Query: Learning grounded finite-state representations from unstructured demonstrations

Relevant passages:
Dynamic Movement Primitives – A Framework for Motor Control in Humans and Humanoid Robotics <=SEP=> Given the continuous stream of movements that biological systems exhibit in their daily activities, an account for such versatility and creativity has to assume that movement sequences consist of segments, executed either in sequence or with partial or complete overlap. Therefore, a fundamental question that has pervaded research in motor control both in artificial and biological systems revolves around identifying movement primitives (a.k.a. units of actions, basis behaviors, motor schemas, etc.). What are the fundamental building blocks that are strung together, adapted to, and created for ever new behaviors? This paper summarizes results that led to the hypothesis of Dynamic Movement Primitives (DMP). DMPs are units of action that are formalized as stable nonlinear attractor systems. They are useful for autonomous robotics as they are highly flexible in creating complex rhythmic (e.g., locomotion) and discrete (e.g., a tennis swing) behaviors that can quickly be adapted to the inevitable perturbations of a dynamically changing, stochastic environment. Moreover, DMPs provide a formal framework that also lends itself to investigations in computational neuroscience. A recent finding that allows creating DMPs with the help of well-understood statistical learning methods has elevated DMPs from a more heuristic to a principled modeling approach. Theoretical insights, evaluations on a humanoid robot, and behavioral and brain imaging data will serve to outline the framework of DMPs for a general approach to motor control in robotics and biology.

Online movement adaptation based on previous sensor experiences <=SEP=> Personal robots can only become widespread if they are capable of safely operating among humans. In uncertain and highly dynamic environments such as human households, robots need to be able to instantly adapt their behavior to unforseen events. In this paper, we propose a general framework to achieve very contact-reactive motions for robotic grasping and manipulation. Associating stereotypical movements to particular tasks enables our system to use previous sensor experiences as a predictive model for subsequent task executions. We use dynamical systems, named Dynamic Movement Primitives (DMPs), to learn goal-directed behaviors from demonstration. We exploit their dynamic properties by coupling them with the measured and predicted sensor traces. This feedback loop allows for online adaptation of the movement plan. Our system can create a rich set of possible motions that account for external perturbations and perception uncertainty to generate truly robust behaviors. As an example, we present an application to grasping with the WAM robot arm.

Robot Learning from Demonstration: A Task-level Planning Approach: <=SEP=> In this paper, we deal with the problem of task level learning and planning for robotic applications that involve object manipulation. In dynamic environments, preprogramming robots for execution of complex tasks such as for example setting a dinner table is of little use, since the same order of subtasks may not be conceivable due to the changed state of the world in the execution phase. In our approach, we aim to learn the goal of the task, and use a task planner to reach the goal given different initial states of the world. However, for some tasks, there are underlying constraints that must be fulfilled, and knowing just the final goal is not sufficient. We propose two techniques for constraint identification. In the first case, the teacher can directly instruct the system about the underlying constraints. In the second case, the constraints are identified by the robot itself through the merging of multiple observations. The constraints are then considered in the planning phase, allowing the task to be executed without violating any of them. We evaluate our work on a real robot performing pick-and-place tasks with several objects of various size.

Relative Entropy Inverse Reinforcement Learning <=SEP=> We consider the problem of imitation learning where the examples, demonstrated by an expert, cover only a small part of a large state space. Inverse Reinforcement Learning (IRL) provides an efficient tool for generalizing the demonstration, based on the assumption that the expert is optimally acting in a Markov Decision Process (MDP). Most of the past work on IRL requires that a (near)optimal policy can be computed for different reward functions. However, this requirement can hardly be satisfied in systems with a large, or continuous, state space. In this paper, we propose a model-free IRL algorithm, where the relative entropy between the empirical distribution of the state-action trajectories under a uniform policy and their distribution under the learned policy is minimized by stochastic gradient descent. We compare this new approach to well-known IRL algorithms using approximate MDP models. Empirical results on simulated car racing, gridworld and ball-in-a-cup problems show that our approach is able to learn good policies from a small number of demonstrations.

Linear predictive hidden Markov models and the speech signal <=SEP=> 

Ferrite-magnet spoke-type IPMSM with W-shaped magnet placement <=SEP=> Rare earth magnets that have a large energy product are generally used in high-efficiency interior permanent-magnet synchronous motors (IPMSMs). However, efficient rare-earth-free motors are needed because of problems such as the high prices of and export restrictions on rare earth materials. This paper introduces a ferrite-magnet spoke-type IPMSM that employs a W-shaped magnet placement in order to achieve high efficiency. The effectiveness of the W-shaped magnet placement is verified from the results of two-dimensional finite element analysis and experiments on a prototype.

Automatic Generation of 3 D Thermal Maps of Building Interiors <=SEP=> Most existing approaches to characterizing thermal properties of buildings and heat emissions from their elements rely on manual inspection and as such are slow, and labor intensive. This is often a daunting task, which requires several days of on-site inspection. In this paper, we propose a fully automatic approach to construct a 3D thermal point cloud of the building interior reflecting the geometry including walls, floors, and ceilings, as well as structures such as furniture, lights, windows, and plug loads. Our approach is based on a wearable ambulatory backpack comprising multiple sensors such as Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) scanners, and Infrared and optical cameras. As the operator wearing the backpack walks through the building, the LiDAR scans are collected and processed in order to compute the 3D geometry of the building. Furthermore, the Infrared cameras are calibrated intrinsically and extrinsically such that the captured images are registered to the captured geometry. Thus, the temperature data in the Infrared images is associated with the geometry resulting in a “thermal 3D point cloud”. The same process can be repeated using optical imagery resulting in a “visible 3D point cloud”. By visualizing the two point clouds simultaneously in interactive rendering tools, we can virtually walk through the thermal and optical 3D point clouds, toggle between them, identify and annotate, “hot” regions, objects, plug loads, thermal and moisture leaks, and document their location with fine spatial granularity in the 3D point clouds.

Jointly Embedding Entities and Text with Distant Supervision <=SEP=> Learning representations for knowledge base entities and concepts is becoming increasingly important for NLP applications. However, recent entity embedding methods have relied on structured resources that are expensive to create for new domains and corpora. We present a distantly-supervised method for jointly learning embeddings of entities and text from an unnanotated corpus, using only a list of mappings between entities and surface forms. We learn embeddings from open-domain and biomedical corpora, and compare against prior methods that rely on human-annotated text or large knowledge graph structure. Our embeddings capture entity similarity and relatedness better than prior work, both in existing biomedical datasets and a new Wikipedia-based dataset that we release to the community. Results on analogy completion and entity sense disambiguation indicate that entities and words capture complementary information that can be effectively combined for downstream use.

"No-Touch" Technique for Lip Enhancement. <=SEP=> BACKGROUND
The purpose of this study was to examine the anatomical principles of lip structure as they relate to individualized lip enhancement procedures and to describe a technique that does not violate lip mucosa during injection.


METHODS
A retrospective analysis of patients undergoing lip enhancement procedures between 2001 and 2014 was performed. Preprocedural and postprocedural photographs were analyzed for lip subunit changes. A stepwise treatment algorithm targeting specific anatomical subunits of lip is described.


RESULTS
Four hundred ten patients were treated with a "no-touch" technique for lip enhancement. Lip profile is determined by the position of the white roll. The white roll is accessed by a 30-gauge needle at a point 5 mm lateral to the oral commissure and at the base of the philtral columns. Lip projection is established by vermilion formation contributing to the arc of the Cupid's bow. To improve projection, the labial commissure is entered with a 25-gauge cannula and tunneled into the submucosal space between the white and red rolls. Lip augmentation is a direct reflection of the prominence of the red line and can be approached in a perpendicular fashion with a needle or cannula descending to the level of the wet-dry junction.


CONCLUSIONS
Accurate assessment of the white and red rolls, arc of Cupid's bow, philtrum, and gingival show can guide the injector on the proper enhancement that individual patients require. The no-touch technique minimizes mucosal trauma. Tailoring treatment toward lip profile, projection, and/or augmentation can yield predictable and reproducible outcomes in this commonly performed cosmetic procedure.

Structured Prediction of Sequences and Trees using Infinite Contexts <=SEP=> Linguistic structures exhibit a rich array of global phenomena, however commonly used Markov models are unable to adequately describe these phenomena due to their strong locality assumptions. We propose a novel hierarchical model for structured prediction over sequences and trees which exploits global context by conditioning each generation decision on an unbounded context of prior decisions. This builds on the success of Markov models but without imposing a fixed bound in order to better represent global phenomena. To facilitate learning of this large and unbounded model, we use a hierarchical PitmanYor process prior which provides a recursive form of smoothing. We propose prediction algorithms based on A* and Markov Chain Monte Carlo sampling. Empirical results demonstrate the potential of our model compared to baseline finite-context Markov models on part-of-speech tagging and syntactic parsing.

A large-scale car dataset for fine-grained categorization and verification <=SEP=> This paper aims to highlight vision related tasks centered around “car”, which has been largely neglected by vision community in comparison to other objects. We show that there are still many interesting car-related problems and applications, which are not yet well explored and researched. To facilitate future car-related research, in this paper we present our on-going effort in collecting a large-scale dataset, “CompCars”, that covers not only different car views, but also their different internal and external parts, and rich attributes. Importantly, the dataset is constructed with a cross-modality nature, containing a surveillance-nature set and a web-nature set. We further demonstrate a few important applications exploiting the dataset, namely car model classification, car model verification, and attribute prediction. We also discuss specific challenges of the car-related problems and other potential applications that worth further investigations. The latest dataset can be downloaded at http://mmlab.ie.cuhk.edu.hk/ datasets/comp_cars/index.html.

A weight-neutral versus weight-loss approach for health promotion in women with high BMI: A randomized-controlled trial <=SEP=> Weight loss is the primary recommendation for health improvement in individuals with high body mass index (BMI) despite limited evidence of long-term success. Alternatives to weight-loss approaches (such as Health At Every Size - a weight-neutral approach) have been met with their own concerns and require further empirical testing. This study compared the effectiveness of a weight-neutral versus a weight-loss program for health promotion. Eighty women, aged 30-45 years, with high body mass index (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2)) were randomized to 6 months of facilitator-guided weekly group meetings using structured manuals that emphasized either a weight-loss or weight-neutral approach to health. Health measurements occurred at baseline, post-intervention, and 24-months post-randomization. Measurements included blood pressure, lipid panels, blood glucose, BMI, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, distress, self-esteem, quality of life, dietary risk, fruit and vegetable intake, intuitive eating, and physical activity. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed using linear mixed-effects models to examine group-by-time interaction effects and between and within-group differences. Group-by-time interactions were found for LDL cholesterol, intuitive eating, BMI, weight, and dietary risk. At post-intervention, the weight-neutral program had larger reductions in LDL cholesterol and greater improvements in intuitive eating; the weight-loss program had larger reductions in BMI, weight, and larger (albeit temporary) decreases in dietary risk. Significant positive changes were observed overall between baseline and 24-month follow-up for waist-to-hip ratio, total cholesterol, physical activity, fruit and vegetable intake, self-esteem, and quality of life. These findings highlight that numerous health benefits, even in the absence of weight loss, are achievable and sustainable in the long term using a weight-neutral approach. The trial positions weight-neutral programs as a viable health promotion alternative to weight-loss programs for women of high weight.

Automatic text summarization of Wikipedia articles <=SEP=> The main objective of a text summarization system is to identify the most important information from the given text and present it to the end users. In this paper, Wikipedia articles are given as input to system and extractive text summarization is presented by identifying text features and scoring the sentences accordingly. The text is first pre-processed to tokenize the sentences and perform stemming operations. We then score the sentences using the different text features. Two novel approaches implemented are using the citations present in the text and identifying synonyms. These features along with the traditional methods are used to score the sentences. The scores are used to classify the sentence to be in the summary text or not with the help of a neural network. The user can provide what percentage of the original text should be in the summary. It is found that scoring the sentences based on citations gives the best results.

Active Inference and Learning in the Cerebellum <=SEP=> This letter offers a computational account of Pavlovian conditioning in the cerebellum based on active inference and predictive coding. Using eyeblink conditioning as a canonical paradigm, we formulate a minimal generative model that can account for spontaneous blinking, startle responses, and (delay or trace) conditioning. We then establish the face validity of the model using simulated responses to unconditioned and conditioned stimuli to reproduce the sorts of behavior that are observed empirically. The scheme’s anatomical validity is then addressed by associating variables in the predictive coding scheme with nuclei and neuronal populations to match the (extrinsic and intrinsic) connectivity of the cerebellar (eyeblink conditioning) system. Finally, we try to establish predictive validity by reproducing selective failures of delay conditioning, trace conditioning, and extinction using (simulated and reversible) focal lesions. Although rather metaphorical, the ensuing scheme can account for a remarkable range of anatomical and neurophysiological aspects of cerebellar circuitry—and the specificity of lesion-deficit mappings that have been established experimentally. From a computational perspective, this work shows how conditioning or learning can be formulated in terms of minimizing variational free energy (or maximizing Bayesian model evidence) using exactly the same principles that underlie predictive coding in perception.

Networking over Next-generation Satellite Systems Committee in Charge: Networking over Next-generation Satellite Systems Abstract Networking over Next-generation Satellite Systems Contents <=SEP=> Thanks to both the rapid deployment of the Internet and advances in satellite technology, the market for broadband satellite services is poised for substantial growth in the coming decade. Current communications satellite systems have generally been designed to provide either voice or data transaction (low data rate) services through small terminals, or trunking (high data rate, or broadband) services through large terminals. However, technological advances are enabling new systems that combine broadband data rates with small terminals, thereby providing more affordable " last-mile " network access to home and small business users worldwide. In particular, two types of broadband satellite systems are under development: high-power satellites deployed at traditional geostationary (GEO) orbits, and large constellations of satellites deployed at much lower (LEO) orbits. In this thesis, we explore research problems that have arisen from this shift in satellite network architectures. When using GEO satellites to provide Internet access service, the performance of the Internet's Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is degraded by the high latency and high degree of bandwidth asymmetry present in such systems. We therefore undertook a comprehensive study of TCP performance in the context of broadband satellite systems used for network access. We first studied whether TCP's congestion avoidance algorithm can be adjusted to provide better fairness when satellite connections are forced to share bottleneck links with other (shorter delay) connections. Our data suggests that adjustments of the policy used in that algorithm may yield substantial fairness benefits without compromizing utilization. We next demonstrated how minor variations in TCP implementations can have drastic performance implications when used over satellite links (such as a reduction in file transfer throughput by over half), and from our observations constructed a satellite-optimized TCP implementation using standardized options. We explored the performance of TCP for short data transfers such as Web traffic, and found that two experimental options relating to how TCP starts a connection, when used together, could reduce the user-perceived latency by a factor of two to three. However, because not all of these options are likely to be deployed on a wide scale, and because even the best satellite-optimized TCP implementation is vulnerable to the fairness problems identified above, we explored the performance benefits of splitting a TCP connection at a protocol gateway within the satellite network, and found that such an approach can allow the performance of the satellite connection to approach that of a non-satellite connection. Carrying this …

Evaluation of the Potential of Dipole Field Navigation for the Targeted Delivery of Therapeutic Agents in a Human Vascular Network <=SEP=> Magnetically guided agents in the vascular network are expected to enable the targeted delivery of therapeutics to localized regions while avoiding their systemic circulation. Due to the small size of the medically applicable superparamagnetic microscale agents required to reach the smaller arteries, high magnetic fields and gradients are required to reach saturation magnetization and generate sufficient directional forces, respectively, for their effective navigation in the vascular environment. Currently, the only method that provides both a high field and high magnetic gradient strengths in deep tissues at the human scale is known as dipole field navigation (DFN). This method relies on the controlled distortion of the field inside a magnetic resonance imaging scanner by precisely positioning ferromagnetic cores around the patient. This paper builds on previous works that have experimentally demonstrated the feasibility of the method and proposed optimization algorithms for placing the cores. The maximum gradient strengths that can be generated for single and multibifurcation vascular routes are investigated while considering the major constraints on core positions (limited space in the scanner, magnetic interactions). Using disc cores, which were previously shown particularly effective for the DFN, results show that gradient strengths exceeding 400 mT/m (a tenfold increase with respect to typical gradients generated by clinical MRI scanners) can be achieved at 10 cm inside the patient, but decrease as the complexity of the vascular route increases. The potential of the method is evaluated for targeting regions of a vascular model of a human liver, segmented from clinical data, with encouraging results showing strengths up to 150 mT/m for generating gradients at three consecutive bifurcations within 20° of average gradient direction error.

Social network security: Issues, challenges, threats, and solutions <=SEP=> Social networks are very popular in today‘s world. Millions of people use various forms of social networks as they allow individuals to connect with friends and family, and share private information. However, issues related to maintaining the privacy and security of a user‘s information can occur, especially when the user‘s uploaded content is multimedia, such as photos, videos, and audios. Uploaded multimedia content carries information that can be transmitted virally and almost instantaneously within a social networking site and beyond. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey of different security and privacy threats that target every user of social networking sites. In addition, we separately focus on various threats that arise due to the sharing of multimedia content within a social networking site. We also discuss current state-ofthe-art defense solutions that can protect social network users from these threats. We then present future direction and discuss some easy-to-apply response techniques to achieve the goal of a trustworthy and secure social network ecosystem. KeywordsSocial network service, Security and privacy, Multimedia data, Security threats

Searching for the elusive gift: advances in talent identification in sport. <=SEP=> The incentives for sport organizations to identify talented athletes from a young age continue to grow, yet effective talent identification remains a challenging task. This opinion paper examines recent advances in talent identification, focusing in particular on the emergence of new approaches that may offer promise to identify talent (e.g., small-sided games, genetic testing, and advanced statistical analyses). We appraise new multi-disciplinary and large-scale population studies of talent identification, provide a consideration of the most recent psychological predictors of performance, examine the emergence of new approaches that strive to diminish biases in talent identification, and look at the rise in interest in talent identification in Paralympic sport.

Designing Graph Database Models from Existing Relational Databases <=SEP=> In this paper, a method for transforming a relational database to a graph database model is described. In this approach, the dependency graphs for the entities in the system are transformed into star graphs. This star graph model is transformed into a hyper graph model for the relational database, which, in turn, can be used to develop the domain relationship model that can be converted in to a graph database model.

A Nonisolated Single-Phase UPS Topology With 110-V/220-V Input–Output Voltage Ratings <=SEP=> A circuit configuration of a single-phase nonisolated online uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with 110-V/220-V input–output voltage ratings is proposed, allowing the bypass operation without a transformer even if the input voltage is different from the output voltage. The converter consists of an ac–dc/dc–dc three-level boost converter combined with a double half-bridge inverter. In this type of configuration size, cost and efficiency are improved due to the reduced number of switches and batteries, and also, no low-frequency isolation transformer is required to realize bypass operation because of the common neutral connection. Both stages of the proposed circuit operate at high frequency by using a passive nondissipative snubber circuit in the boost converter and insulated-gate bipolar-transistor switches in the double half-bridge inverter, with low conduction losses, low tail current, and low switching losses. Principle of operation and experimental results for a 2.6-kVA prototype are presented to demonstrate the UPS performance.

Class Noise vs. Attribute Noise: A Quantitative Study <=SEP=> Real-world data is never perfect and can often suffer from corruptions (noise) that may impact interpretations of the data, models created from the data and decisions made based on the data. Noise can reduce system performance in terms of classification accuracy, time in building a classifier and the size of the classifier. Accordingly, most existing learning algorithms have integrated various approaches to enhance their learning abilities from noisy environments, but the existence of noise can still introduce serious negative impacts. A more reasonable solution might be to employ some preprocessing mechanisms to handle noisy instances before a learner is formed. Unfortunately, rare research has been conducted to systematically explore the impact of noise, especially from the noise handling point of view. This has made various noise processing techniques less significant, specifically when dealing with noise that is introduced in attributes. In this paper, we present a systematic evaluation on the effect of noise in machine learning. Instead of taking any unified theory of noise to evaluate the noise impacts, we differentiate noise into two categories: class noise and attribute noise, and analyze their impacts on the system performance separately. Because class noise has been widely addressed in existing research efforts, we concentrate on attribute noise. We investigate the relationship between attribute noise and classification accuracy, the impact of noise at different attributes, and possible solutions in handling attribute noise. Our conclusions can be used to guide interested readers to enhance data quality by designing various noise handling mechanisms.

Shake-your-head: revisiting walking-in-place for desktop virtual reality <=SEP=> The Walking-In-Place interaction technique was introduced to navigate infinitely in 3D virtual worlds by walking in place in the real world. The technique has been initially developed for users standing in immersive setups and was built upon sophisticated visual displays and tracking equipments.
 In this paper, we propose to revisit the whole pipeline of the Walking-In-Place technique to match a larger set of configurations and apply it notably to the context of desktop Virtual Reality. With our novel "Shake-Your-Head" technique, the user is left with the possibility to sit down, and to use small screens and standard input devices such as a basic webcam for tracking. The locomotion simulation can compute various motions such as turning, jumping and crawling, using as sole input the head movements of the user. We also introduce the use of additional visual feedback based on camera motions to enhance the walking sensations.
 An experiment was conducted to compare our technique with classical input devices used for navigating in desktop VR. Interestingly, the results showed that our technique could even allow faster navigations when sitting, after a short learning. Our technique was also perceived as more fun and increasing presence, and was generally more appreciated for VR navigation.

Diagnosis of retinal health in digital fundus images using continuous wavelet transform (CWT) and entropies <=SEP=> Vision is paramount to humans to lead an active personal and professional life. The prevalence of ocular diseases is rising, and diseases such as glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) and Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) are the leading causes of blindness in developed countries. Identifying these diseases in mass screening programmes is time-consuming, labor-intensive and the diagnosis can be subjective. The use of an automated computer aided diagnosis system will reduce the time taken for analysis and will also reduce the inter-observer subjective variabilities in image interpretation. In this work, we propose one such system for the automatic classification of normal from abnormal (DR, AMD, glaucoma) images. We had a total of 404 normal and 1082 abnormal fundus images in our database. As the first step, 2D-Continuous Wavelet Transform (CWT) decomposition on the fundus images of two classes was performed. Subsequently, energy features and various entropies namely Yager, Renyi, Kapoor, Shannon, and Fuzzy were extracted from the decomposed images. Then, adaptive synthetic sampling approach was applied to balance the normal and abnormal datasets. Next, the extracted features were ranked according to the significances using Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). Thereupon, the ranked and selected features were used to train the random forest classifier using stratified 10-fold cross validation. Overall, the proposed system presented a performance rate of 92.48%, and a sensitivity and specificity of 89.37% and 95.58% respectively using 15 features. This novel system shows promise in detecting abnormal fundus images, and hence, could be a valuable adjunct eye health screening tool that could be employed in polyclinics, and thereby reduce the workload of specialists at hospitals.

A content analysis of depression-related tweets <=SEP=> This study examines depression-related chatter on Twitter to glean insight into social networking about mental health. We assessed themes of a random sample (n=2,000) of depression-related tweets (sent 4-11 to 5-4-14). Tweets were coded for expression of DSM-5 symptoms for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Supportive or helpful tweets about depression was the most common theme (n=787, 40%), closely followed by disclosing feelings of depression (n=625; 32%). Two-thirds of tweets revealed one or more symptoms for the diagnosis of MDD and/or communicated thoughts or ideas that were consistent with struggles with depression after accounting for tweets that mentioned depression trivially. Health professionals can use our findings to tailor and target prevention and awareness messages to those Twitter users in need.

Mendeley readership counts: An investigation of temporal and disciplinary differences <=SEP=> Mike Thelwall, Pardeep Sud Scientists and managers using citation-based indicators to help evaluate research cannot evaluate recent articles because of the time needed for citations to accrue. Reading occurs before citing, however, and so it makes sense to count readers rather than citations for recent publications. To assess this, Mendeley readers and citations were obtained for articles from 2004 to late 2014 in 5 broad categories (agriculture, business, decision science, pharmacy, and the social sciences) and 50 subcategories. In these areas, citation counts tended to increase with every extra year since publication, and readership counts tended to increase faster initially but then stabilise after about 5 years. The correlation between citations and readers was also higher for longer time periods, stabilising after about five years. Although there were substantial differences between broad fields and smaller differences between subfields, the results confirm the value of Mendeley reader counts as early scientific impact indicators.

Culture and Institutions <=SEP=> A growing body of empirical work measuring different types of cultural traits has shown that culture matters for a variety of economic outcomes. This paper focuses on one specific aspect of the relevance of culture: its relationship to institutions. We review work with a theoretical, empirical, and historical bent to assess the presence of a two-way causal effect between culture and institutions. 1 We thank Benjamin Friedman and Andrei Shleifer for useful conversations and Janet Currie, Steven Durlauf, and six anonymous referees for excellent comments.

To buy or not to buy online: adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in Singapore <=SEP=> The Internet, as a dynamic virtual medium for selling and buying information, services and products, is gaining increasing attention from researchers and practitioners. In this study, we examine the perceptions of adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in terms of demographic profile, consumer expectations of online stores, advantages and problems of online shopping and transaction cost. In addition, we also examine the types of products purchased, frequency of online purchase and the extent of communication with e-commerce vendors. The findings are useful in explaining consumers’ buying behaviour in the electronic marketplace. Implications of the results are discussed.

When Ignorance is Bliss : Information , Fairness , and Bargaining Efficiency <=SEP=> Most theories of legal discovery assume that sharing information among disputing parties will lead to convergence of expectations and will facilitate settlement. However, psychological research shows that shared information, if it is open to multiple interpretations, is likely to be interpreted egocentrically by the disputants, which can cause beliefs to diverge rather than converge. We present results from a bargaining experiment which shows that information sharing leads to divergence of expectations, and to settlement delays, when the information exchanged is amenable to multiple interpretations. By contrast, when there is only one obvious interpretation, information sharing leads to convergence of expectations and speeds settlement. We show, further, that information sharing moderates the relationship between size of the bargaining zone and the prospects for settlement. Information and efficiency 3 When Ignorance is Bliss: Information, Fairness, and Bargaining Efficiency

Efficient Clustering-Based Outlier Detection Algorithm for Dynamic Data Stream <=SEP=> Anomaly detection is currently an important and active research problem in many fields and involved in numerous applications. Most of the existing methods are based on distance measure. But in case of data stream these methods are not very efficient as computational point of view. Most of the exiting work on outlier detection in data stream declare a point as an outlier/inlier as soon as it arrive due to limited memory resources as compared to the huge data stream, to declare an outlier as it arrive often can lead us to a wrong decision, because of dynamic nature of the incoming data. In this paper we introduced a clustering based approach, which divide the stream in chunks and cluster each chunk using k-mean in fixed number of clusters. Instead of keeping only the summary information, which often used in case of clustering data stream, we keep the candidate outliers and mean value of every cluster for the next fixed number of steam chunks, to make sure that the detected candidate outliers are the real outliers. By employing the mean value of the clusters of previous chunk with mean values of the current chunk of stream, we decide better outlierness for data stream objects. Several experiments on different dataset confirm that our technique can find better outliers with low computational cost than the other exiting distance based approaches of outlier detection in data stream.

GSM Based Home Automation System UsingApp-Inventor for Android Mobile Phone <=SEP=> Nowadays, the remote Home Automation turns out to be more and more significant and appealing. It improves the value of our lives by automating various electrical appliances or instruments. This paper describes GSM (Global System Messaging) based secured device control system using App Inventor for Android mobile phones. App Inventor is a latest visual programming platform for developing mobile applications for Android-based smart phones. The Android Mobile Phone Platform becomes more and more popular among software developers, because of its powerful capabilities and open architecture. It is a fantastic platform for the real world interface control, as it offers an ample of resources and already incorporates a lot of sensors. No need to write programming codes to develop apps in the App Inventor, instead it provides visual design interface as the way the apps looks and use blocks of interlocking components to control the app’s behaviour. The App Inventor aims to make programming enjoyable and accessible to novices.