to remove both dynamic dispatch and boxing overheads. We also describe Param, which optimizes the case of protocol-typed method parameters using specialization. Finally, we describe SoleType, a transformation that injects casts when a global analysis (like type-hierarchy analysis) discovers some protocol variable must have some concrete type. We also describe how these optimizations work fruitfully together and with existing Swift optimizations to deliver further speedups. We perform elaborate experimentation and demonstrate that our optimizations deliver an average 1.56x speedup on a suite of Swift benchmarks that use protocols. Further, we applied the optimizations to a production iOS Swift application from Uber used by millions of customers daily. For a set of performance spans defined by the developers of the application, the optimized version showed speedups ranging from 6.9% to 55.49%. A version of our optimizations has been accepted as part of the official Swift compiler distribution.
Guidelines on Security and Privacy in Public Cloud Computing | NIST

NIST Special Publication 800-144 - Cloud computing can and does mean different things to different people. The common characteristics most interpretations share are on-demand scalability of highly available and reliable pooled computing resources, secure access to metered services from nearly anywhere, and displacement of data and services from inside to outside the organization. While aspects of these characteristics have been realized to a certain extent, cloud computing remains a work in progress. This publication provides an overview of the security and privacy challenges pertinent to public cloud computing and points out considerations organizations should take when outsourcing data, applications, and infrastructure to a public cloud environment. ~
An Scéalaí: autonomous learners harnessing speech and language technologies

This paper presents an autonomous language learning platform which has speech and language technology at its core. An Scéalaí (‘the Storyteller’) is a web-based interactive iCALL system that allows learners to compose their own text and correct it by listening to the text spoken with synthetic voices (aural proofing) and by responding to NLP prompts that detect errors. All learner interactions are logged and monitored, allowing researchers to observe the learning processes. A pilot study by 14 learners of Irish in the US was conducted to explore the efficacy of the corrective mechanisms currently implemented in the platform. The results of the pilot study indicate that both mechanisms currently on offer were effective in the development of writing skills but work in rather different ways. Aural proofing appears to generate an immediate corrective response which indicates that it is serving both to develop awareness of specific phonological contrasts as well as basic phonic rules of the language. In the case of the NLP prompts, corrections were also made, although the data suggest that this is a slower process and that learners may, at least initially, merely be satisfying the system’s prompts rather than discovering the grammatical basis of the correction. The pilot has been useful in pointing towards future directions for platform development that can take the needs of this type of adult autonomous learner into account.
Optimisation of Imperfect Structures using Distributed Components

This contribution contains an approach to the optimisation of slender compressed structures which leads to designs being robust against geometrical imperfections. In the developed optimisation model, the shape of the structure depends not only on the optimisation variables but also explicitly on a set of imperfection variables. The model of geometrical imperfections is based on the concept of random fields while for the uncertainty analysis a convex model is employed. The implementation of the presented method takes place in a software framework consisting of distributed software components communicating via CORBA. Each of the components is responsible for a certain aspect of the overall problem.
Epidemiological Study of Equine Piroplasmosis (Theileria equi and Babesia caballi) by Microscopic Examination and Competitive-ELISA in Erbil Province North-Iraq

Background: Equine piroplasmosis is a major tick-borne disease that can lead to serious health problems and economic losses in horse industry. The aim of the study is to determine the prevalence of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi in different species of Equus namely (Horse, mule, donkey and pony) by Giemsa stained blood films and competitive ELISA. Methods: This study was conducted at various geographic areas of Erbil governorate. A total of 349 blood samples from equine (209 horses, 62 mule, 57 donkey and 21 ponies) were collected to estimate the prevalence rate of Theileria equi and Babesia caballi by using Giemsa stained blood smear and competitive ELISA. Results: The overall prevalence rates were (10.6%) consisting of (8.3%), (1.7%) and (0.6) for T. equi, B. caballi and both infection respectively by Giemsa stained blood smears, and the rate was 38.97%, consisting of 20.9% for T. equi, 11.2% for B. caballi and 6.9% for both infection by cELISA. Seroprevalence rate of T. equi was significantly higher (P < 0.001) than that B. caballi in equids. There was also a significant difference associated between age (P < 0.01), activity (P < 0.01), management (P < 0.001) and tick infestation (P < 0.001), but neither the type of equids nor the gender was significant differences associated with prevalence rate. Conclusion: The present study concluded that the equine piroplasmosis is a vital infection distributed among the equine in Erbil province North of Iraq. Thus a better control programme should be implemented to contain and control the prevalence of the disease within the area.
reparation and evaluation of chitosan / alginate porous icrospheres / Bletilla striata polysaccharide composite hemostatic ponges

We prepared a novel hemostatic material using chitosan (CS), alginate, and Bletilla striata, which showed good biocompatibility and hemostatic properties. Alginate-calcium porous microspheres (Alg) were prepared by emulsification/cross-linking methods, and Bletilla striata polysaccharide (Bsp) was extracted from the tubers by water extraction and alcohol precipitation. To improve the water absorption and accelerate the blood coagulation, Alg and Bsp were mixed with chitosan solution to form CS/Alg and CS/Alg/Bsp composite sponges by lyophilization. Based on SEM images, the microspheres exhibited good spherical shape, possessed many pores on the surface, and were well dispersed in the CS/Alg5 and CS/Alg10 compos-
Interactive comment on “ Black carbon from ships : a review of the effects of ship speed , fuel quality and exhaust gas scrubbing ” by D . A . Lack and J

General comments: In the topic of the paper three aspects for ship emitted black carbon is presented. In addition to these three aspects (ship speed, fuel quality and exhaust gas scrubbing) definitions and measurement of black carbon is widely discussed in the paper. Compared to the total length of text in the paper (24 text pages) 5 pages of discussion about methods feels quite a lot. Although maybe relevant for the issue authors should consider referring to other papers focusing purely on the definitions of black carbon and/or measurement methods (e.g. Slowick et al. AST 41,2007 DOI: 10.1080/02786820701197078) to shorten this section. In the references used to eval-
The role of social comparison, perceived fairness and reciprocity in labor contract: An experimental study

We replicate the Gift Exchange Game in Gachter and Falk (2002) to investigate the role of social comparison of wage, the formation of fairness and its effect on the workers’ reciprocal behavior. We conduct total of three experimental sessions with different treatment. In the first random matching treatment, we find that workers form fairness based on wage offered by previous employer. Since the matching is random, although the wage offered is fair and exceeds the previous wage, worker does not reciprocate. But workers are more reciprocal in the second fixed matching treatment. Since workers interact with the same employers, workers can judge the intention of the offer more easily than in the first treatment. We observe workers react to the change of wage closely. However, when the workers are exposed to market wage, workers change the anchoring behavior; market wage becomes more important than current wage in determining effort level. But the overall relative wage effect depends on the implicit behavior of the workers; high effort workers and low effort workers perceive wage differently. Although current wage exceeds market wage, low effort workers reciprocate more than high effort workers. But when the market wage exceeds own wage, high effort workers reduce effort level more than low effort workers. We conclude that different reciprocal behavior is due to self serving bias in which high effort should be compensated with high wage and low effort low wage is fair. Therefore, using reciprocity to resolve problem of contractual incompleteness depends on the type of workers. JEL Classification: D03, C91, D81,
An Ontology-based Supporting System for Integrated Farming towards a Concept of the Sufficiency Economy

Sufficiency Economy has been a guideline in several aspects in Thai culture and has been applied to agriculture theory called The New Agriculture Theory. Its core concept is to maintain self-reliant and sustainable resources within one’s own farmland by integrating farming parts. To promote the theory, we propose the first framework to support farmers who are interesting in exploiting the theory by providing a suggestion on how to be self-reliant and sustainable farm. Ontologies are designed to capture domain knowledge of the theory along 692 KKU Science Journal Volume 44 Number 4 Research with inference rules for making a logical suggestion of farming process. An inference engine is utilized to suggest a logical setting plan according to environment and need of individual farmer. Not only a self-reliant and sustainable procedure in farm setting is suggested, but the framework also provides an optimizing selection for each agriculture part. By testing, we found that the recommendations are accurate for 94.75% when they are compared with experts’ opinion.
A PROGRAMME FOR FACILITATING THE OCCUPATIONAL ADJUSTMENT OF BLACK CAREER EMPLOYEES

The increased merging of Blacks in the South African world of work has important implications for the industrial psychologist. Some of these are related to creating opportunities for advancement, labour and human relations, training and so on. In this study the question of work ethics was examined. It was found that work values which may be associated with work ethics, can be changed to the extent that it positively reflects in work performance.
The use of Ephemeroptera to assess aquatic biodiversity in the rhithral part of the Luxembourgish rivers

In a multi-field survey conducted during the period 1994-1998, 39 species of Ephemeroptera were recorded in the rhithral part of the Luxembourgish rivers. They belong to 22 genera and represent 8 families out of the 15 encontered in Europe. The relationship of these macroinvertebrates between their distribution and the abiotic/biotic factors were elucidated with the multivariate Canonical Correspondance Analysis (partial CCA) technique. The results of the partial CCA ordination using environmental variables obtained by forwarded selection show that 9.8 % of the variance in species occurrences are accounted by the first two axes and 73.1 % of the variation could be explained by the environmental variables. The four main factors having an important significance for larvae were the conductivity, the slope, the organic pollution and the stream order. Ephemeroptera constitute a very interesting group for studying running water and can therefore be considered as a useful group for assessing aquatic biodiversity in rivers.
Research on Vehicle Detection Algorithms in Surveillance Video Images

Intelligent traffic video surveillance system, including vehicle inspection, vehicle tracking and license plate recognition module. The video vehicle detection in this paper is divided into four steps: video image pre-processing, background modeling and updating, foreground detection and adhesion vehicle area segmentation. After the collected video sequence is subjected to mean-value down-sampling and gray-scale conversion preprocessing, the background model is built using a mixture of Gaussian models. A sliding window is set on the time axis, and the grayscale video frame image in the sliding window is median-filtered to output a background gradient map. By merging the results of the spatial background difference between the color space and the grayscale gradient, the foreground image detected by the vehicle is obtained. Finally, the background difference is obtained in the gradient domain to obtain the foreground image to achieve vehicle detection.
The Entry-Deterring E¤ects of Inexible Regulation

This paper investigates the signaling role of tax policy in promoting, or hindering, the ability of a monopolist to practice entry deterrence. We show that environmental policy can facilitate the incumbent rms concealment of information from potential entrants, thus deterring entry, and yet entail welfare improvements. Furthermore, we demonstrate that entry deterrence is more likely to arise when environmental regulation cannot be rapidly revised across time if market conditions change (inexible regimes) than when regulatory agencies can adjust environmental policy over time.
Iterative Approach to Basic Reluctance Motor Control

A feedback gain tuning method is proposed to control electromechanical actuators that have the characteristic applicable to iterative trial movements. The tuning algorithm is composed of an optimisation procedure based on the Complex Method and does not require any dynamic model of controlled systems. It tunes the feedback gain under an arbitrary performance index and is applicable to both linear and non-linear control laws. Furthermore, the algorithm is concise and has a few adjusting parameters. The tuning process is strait forward and allows on-site tuning for actual industrial systems. The algorithm is applied to a basic reluctance motor control, using simulations, which attest that the proposed tuning method is effective for this system. Key-Words: Reluctance Motor, Control, Iterative Trial, Electromechanical Actuators, Complex Method.
TCAD Simulation for Advanced Terahertz SiGeC HBTs

This paper deals with the physical modeling and accurate simulation of SiGeC Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors. An original methodology of TCAD simulation for advanced SiGeC HBT in BiCMOS technology is presented. This novel approach includes both process simulations for all the fabrication steps and electrical analyses, rigorously taking into account the process-dependent material properties. The benefits of the carbon incorporation into the base have been demonstrated on the electrical behavior of HBTs but its impact is frequently ignored in the modeling. Present work uses state of the art of physical models (low-field mobility, saturation velocity, energy relaxation time, etc.). Hydrodynamic (HD) mixedmode simulations were performed. The electrical results of the simulated device and critical figures of merit of HBTs (Gummel plot, Maximum oscillation frequency and unity-current gain transition frequency) are validated showing an excellent agreement with measurements. The proposed methodology may be used to obtain more physical and realistic results, better understanding of charge transport, and facilitate HBT device development and optimization.
The Ontology of Gameplay: Toward a New Theory

The goal of the article is to present a new theory of the concept of gameplay, a term everybody uses without ample definitions and with little consistency. The aim is to provide an understanding of gameplay outlining the inherent complexities and convoluted layers of play and game which exist in the playing of a game. The theory is inspired by phenomenology and Martin Heidegger’s concept of Dasein. We do not intent to resolve the paradox that games are both objects and activities. Instead, we offer an analytical and methodological guide to the ontology of gameplay resting on an oscillating relationship between a double-layered structure of “here” and “there” in playing and gaming.
Reconfigurable Periodic Bi-frequency DPWM with Custom Harmonic Reduction in DC-DC Converters

Majority of spectral spreading techniques employ chaos-based pulse-width-modulation (PWM) schemes in a swi tching DC-DC converter, in which neither dynamic performance nor ripple parameter can be correctly predicted so as for efficiency. Periodic frequency modulation using a triangular carrier wave can achieve custom spectral spreading and harmonic reducti on. This paper proposes a periodic bi-frequency digital PWM (BFDPWM) technique in a DC-DC converter, which uses two discret e frequencies f1 and f2 as guided by a modulating signalfm. Fourier analysis shows thatf1 and f2 do not exist; however, they contribute to power spectrum of fm. This method achieves considerable harmonic reduction and improved DPWM resolution with an insignificant ripple impact, compared to a dither-based periodic modulation scheme. Design guidelines using simul ation study are presented. A buck converter prototype has been mad e, and different control schemes are implemented using an FPGA device. Test results show that the BF-DPWM has insignificant impacts on transient performance. Finally the proposed sch eme is extended to the triangular-wave modulation scheme, whic h results in further harmonic reduction.