Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactive multi-objective reinforcement learning in multi-armed bandits for any utility function

In interactive multi-objective reinforcement learning (MORL), an agent has to simultaneously learn about the environment and the preferences of the user, in order to quickly zoom in on those decisions that are likely to be preferred by the user. In this paper we study interactive MORL in the context of multi-objective multi-armed bandits. Contrary to earlier approaches to interactive MORL, we do not make stringent assumptions about the utility functions of the user, but allow for non-linear preferences. We propose a new approach called Gaussian-process Utility Thompson Sampling (GUTS), which employs non-parametric Bayesian learning to allow any type of utility function, exploits monotonicity information, and limits the number of queries posed to the user by ensuring that questions are statistically significant. We show empirically that, in contrast to earlier methods, GUTS can learn non-linear preferences, and that the regret and number of queries posed to the user are highly sub-linear in the number of arm pulls.
Temporal Hierarchical Dictionary with HMM for Fast Gesture Recognition

In this paper, we propose a novel temporal hierarchical dictionary with hidden Markov model (HMM) for gesture recognition task. Dictionaries with spatio-temporal elements have been commonly used for gesture recognition. However, the existing spatio-temporal dictionary based methods need the whole pre-segmented gestures for inference, thus are hard to deal with nonstationary sequences. The proposed method combines HMM with Deep Belief Networks (DBN) to tackle both gesture segmentation and recognition by the inference at the frame level. Besides, we investigate the redundancy in dictionaries and introduce the relative entropy to measure the information richness of a dictionary. Furthermore, when inferring an element, a temporal hierarchy-flat dictionary will be searched entirely every time in which the temporal structure of gestures isn't utilized sufficiently. The proposed temporal hierarchical dictionary is organized in HMM states and can limit the search range to distinct states. Our framework includes three key novel properties: (1) a temporal hierarchical structure with HMM, which makes both the HMM transition and Viterbi decoding more efficient; (2) a relative entropy model to compress the dictionary with less redundancy; (3) an unsupervised hierarchical clustering algorithm to build a hierarchical dictionary automatically. Our method is evaluated on two gesture datasets and consistently achieves state-of-the-art performance. The results indicate that the dictionary redundancy has a significant impact on the performance which can be tackled by a temporal hierarchy and an entropy model.
A numerical method for curvature driven boundary migration

This paper introduces a numerical method for curvature calculation, termed least square-normal and curvature (LSNC), for simulating the migration of two-dimensional boundaries. The method is based on the existing volume-of-fluid (VOF) method with new algorithms to calculate the normal and the curvature of a boundary. The LSNC method is applied to solve a number of simple problems pertaining to boundary migration driven by curvature and a uniform ‘force’ associated with an energy density difference across the boundary. The accuracy of the LSNC method is assessed by comparing its results with exact solutions, when available. The method proved more accurate than the Ripple method, which is described in the literature as another variant of VOF methods.
Private University Graduates ‟ Perception towards Soft Skills as an Employability Factor

Research evidences and statistics prove that the unemployment rate is gradually decreasing in Sri Lanka. However, there is still a high degree of unemployment among youth; especially among the educated youth. Thus, it indicates that the employability among the educated youth is significantly low which lead to many adverse consequences. The reasons for the low employability among graduates are in many folds. Many past researchers have identified the mismatch between the skills acquired by the graduates and the skills expected by the employers as one of the main and significant reasons for this. Meanwhile, mainly due to the limited admissions of government universities, many students now move towards private higher education institutions to pursue higher education. Nonetheless, not much attention is paid up until now, to understand the role played by these private higher education institutions in higher education sector and the employability rate and the degree of employability of the graduates of these private higher education institutions. Hence, this research tries to address this research problem. The main objectives of this research is to select the most important soft skill(s) as an employability factor, from the perspective of graduates of private higher education institution, at the point of getting their first employment and to identify the relationships between the selected perspectives of soft skill(s), with the employability of graduates of private higher education institution. The research findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between the level of interpersonal skills possessed by the time of applying for the first job and the type of the first job and also with the waiting time to get the first job. Moreover, there is a significant relationship between the level of verbal communication skills perceived as ideal to be possessed by the time of applying for the first job and the type of the first job and the waiting time to get the first job. Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between the level of verbal communication skills possessed by the time of applying for the first job and the type of the first job and also there is a significant relationship between the level of verbal communication skills possessed by the time of applying for the first job and the waiting time to get the first job. There is no significant relationship between the level of importance given to listening skills during the undergraduate degree programme and the type of the first job and the waiting time to get the first job and with the waiting time to get the first job.
Basis mapping methods for forward and inverse problems

This paper describes a novel method for mapping between basis representation of a field variable over a domain in the context of numerical modelling and inverse problems. In the numerical solution of inverse problems, a continuous scalar or vector field over a domain may be represented in different finite‐dimensional basis approximations, such as an unstructured mesh basis for the numerical solution of the forward problem, and a regular grid basis for the representation of the solution of the inverse problem. Mapping between the basis representations is generally lossy, and the objective of the mapping procedure is to minimise the errors incurred. We present in this paper a novel mapping mechanism that is based on a minimisation of the L2 or H1 norm of the difference between the two basis representations. We provide examples of mapping in 2D and 3D problems, between an unstructured mesh basis representative of an FEM approximation, and different types of structured basis including piecewise constant and linear pixel basis, and blob basis as a representation of the inverse basis. A comparison with results from a simple sampling‐based mapping algorithm shows the superior performance of the method proposed here. © 2016 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Recent progress in high performance and reliable n-type transition metal oxide-based thin film transistors

This review gives an overview of the recent progress in vacuum-based n-type transition metal oxide (TMO) thin film transistors (TFTs). Several excellent review papers regarding metal oxide TFTs in terms of fundamental electron structure, device process and reliability have been published. In particular, the required field-effect mobility of TMO TFTs has been increasing rapidly to meet the demands of the ultra-high-resolution, large panel size and three dimensional visual effects as a megatrend of flat panel displays, such as liquid crystal displays, organic light emitting diodes and flexible displays. In this regard, the effects of the TMO composition on the performance of the resulting oxide TFTs has been reviewed, and classified into binary, ternary and quaternary composition systems. In addition, the new strategic approaches including zinc oxynitride materials, double channel structures, and composite structures have been proposed recently, and were not covered in detail in previous review papers. Special attention is given to the advanced device architecture of TMO TFTs, such as back-channel-etch and self-aligned coplanar structure, which is a key technology because of their advantages including low cost fabrication, high driving speed and unwanted visual artifact-free high quality imaging. The integration process and related issues, such as etching, post treatment, low ohmic contact and Cu interconnection, required for realizing these advanced architectures are also discussed.
Selecting a Discount Rate for Evaluating Water Distribution Projects — The Sustainability Controversy

Water distribution systems produce greenhouse gases during the manufacture, transport and installation of pipes and also particularly as a result of pumping when electricity is derived from the burning of fossil fuels. Typically in a life cycle analysis for the planning of new water distribution system infrastructure, that involves pumping, a present value analysis is carried out to convert annual operating costs for pumping into their present values. The way in which time preferences are incorporated into the calculations strongly affects the outcomes in terms of both costs and associated greenhouse gases. Many water utilities around the world use a discount rate equal to the interest rate or the current cost of capital of between 6 and 8%. Over the last 5 years or so the United Kingdom has been using a discount rate for evaluating projects of 3.5% and declining to 1% between 30 and 301 years. The Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change has recently recommended that a very low discount rate of 1.4% be used for evaluating projects that lead to the production of greenhouse gases. The Stern Review predicts that dire consequences will occur if the concentration of CO 2 -equivelent greenhouse gases in the atmosphere exceeds 550 ppm and recommends that immediate drastic and decisive action be taken to progressively cut emissions by 3% per annum over the next century. This paper explores the different options for discount rates proposed for present value analysis by various economists and also considers the arguments for and against using the standard 6 to 8% or a significantly lower or a time declining discount rate that is based on societal preferences. The implications on the design of water distribution systems are assessed.
Sexual risk factors for cervical carcinogenesis - A case control study

Cancer of the cervix is the commonest genital tract malignancy in the female and it has been ranked second to breast cancer. About half a million new cases are seen worldwide each year, most occurring in developing countries (Awodele et al., 2011 and Ertem, 2009). It is the top cancer site for women in most East African and South African countries both in terms of incidence and mortality (Ferlay et al., 2010 and Arbyn et al., 2011). Cervical cancer has continuously been striking hard on the poorest countries such as central and South America, the Caribean, sub-Saharan Africa, some parts of Asia with rates as high as 30 per 100,000 women, compared with North America and Europe that have reports of about 10 per 100,000 cases. Approximately 1.4 million women worldwide living with cervical cancer and India may account for more than onefourth of the total reporting nearly 132,000 ISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 2 Number 8 (2013) pp. 394-399 http://www.ijcmas. com
Milk Removal . Effect on Milk Yield , Milk Composition and Milking Efficiency in Dairy Cows

Milk from dairy cows is a staple dietary component for humans all over the world. Regardless of whether milk is consumed in its purest, unaltered form or as high-end products such as fine cheese or ice cream, it needs to be of high quality when taken from the cow, produced at a low price and produced in a system that consider aspects such as animal health, animal welfare and sustainability. This thesis investigated the role of milk removal and the importance of residual milk on milk yield, milk composition and milking efficiency in dairy cows. The specific aspects examined were whether residual milk retained in the udder, specifically its fat component, is involved in regulation of milk synthesis and secretion and whether removal of this residual milk influences milk yield, composition and quality, measured as milk fatty acid composition and free fatty acid content. The results showed that milking efficiency could be increased by increasing the pulsation ratio or using a higher cluster or teat cup take-off threshold, without negative effects on milk yield or milk composition. Milking time in automatic milking systems could thereby be decreased by one minute per cow and milking or more. Milk fatty acid composition was affected by several treatments tested, but the content of free fatty acids and the size distribution of milk fat globules were unaffected. Residual milk yield increased both due to repeated residual milk removal and to use of a higher cluster take-off level. Residual milk removal also increased the relative proportion of short-chain fatty acids in milk. The overall conclusion of this thesis is that residual milk removal in mid-lactation dairy cows does not affect milk yield and that milking efficiency in an automatic milking system can be increased with higher takeoff levels without affecting milk yield or composition. No evidence of a regulatory mechanism in residual milk was found, but residual milk removal increased milk fat synthesis.
Forecasting International Tourist Arrivals to Mainland China

The general-to-specific modelling approach is used to forecast tourist flows to mainland China from eight major origin countries/regions over the period 2006-2015. The existing literature shows that the general-to-specific methodology is a useful tool in modelling and forecasting tourism demand at the destination level. With the aid of econometric models, the factors which contribute to the demand for mainland China tourism have been identified. Empirical results reveal that the most important factor that determines the demand for mainland China tourism is the economic condition in the origin countries/regions. The “word of mouth” effect, the costs of tourism in mainland China and the price of tourism in the competing destinations also have noticeable influence on the demand for mainland China tourism. The generated forecasts suggest that mainland China will face increasing tourism demand by residents from all the origin countries/regions concerned while the growth rate of tourist arrivals from Korea is the most significant one. The demand elasticities and the forecasts of tourist arrivals obtained from the demand models form the basis of policy formulation for the tourism industry in mainland China.
Intermittent heating in the solar corona employing a 3D MHD model

Aims. We investigate the spatial and temporal evolution of the heating of the corona of a cool star such as our Sun in a threedimensional magneto-hydrodynamic (3D MHD) model. Methods. We solve the 3D MHD problem numerically in a box representing part of the (solar) corona. The energy balance includes Spitzer heat conduction along the magnetic field and optically thin radiative losses. The self-consistent heating mechanism is based on the braiding of magnetic field lines rooted in the convective photosphere. Magnetic stress induced by photospheric motions leads to currents in the atmosphere that heat the corona through Ohmic dissipation. Results. While the horizontally averaged quantities, such as heating rate, temperature, or density, are relatively constant in time, the simulated corona is highly variable and dynamic, on average reaching the temperatures and densities found in observations. The strongest heating per particle is found in the transition region from the chromosphere to the corona. The heating is concentrated in current sheets roughly aligned with the magnetic field and is transient in time and space. This supports the idea that numerous small heating events heat the corona, often referred to as nanoflares.
How Important is Technological Innovation in Protecting the Environment?

Economists have speculated that the welfare gains from technological innovation that reduces the future costs of environmental protection could be a lot more important than the "Pigouvian" welfare gains over time from correcting a pollution externality. If so, then a primary concern in the design of environmental policies should be the impact on induced innovation, and a potentially strong case could be made for additional instruments such as research subsidies. This paper examines the magnitude of the welfare gains from innovation relative to the discounted Pigouvian welfare gains, using a dynamic social planning model in which research and development (R&D) augments a knowledge stock that reduces future pollution abatement costs. We find that the discounted welfare gains from innovation are typically smaller.and perhaps much smaller.than the discounted Pigouvian welfare gains. This is because the long-run gain to innovation is bounded by the maximum reduction in abatement costs and, since R&D is costly, it takes time to accumulate enough knowledge to substantially reduce abatement costs. Only in cases when innovation substantially reduces abatement costs quickly (by roughly 50% within 10 years) and the Pigouvian amount of abatement is initially modest, can the welfare gains from innovation exceed the welfare gains from pollution control. These results apply for both flow and stock pollutants, and for linear and convex environmental damage functions. Our results suggest that spurring technological innovation should not be emphasized at the expense of achieving the optimal amount of pollution control. More generally, our results appear to have implications for a broad range of policy issues. They suggest that the welfare gains from innovation that reduces the costs of supplying any public good (defense, crime prevention, infrastructure, etc.) may be fairly small relative to those from providing the optimal amount of the public good over time.
Stable indications of relic gravitational waves in Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe data and forecasts for the Planck mission

The relic gravitational waves are the cleanest probe of the violent times in the very early history of the Universe. They are expected to leave signatures in the observed cosmic microwave background anisotropies. We significantly improved our previous analysis [W. Zhao, D. Baskaran, and L. P. Grishchuk, Phys. Rev. D 79, 023002 (2009)] of the 5-year WMAP TT and TE data at lower multipoles l. This more general analysis returned essentially the same maximum likelihood result (unfortunately, surrounded by large remaining uncertainties): The relic gravitational waves are present and they are responsible for approximately 20% of the temperature quadrupole. We identify and discuss the reasons by which the contribution of gravitational waves can be overlooked in a data analysis. One of the reasons is a misleading reliance on data from very high multipoles l and another a too narrow understanding of the problem as the search for B modes of polarization, rather than the detection of relic gravitational waves with the help of all correlation functions. Our analysis of WMAP5 data has led to the identification of a whole family of models characterized by relatively high values of the likelihood function. Using the Fisher matrix formalism we formulated forecasts for Planck mission in the context of this family of models. We explore in detail various "optimistic," "pessimistic," and "dream case" scenarios. We show that in some circumstances the B-mode detection may be very inconclusive, at the level of signal-to-noise ratio S/N = 1.75, whereas a smarter data analysis can reveal the same gravitational wave signal at S/N = 6.48. The final result is encouraging. Even under unfavorable conditions in terms of instrumental noises and foregrounds, the relic gravitational waves, if they are characterized by the maximum likelihood parameters that we found from WMAP5 data, will be detected by Planck at the level S/N = 3.65.
Utilization of Selected Electronic Mass Media as Sources of Agricultural Information by Farmers in Northern Taraba State, Nigeria

This study was on utilization of selected electronic mass media as sources of agricultural information by farmers in Northern part of Taraba state of Nigeria. The study considered among others the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents (farmers), the different electronic mass media utilized by the respondents and the major constraints associated with the utilization of electronic mass media in agricultural information delivery. Simple random sampling method was used in selecting 120 farmer respondents for this study. Questionnaires/interview schedules were administered to them. Similarly, questionnaires were administered to the programme managers of electronic mass media outfits studied. Percentages, frequencies and regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The major findings among others include that among the electronic mass media studied, radio was the most utilized by the respondents, and that farm income, age, educational level and farming experience of the respondents had positive coefficients and significant relationship with the utilization of electronic mass media organs. It is suggested among others that there should be provisions of digital electronics gadgets to meet with the recent development in technologies in agricultural information dissemination. Key words : Agricultural information; Farmers; Northern Taraba state; Technology; Utilization electronic mass DOI: 10.4038/tare.v12i1. 1979 Tropical Agricultural Research & Extension 12(1):2009 17-22
Hunter‐gatherers and human evolution

Although few hunter‐gatherers or foragers exist today, they are well documented in the ethnographic record. Anthropologists have been eager to study them since they assumed foragers represented a lifestyle that existed everywhere before 10,000 years ago and characterized our ancestors into some ill‐defined but remote past. In the past few decades, that assumption has been challenged on several grounds. Ethnographically described foragers may be a biased sample that only continued to exist because they occupied marginal habitats less coveted by agricultural people. 3 In addition, many foragers have been greatly influenced by their association with more powerful agricultural societies. 4 It has even been suggested that Holocene foragers represent a new niche that appeared only with the climatic changes and faunal depletion at the end of the last major glaciation. 5 Despite these issues, the ethnographic record of foragers provides the only direct observations of human behavior in the absence of agriculture, and as such is invaluable for testing hypotheses about human behavioral evolution. 6 .